New (to me) 6' Disk Harrow

I don't want to rain on your parade but discs work better when they are "double discs" instead of the single gang you have. Secondly, that set is designed to have solid concrete blocks placed onto those rectangular angle iron racks that sit just behind the discs, to add much needed weight in order to get them to cut instead of ride over the earth. As strong as the HH-34 hitch is, I don't know if it could manage that much weight hanging so far out behind the pickup point. That set is already pretty heavy but that weight is spread over six feet. In other words, the weight is a problem for your hitch and the lack of weight over the six foot width is a problem when it comes to making the discs work effectively. You could build a triangle lift that would bolt to the drawbar of the disc set but you would also need an angle brace that runs from the top link of the triangle to the mid-point of the disc set's drawbar. I would shoot for a 45 degree angle on that brace. It could be U-bolted to the draw bar.

Grease is paramount for disc sets. Make sure all grease nipples are accepting grease and that it is being distributed properly.

There's two ways to accomplish that suggestion.


One way is to make the triangle frame previously discussed so that you can attach the disc set to your 3 point. The disc set will track completely in line with your tractor and therefore, turning the tractor with the discs down in the soil will be a little difficult. With this set up, you only need a single caster-type wheel mounted at the rear and attached to the main frame of the disc set. You will be able to use the 3 point to lift the front of the discs and the caster wheel to lift the rear well off the ground during turns and transport.


The second way is to pull the disc set from your drawbar hitch but you would have to extend the drawbar hitch or..... install your F-27 and use that to pull the discs. That would allow you to make tight turns with the tractor with no fear of the discs hitting the rear tires during those tight turns. But you would have to put a pair of tires at the back end to pick up the discs for transport. The tires would be positioned at or near the outboard ends of the discs. They would have to be bracketed to an axle shaft that would be pivoted by a centre-mounted cylinder. Something similar to the gauge wheel setup used on our mowing decks. You would want the wheels to lift the discs at least six inches off the ground in the raised position but the wheels should be about six inches in air when they are fully retracted so that they do not keep the discs from digging full depth. That will call for a long-stroke cylinder depending upon how you design the pivot. So don't rush into buying a cylinder until you get this figured out.

Some thoughts from the great plains.

I'm with Billygoat, I don't think that will work very well as a mounted attachment. I've only seen discs that size used as mounted attachments on tractors the size of 8N Fords and larger. All modern production farm discs are pull type and are hydraulically raised and lowered using transport wheels.

As far as power to pull it, around here we figure 10hp per foot of tandem disc. So a 20ft tandem disc needs a tractor of around 200 gross horsepower, or 160-170 drawbar horsepower. Since yours is a single disc that cuts the hp need in about half, so 5hp per foot (But hold on, more reductions to come.). The big farm discs have disc blades in the 20 to 24 inch range and a working depth of about 10-12". The blades on that disc look to me to be about 12-14" giving you a maximum working depth of about 6-7", so that brings us down to about 2.5hp per foot. So if that disc is 6 foot I come up with a requirement of 15 gross hp and figuring 15% drive train losses, 12.75 drawbar hp. at maximum working depth.

Now, having said all of that, this is just a general guide line. There are a lot of variables that can impact the performance, heavy clay soil may require more horsepower.

I'm with Hydriv, load the disc with all the weight you can, hook up and see what happens.

ByCo

The prior owner used to pull it with an 11HP Farmall Cub. He said he broke the original tongue long ago and used a pressure treated 4x4 and an eye bolt to pull it. I had one laying around so I bolted it on with some 1/2" galvanized hardware I had using the original holes. I also bought a piece of 3/16" steel that I am going to attach to the end of the 4x4 so I can pull it with the sleeve hitch.

I also have an old screw jack laying around that I have been trying to figure out how to use to raise and lower some wheels. The only problem is the nut part of the jack stripped out on me. The threads don't look standard, so I will have to do some looking around for the right sized nut.

Thanks for all the great ideas so far.

I was looking at this beast and had some questions about the little square things on the back of the weight bar. What are they? I am talking about the square part in the bottom middle of the picture.



There is a bar that is attached to the weight bar as well. Any ideas as to it's purpose?

Here is my attempt to add some weight to the harrow. Even this little bit made a difference. I was lazy and just grabbed some rocks and bungie chords. I'll grab some patio blocks on my way home and do it up right.

I also added a pressure treated 4x4 with two pieces of 3/16th steel to attach to the sleeve hitch. Works slick.