Rural Heritage - Front Porch

I'm looking to get a disc harrow for my team of 16h draft mules. (About 1600 lbs each.) What's a good size to target? I don't want to push the girls too hard but at the same time, they're pretty rugged. I found an old 8' single action. Also, Groffdale makes 4' and 5' double action. Suggestions?

I'd for the 8foot single. The narrow ones are hard to ride at times. Uncle Len bought a 5 foot for his garden and the first rook he hit scared him bad.

If you're riding it, I definitely agree with the wisdom of getting a wider single rather than a narrower double. If you're pulling the harrow with a forecart, it is not an issue. If you don't have to do a very thorough job of discing, then a wider one is fewer trips across the field.

I'd go 8' also, and for the same reason. Lot's of rock here.
I use 6' disk and put 3 little mules on. Disk about 10-15 acres every year (takes 3 passes). It can be rough in my rocks but has not un-assed me yet.

Thanks. I guess my concern was the 8' single would be too tough a pull for my two draft mules. This will be my first season working them and 'm still in the learning stage so input/opinions on this is welcome! If it helps, we're flat land and very few rocks. As for riding or towing, I do have a Pioneer forecart so either way is an option and am open to either. Of course, an old 8' ride-on single is less money than a new towable 4' or 5' double.

Worst-case scenario is that you just can't set the 8-footer to its maximum aggressiveness. And then you have rationale to get that third equine that will contrive to fall in your lap. Nature abhors a vacuum.

You can buy all the parts needed from companies like Ag Supply. Today you can replace the old bearings with modern sealed bearings. You can make depth gauges out of well casing.
Double coverage by lapping half will kill more weeds than just burying them.

I appreciate all the input. So it sounds like the opinion is, my pair of draft mules can handle the 8' disc and that's probably a better tool than a smaller double? Not sure I'm ready for a third mule just yet! Although we also have a 29 year old horse we took in since he needed a home. Maybe I can hitch him up to add to the team??? :)

8 foot is going to be a big load in mellow soil. Rocks actually keep a disk from sinking in and pulls a lot easier because of that. If you don't set it too aggressively, it won't pull real bad as long as the ground isn't loose. The softer you get the ground the deeper it will sink in and consequently will pull harder and harder.

Brian, the proof will be in the pudding. If you go with the wider tool, you can adjust the aggressiveness as needed for conditions and capacity of your team. If that still turns out to be too much, and you can't add another to your hitch, you can sell it and procure the lighter tool. That makes more sense to me than the other way around.

Put on depht gauges. Here we only want to work the ground 4 inches or it will blow away. Measure the sizze o the disk blade and get some wellcaseing 8 inch smaller or have blacksmith roll you some out of 4ich strap iron. You need to have these clamp to the pool,

sorry about tthe typping mistakes
don't know if i can master this notebook
my old computers died

1)	Enter your name and response.
2)	Click "Send" to post your response on the Front Porch bulletin board.
3)	Your response will be reviewed for appropriateness before being posted for public view.

Name:
Response: