The Disc harrow

[Land_Owner]

I purchased a used "Land Pride" DH25 (or equal) disc harrow and downloaded its manual from the Web.  Its bearings are shot and there is corrosion on the nuts and bolts.  I have purchased bearings and am motivating myself to restore this piece of equipment to some simblance of its former use.  I'll torch cut the keeper nuts off and replace them with new ones if the breaker bar and "Liquid Wrench" fail to accomplish removal.

There are two inherent difficulties with this disc.  1.) I am NOT a farmer and 2.) it is too tall and doesn't lift more than ~2-inches off of the ground.

I am towing it behind an MF 275 (67 HP) but there is no more static adjustment in the lifting arms of the 3-pt. hitch (no more drilled holes toward the tractor to effect an upward lift in the arms).  Perhaps there is a little more dynamic adjustment (screwing the lifting arms tighter into the threaded bars) but not much.  The top link is attached to the lowest of 3 location points on the tractor.  Tire inflation is good.  Tire size is as recommended by the manufacturer.

I suppose I could use 18" blades, but the disc is designed for 20" to 22" blades.  It is currently fitted with 22" blades most of which are in one piece and good shape so replaceing all of them w/20" blades is not the way that I would like to go.

Guess that leaves me with "living with" tough trailering and even tougher maneuvering around uneven terrain.

Land Owner
If it was easy, anybody could do it."[/b]

[flintlock]

Check to see if the MF has load and depth control....that is an adjustment that allows you to pull a plow on the 3 point hitch and the hydraulics will sense when the soil gets "heavy" and the hitch will automatically raise the plow so the tractor doesn't bog down....On a Deere this can affect how high the lift raises....it might be the same on the MF....If my memory is correct a MF has top link sensing, so the adjustment might be in that area....Deeres have bottom shaft sensing...

Also...does it have turf tires??? or smaller tires than what it should have for farm use??? This would also affect your ground clearence...

[Land_Owner]

No to turf tires and standby for the "sensing" linkage.  My service dealer just alerted me to that possibility last Friday.  I don't think it is working or if it is working, then it is possibly not working properly.  I have bogged down the bush hog a lot lately on uneven terrain and too thick vegetation. I have had to manually raise and lower the 3-point hitch.  I know there is a horizontal hydraulic cylinder on the top link, but if memory serves, it is in its shortest position.  

I will have to investigate further to see if there is any more "take up" in that cylinder.  Is there a way to test whether the "sensing" linkage is working?  What is the "normal" position, the "relaxed" position and the "hard" position of that linkage?

Land Owner
If it was easy, anybody could do it.”

[flintlock]

I'm not well versed on MF...I grew up with Deere and worked for them for 13 years...but...I would bet those three holes you mentioned on the top link changes the geometry and would change the sensitivity...Your local dealer could verify...

[victorcharlie]

My Massey 135 has position control and another lever called draft control.  If you want the plow to float pull the position control almost all the way up (if you pull it all the way up it goes into constant pumping position and will clack, clack, clack), and set the draft control to the depth you want to plow.  My massey also has a speed lever that controls how fast the lift responds.  The combination of lift speed and draft control working togather is what makes the plow float at a predetermined depth.

For your horrow, I don't think you need draft control so pull that lever all the way to the rear and use the position control to rais and lower the harrow.

My guess is that with the 3 point all the way up if the implement is still not up high enough, the implement wasn't designed to be used with that particular tractor.

Maybe the harrow is a catagory II that someone changed the pins on to make it a cat. I?

Your MF 275 is a nice tractor.....maybe post your question on yesterday's tractors web site.....lots of tractor people there....no need to register......I'd post it in the implement alley section and the Massey Ferguson section..........hopefully someone can help......

http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/boards.cgi

[Land_Owner]

I had that same idea victorcharlie, but your specifics on the Yesterday's Tractor forum is appreciated (I had forgotten about them).  It is off topic on a hunting forum to start a sideline on tractor proceedure and use.  

It is good to know those of us in Land Management have a well rounded experience base from which to pose one another Q & A's.  I will ponder your insight this afternoon regarding the position of levers.  I have not used them on previous equipment (bush hog, box blade, scraper blade) except to raise and lower.  

I thought my hydraulic pump was individual in its clack, clack, clack when in the highest position.  Now there is relief that that is common.  I don't like that sound.  To me, that sound is a precursor of damage to the hydraulic pump and I avoid it when I can.

Land Owner
If it was easy, anybody could do it.”

[Land_Owner]

Nothing like a follow up to set the record straight.  Rebuilt the disc and replaced all 8 bearings and 4 broken discs.  Tractor lift control is working properly.  Draft control is still being investigated.  Five acres of fields and roads are disced and ready for the Ag lime.  Talked to the Ag lime distributor today.  Tomorrow he will coordinate delivery/spreadding.  Seed is being investigated (type, field layout, #/acre, fertilizer, etc.).  This year maybe all of the planets will align, the plots will sprout, the deer will come, and I will have sufficient time to enjoy myself this hunting season.

[Hunter Mann]

It sounds like all your plans are coming together. I love to hear when people lime. That's the most missed ingredient in good plots.

You tractor guys and your problems. 

I have problems! I just disced 4 acres of food plots with a tow behind disc on my ATV. Float control? Nope, don't need one. This dang thing floats over everything. I had to run the disc over it 10 times just get the rye turned in. And I have what could best be descrived as organic blow sand. It feels like blow sand, but it's light brown. This would be easy for a tractor.

Someday, I hope to have your tractor problems, so I can cut 75% out of the time I spend planting 4 acres. The end result, however, is the same. Lush food plots and great shot opportunities.

Keep on planting!

[Land_Owner]

Disc weight (and prior improvements) are the keys!  But weight is the enemy of an ATV.  Too much and the clutch is a gonner.  Too little and the disc won't cut.  Prior to discing, bush hog or glyphosate the field.  That will help.

I have the same problem with the tractor and a 700 pound disc.  If the field has not been either glyphosated or bush hogged at least two weeks prior to discing, the disc has to be run back and forth too many times getting clogged with weeds, not cutting anything, replanting weed seeds, and it is both frustrating and aggrevating. 

On another board someone suggested the mould board plow (or some such animal) used to be used to first break up a field.  Only then would the disc be used to break up the clods.  Weathered fields are packed awfully hard for just an ATV disc, as you have discovered first hand.  Shoot, they're packed pretty darned hard for my tractor and tandem disc.

[Hunter Mann]

I just ran into a nice solution for breaking ground on plots for the first time.

The local UBC (United Building Center) rents equipment. They have a John Deer tractor that they rent for $100 per day, and it has a 6' wide tiller on it. Next season we are going to rent that thing and bust the ground on about 5 acres of new plots.

While we're at it, we think we are going to till up some trails that connect our bedding areas to our food plots. This should make the job of the ATV disc much easier. And I'm not breaking my own equipment 

[hunt4570]

A couple of things..If your disc wont go high enough,maybe your top link is set to long..tighten it up some.

If you are having trouble cuting up new ground...try setting the disc's straight instead of angled to start out and it will cut the vegetation better

get a soil analisis done to see what needs to be added,no reason to add things that arn't nessasary.

[kbush]

Saw your post on replacing the bearings on your disc harrow.  Try a product called Kroil.  It's one of the best penetrating oils I know of ( their advertising claims it creeps into spaces 1/1,000,000 of an inch, if so, why doesn't it seep from the crimped edges of the can?).  A 36" pipe wrench and a long "cheater" pipe should allow you to break the nuts if the corrosion isn't too much.  You'll have to jam a block of wood under the discs to keep them from spinning.  Don't forget to straighten the locking tab with a pair of pliers and make sure its put back to keep from losing the nut while plowing.  Don't ask how I know about the locking tab  I just got through rebuilding the rear gangs on a set of IH 470 leveling disc a few weeks ago.