Disc harrow

Disc harrow: Main information

A Disc harrow is special tillage equipment that is used for preparing the soil before planting crops. Moreover it chops out crop remainders or weeds. It consists of numerous discs made of steel or iron. These disss are arranged in sections, usually two or four, and have slight concavity. The sections appear to form an “X” that is wider than it is tall because it has been flattened. Thanks to the X-Form, more unwanted weeds are cut. In order to ensure that the discs are not in line with the equipment’s direction, they are offset. This enables them giving an optimum result by slicing the ground as well as loosening and picking up the soil. When it comes to transportation, the side parts where the discs are mounted on are hydraulically lifted up.

History

The disc harrow was invented in the 1870s though its inventor remains unknown. It was widely used in states located in the Great Plains and Middle West but became more widespread in the 1890s. From the 1950s, its use decreased with people preferring cultivators that were more efficient.

The disc harrows used in the old days comprised two sections without hydraulic functionality. They were pulled by a horse and could be adjusted during transportation in order to prevent them from ripping the ground. The disc harrows used today have hydraulic functionality and are tractor-driven.

subcategories of the Disc Harrow

• Single- acting disc harrow: This has a pair of blade gangs that are pulled by a tractor.
• Tandem disc harrow: This has two sets of opposing blade gangs.
• Offset disc harrow: This has two gangs, with one trailing the other. It can be used for tilling under tree branches that are low because the line of pull is far to one side of strip of the till.
• Spike-toothed harrow: This is used for smoothening soil once plowing is done.

Manufacturers

The main manufacturers are Vicon, Simba, John Deere, Kuhn, Amazone, Quivogne and Agrifac.