discs on ploughing

[neilw]

If discs as a soil loosening implement leave a pn, do they have the same effect if you run them through ploughed land??

[Ciaran (Perfect-32)]

depends on the land ! worked with a lad last year that disced fot barly after ploughing and then sowed it with a Vaterstad and the crop never grew so so he replanted it with mazie 30acors! and it looked fine, he woulnt be an amiture as he sows 1000 acors of grain a year

[Eurodeere]

Yes, discs can leave a pan if used in inappropriate conditions, as can almost any type of soil engaging implement.

[neilw]

best stick with a trusty power harrow then??

[Gav836]

Power harrows are even worse if used in the wrong conditions, they can make a smeared water resistant pan as little as 2 inches deep if used when its too wet

Discs are ideal to use on ploughing to break up lumps when its hard and dry, used when wet though and its asking for trouble

[archbarch]

discs are great for making one clod into two    power harrows just cost too much to operatate and on very heavy clay a waste of time and money. my old boss always worked on the principle start shallow and work deeper, that way you dont bring up clods and easier to dry out.

[Deere-est]

We used to work deeper to break and aerate the soil and to give the roots of the forthcoming crop an easier time; then work shallower to produce a nice tilth for the seed to germinate. Even powerharrowing could be done at a decent speed in the right year at the lighter end of the farm, generally it is more costly but it isn't always the case. It used to work well behind disced stubble too. Ploughing was done with a press to keep moisture in if it was a dry time or if it were a bit wetter it was ploughed and left to weather a little.

It's horses for courses for all you questions Niall. There are hundreds of ways to do hundreds of jobs on farms up and down the country. You have to look in your own back yard so to speak, to find the best way of doing things. We here can only vouch for what we know in our own circumstances, past or present. There isn't a wrong way, there are just lots of different ways.

[neilw]

do you power harrow after discing to get deeper soil penetration, or just give a better finish??

if it's just for the finish, surely it wouldnt need to be as deep, therefore quicker??

[Deere-est]

Exactly Niall, in some instances this could be the case. 

[neilw]

Can you use Simba Solo's, topdowns etc on ploughed ground?/ Not there intended use I know but the same sort of result, tines for the comapction, packer roller at the back for finish.....?

[Eurodeere]

I can't see any reason to power harrow deeper than you have ploughed. The plough is there to bury all the trash etc and the power harrow is used to prepare the soil for drilling. The smaller the seed the finer the tilth needs to be.