The Official Farming Thread...

[Bill G]

Thank the Lord you were running red and not green as that deer would have disabled a Deere

All joking aside I rarely see sheds as there are folks that really scout for them like they do mushrooms.

 

[Wilhelm]

Wheats


Strawberries


More wheats, grown man hip high - where it didn't fall over.
Corn in the background.

 

[Bill G]

Do you double-crop the wheat?

 

[Dustin4185]

View attachment 459821
View attachment 459822

We found one today…..but it was in the tire!

 

[Dustin4185]

I have an odd question for you ingenious farmers…..we have two good sized Athens offset disc harrows we use for food plot planting. We just put new plates on last week and as always, didn’t get them tight enough. According to Athens plow, they torque to 1,400 ft lbs. or a 200 lb man on a 7’ bar, lol. Three of the axles can be torqued this way with their plate wrench. One gang can’t due to the frame being in the way. I was debating different options and found Enerpac makes a torque cassette style wrench, but that is too expensive. A torque multiplier is too big to fit between the gangs and has no way for the reaction bar to work.

I thought about cutting another wrench out of 1” plate with different holes along the handle. Then make a bracket to temporarily go on the gang beams (4x6x1/2” tube). I could then add a hydraulic cylinder between the two. Do you all think a 2.5” or 3” cylinder would have enough pressure to tighten these axle nuts using the tractor SCV valves? I originally thought of using a power unit for like a dump trailer, but realized the disc is usually attached to a BIG power unit.

 

[jakethesnake]

I have an odd question for you ingenious farmers…..we have two good sized Athens offset disc harrows we use for food plot planting. We just put new plates on last week and as always, didn’t get them tight enough. According to Athens plow, they torque to 1,400 ft lbs. or a 200 lb man on a 7’ bar, lol. Three of the axles can be torqued this way with their plate wrench. One gang can’t due to the frame being in the way. I was debating different options and found Enerpac makes a torque cassette style wrench, but that is too expensive. A torque multiplier is too big to fit between the gangs and has no way for the reaction bar to work.

I thought about cutting another wrench out of 1” plate with different holes along the handle. Then make a bracket to temporarily go on the gang beams (4x6x1/2” tube). I could then add a hydraulic cylinder between the two. Do you all think a 2.5” or 3” cylinder would have enough pressure to tighten these axle nuts using the tractor SCV valves? I originally thought of using a power unit for like a dump trailer, but realized the disc is usually attached to a BIG power unit.

Some tractors have a good amount of power and some don’t. I’m not sure exactly how it works but for example I could hook my tractors up to a wood splitter built with cylinders and they didn’t have nearly the force that a little gasoline engine wood splitter had.

Do you have a picture of what you’re working on to maybe help with a solution

 

[Dustin4185]

Some tractors have a good amount of power and some don’t. I’m not sure exactly how it works but for example I could hook my tractors up to a wood splitter built with cylinders and they didn’t have nearly the force that a little gasoline engine wood splitter had.

Do you have a picture of what you’re working on to maybe help with a solution

I’ll get one tomorrow.

 

[JimBear]

I am thunking that @Dustin4185 is referring to tightening up the main nut on the end of the gang after replacing the blades ???

If that’s the case just use one of these while the gangs are on the ground & off the hangers.

Sure beats using a big cheater bar.

Expensive: yes

Very useful for tractor rims, semi tires & disk gangs : absolutely

 

[jakethesnake]

Yeah or if you have access to someone with one of those guns with the volume of air needed to run one they would do it.

I used to put a socket on the nuts hold the gang with a big pipe wrench. Basically allowing the pipe wrench to wedge itself into the frame and then basically give it all I had. Like step on the pipe or hang on it.

 

[jakethesnake]

If you can get a pipe wrench in there that’ll hold the gang from turning.

 

[Wilhelm]

Do you double-crop the wheat?

I don't work my fields no more, I leased them out.

But yes others plant autumn/winter wheats, harvest it and then usually plant corn.

 

[Dustin4185]

I am thunking that @Dustin4185 is referring to tightening up the main nut on the end of the gang after replacing the blades ???

If that’s the case just use one of these while the gangs are on the ground & off the hangers.

Sure beats using a big cheater bar.

Expensive: yes

Very useful for tractor rims, semi tires & disk gangs : absolutely


View attachment 459943

We have a 1” drive air gun that we use when we put the gangs together. You can’t use it when the gangs are on the disc frame except for the two outside ones. The issue is they never stay tight after the first day. Usually after retightening, they stay that way unless something else goes wrong. These discs have four separate axles. Pictures will show what I mean later today.

 

[Dustin4185]

Yeah or if you have access to someone with one of those guns with the volume of air needed to run one they would do it.

I used to put a socket on the nuts hold the gang with a big pipe wrench. Basically allowing the pipe wrench to wedge itself into the frame and then basically give it all I had. Like step on the pipe or hang on it.

That’s what we do now, but the way the frame is, you can’t hardly get enough turn to get to the next slot on the castle nut.

 

[Wilhelm]

Coming along slowly.
Two Carolina Reapers finally coming to life.

 

[Wilhelm]

And the highlight of the day, duck offspring!!!

 

[Wilhelm]

Got some Silkie chicks a couple days ago.
Tiny bumblebees

 

[JimBear]

I believe I understand what you are saying Dustin.

Sounds like it might be best to drop the 2 gangs that are difficult to access the castle nut & tighten them back up, not the easiest but most likely to succeed.

I always stand the gang on end & assemble it vertically.

Are you possibly getting some debris between the yolks & blades when assembling?

I always “ring “ all the blades after assembling, pretty obvious if things aren’t quite tight & a headache if you don’t have ear plugs.

Is it possible that maybe the new blades have a thick/thicker than normal coat of paint on them & after some use or even after tightening things up this paint flakes giving abit of slack allowing for things to become loose ?

Just spitballing.

 

[jakethesnake]

Merica!

 

[Bill G]

We have a 1” drive air gun that we use when we put the gangs together. You can’t use it when the gangs are on the disc frame except for the two outside ones. The issue is they never stay tight after the first day. Usually after retightening, they stay that way unless something else goes wrong. These discs have four separate axles. Pictures will show what I mean later today.

Pictures will definitely help. I am trying to figure out why you do not have access to all the nuts as an offset disc is pretty straight forward. You said it has (4) axles which really confuses me.

 

[Bill G]

I don't work my fields no more, I leased them out.

But yes others plant autumn/winter wheats, harvest it and then usually plant corn.

Here is it tough enough to get a good year to double crop beans after wheat but the stars would have to be in perfect alignment to follow wheat with corn. You could do it with the intention of chopping it for silage but you damn sure better be prepared to chop it yourself as no custom chopper will do it unless you had a whale of a lot to chop and even then doubtful. By the time it would be ready to chop they are done for the season.

This is a picture from October 29, 2024 of some of my beans that followed the wheat.
Clearly a F .....failure