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Bridge Hitch Pulls Tandem Disk Behind Plow
"It quickly became the talk of the town when I took it to the field," says Albert City, Iowa, farmer Gary Siepker about the special mold-board plow/tandem disk combo he's used for two years. The hitched-together tillage tools leave enough corn stubble on the surface to control erosion yet leave fields level enough to p
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Bridge Hitch Pulls Tandem Disk Behind Plow DISKS Disks (58D) 20-3-9 "It quickly became the talk of the town when I took it to the field," says Albert City, Iowa, farmer Gary Siepker about the special mold-board plow/tandem disk combo he's used for two years. The hitched-together tillage tools leave enough corn stubble on the surface to control erosion yet leave fields level enough to plant beans with a single tillage pass the following spring.
"By pulling the disk behind our plow, we're able to save two passes with the field cultivator in the spring," Siepker says. "Over 1,000 acres of bean ground, it saved 150 hours last year and worked perfectly."
Key to success is the gooseneck hitch Siepker built to pull his Krause 17 1/2-ft. tandem disk behind his 10-bottom (18-in.) International 800 moldboard. To leave enough residue on top, Siepker cut two-thirds off the height and width of each mold-board and removed every other blade from the disk, staggering them between front and back gangs, which increased spacing from 9 to 18 in.
The gooseneck attaches to the plow with a ball hitch above the third bottom. He had to make sure the hitch would clear the plow's automatic reset mechanism and that the disk trails directly behind the plow in the field. He reinforced the plow's hitch to handle the additional load.
He used a 5 by 7-in. steel beam off an old cultivator for the 21-ft. bridge hitch between the plow and the disk.
Siepker built a strongly-braced A-frame hitch on top of the disk to attach to the bridge hitch. A telescoping pipe that runs from the A-frame hitch to the back of the disk is fitted with a hydraulic cylinder that swings the disk into position behind the plow for transport and helps steer it on the road and along fencelines.
He pulls the tool combo with a 400 hp Panther Steiger 350 4-WD tractor at working speeds of 6 to 6 1/2 mph.
His out-of-pocket expenses were $2,000.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Siepker, 5469 220th Ave., Albert City, Iowa 50510 (ph 712 843-5459).
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