Disc or tiller ?

[Fishon]

I have a 30 hp tractor and was wondering which would work better for food plots, a disc or 6 ft rototiller. Most of the spots i want to plant are narrow (30 x 100 ft.

[gjs4]

soil type and rock presence will dictate more

[Fishon]

Its all farm land. It was overgrown with goldenrod when i bought the place. I brush hogged it and the grass came back. The soil is great not too many rocks. It must have some clay in it because even in a drought the grass grows and stays green.I wanted to plant turnips and radish this year.

[G-Man]

I'll take a disc over a tiller any day...much more versitile in different soils and soils can differ 20 yards apart in the same field, ny is rocky unless your in a riverbottom or in mucklands... tillers are ok in nice rock free garden. tines break on rocks and nothing like a good tangle of roots wrapped around it... tillers tend to really fluff the soil thus requiring rolling or firming it again for small seed or it will wash sink to deep. just my experiance and opinion. i run an 8ft disk up and down my logging roads and plant in clover periodically... 10x2000 foot or so...i'd be there for a week with a tiller. disc is much faster especially when getting into larger plots. my tractor is 35 hp. and pulls a 8 ft no problem. when buying look for heavy frame and greese fittings. the heavier the better.

[landtracdeerhunter]

I'm just lucky enough to own both, but I lean towards a tiller for food plots.

 

First of all, if you decide on a disc, you would have to plow heavier soils first. It's nice to plow down the top growth and use it for green manure and to get rid of it. You'll also need a roller. One, to conserve moisture in the ground, on drier times of the year. Two, for smaller Hay seed, rolling first helps firm up the seed bed, and once the seed is broadcast, rolling covers the seed to the desired depth nicely. Plowing also helps with drainage, allowing one  to manage "lands" for surface drainage of heavier soils. Thus a third reason for plowing.

 

What I do on heavier soils is plow first. Let it dry down some, and hit it with the tiller twice. Roll it and seed. Plowing first, gives a much deeper seed bed, when using a rototiller.  I also use to tiller to cover seed, hitting it lightly over the top., then rolling.   A tiller covers an inch in depth for corn, oats, rye, wheat, brassica  and your bigger seeds, airates the soils and seedling just seem to do better.

 

If the field has been plowed in the spring, and I want to late summer plant something, I'll go in with the tiller and work the top.  (pics below) The disc pic show discing the top, on some nasty top groth that got away from me last summer because of wet soil conditions all year. I also got in to plant last season with a tiller on a little moister soil conditions. I would have got nothing planted without the tiller.

 

I would put a 66" behind a modern 30 hp tractor. A 30hp would struggle with a 6.' I'm running a 66" on a 50 hp, offsetting the tiller to one side to cover the wheel track. I don't like feeling the power train, when the tiller is running in the ground. A 72" did that on my 2006 tractor.

 

Good luck with what ever you decide, and we're all on here to help ya.

Edited March 15, 2014 by landtracdeerhunter

[thphm]

Good info in the above post, I know by me the ground has so much clay in it plus stone in virgin soil you have to plow it first a disc will not go down deep enough by it's self.

[Fishon]

Thanks, cant wait to see some grass soon.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Thanks, cant wait to see some grass soon.

 

Their are some very nice people near you that  can help you out with a tiller called Ranmar Tractor in Pulaski, N.Y..  Randy a heck of a nice guy and I'm sure he'd be willing to head you in the right direction.

 

[Doc]

So, what is wrong with the conventional plow-disc-drag style of tillage? There are lots of old (very old) implements for sale at reasonable prices that could save you a lot of cash, and do a real job when you are finished

[G-Man]

tillers really are for gardens and good ground... i put together plow and disk and drags for under 500 bucks.. tillers are much more than that..they arent used on big acreages as my food plotting has increased the use of my time comes into play plow and disc are much faster, and . i've seen more broken tines on tillers in my area and would never buy a used one.. a good field cultivator is another option over a plow... but discs work great for leveling out ruts in two tracks and although in new (fallow field ) you need to plow or spray and adjust the angle on discs to bite in i have found them much more useful overall. that being said in small tight areas a tiller can be backed up to the edge tighter than a plow, but my experiance is that game prefers a grassy brushy edge against a plot vs woods to food.... again if you think you'll only be on good ground and very small plots a tiller may work for you, but used equipment is much cheaper and sometimes free, or the value of scrap

[Fishon]

The spots i want to plant arent that big and i did want to use it to make a decent sized garden. Ive been looking around here for implements and i think the scrappers beat me to everything or no one is selling.

[dbHunterNY]

it depends on how big and where your plots are.  I've used a 4' tiller behind my Kubota B7200 4WD tractor was awesome success.  I was making small kill plots deeper back in that were 1 acre and under.  I lifted the tiller up on the 3 point hitch and took ATV trails back in.  Then I didn't have to tow equipment across a stream and make multiple trips.  that said more accessible plots over an acre or very rocky dry ground will be better suited for plows and discs.

[landtracdeerhunter]

A rototiller is like a morning cup of coffee, it's addicting, LOL.

 

Oh, and I logged on thousands of hours in front of most tillage equipment.

Not old enough to be behind of, LOL

Edited March 16, 2014 by landtracdeerhunter

[HuntOrBeHunted]

We use disc. They work well, and this year im going to take a shot and say were going to get a late thaw.

[Lever action]

I use an old cultivator and then disc after.Works great for me. Our soil has a lot of shale and clay.