[Broken Bear]

I've been looking for ways to cut down on chemicals.. not just $$ but better soil stewardship ..in my research an old time tool kept popping up ..and now seems to be taking back over from no-till systems
I'm not knocking no-till but there seems to be some migration away from it due to various reasons
Last fall I decided to buy a FIELD cultivator ..I started looking for a 3 point mount type that my 60 horse tractor would handle
Well there are several companies that build new that very item but 7 to 10'ers are $3000 to $4000
So I finally found a guy in Beecher Illinois who takes apart (makes 3ea 3pt cultivators out of one) the John Deere 1100 series batwing type field cultivators .. removes the stuff that made it a folding pull type and adds a 3 point mount
Depending on how wide the original configuration was ..these individual units end up any where from 6 to 12' wide
Now field cultivators are considered "secondary" tillage units meaning it's designed to follow a disc or plow ..HOWEVER I have found this to only to be true for new ground ...meaning I can in row cropped ground with my 8' cultivator allow it to go deeper to bury trash (corn/milo stalks) ..it's tools are wide spaced 3 bar tool bar design which seldom offers to "gather stalks"
Those tools are then are followed by a 3 bar harrow which is attached to the back tool bar of the cultivator
I have never seen such a perfect prepared seed bed this unit creates ..and depending on the type of soil and prior crop residue it often can be a one pass operation
I am putting a link to the guy so you can see the unit ...I am unsure if links are allowed so it not PM me and I will get it to ..I have no connection to this guy ..but I am pumped about the results this equipment delivers
https://www.ebay.com/itm/JOHN-DEERE...025737?hash=item3b2f344749:g:7dEAAOSwAvNcrVaV

Bear

 

[henry]

Discing alone leaves an uneven wavey seed bed. Planting depths arent very uniform

 

[20']

that's awesome, any pictures of the fields, before/after?

 

[Broken Bear]

that's awesome, any pictures of the fields, before/after?

No as I was racing the rain (if you can imagine that!) ...but I have more to do after I recover from yesterdays Knee surgery ..so it will be awhile
Bear

 

[Broken Bear]

20' ... here is a You Tube of a John Deere 1010 (prior generation to the 1100) which is in the original pull type configuration but at about 3:28 you can see the finish it is putting on a disked corn field ..of course mine is doing it 8' at a time!

Bear

 

[remington2225]

I agree with the field cultivator. I bought a 13’ IH 45 with harrow for $50. I replaced all shovels and it does way better than a disc. Highly recommend.

 

[20']

BB, that would be slick! I'm looking for something to replace our disc that was stolen when along with the trailer and a golf cart. But, I only have the 550 Ranger to yank any implement with. Fortunately the plot I need to work in August is small and been "worked up" (nothing like that video), so I may try and borrow a harrow from someone!

Looks like the rain showed up for ya!

 

[Broken Bear]

Still out from knee surgery so my 2 nephews are on the old M4900 Kubota and Rhino doing the seeding (doing broadcast this year as the drill might be a tad above their pay grade ;-) ) ..but to the left of the muffler you can see what the ground looks like after a pass from the cultivator W/ 3 bar Harrow mount ..Would post more/better pics but this is what the "Neph's" sent me

Bear