Disc Harrow - Types, Uses and Benefits

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By JasvirUpdated On: 27-Oct-23 04:17 AM

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ByJasvir |Updated On: 27-Oct-23 04:17 AM

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3,189 Views

Disc Harrow is a piece of equipment used in agricultural work for farmland preparation. In this article, you will read what a disc harrow is and its components. Additionally, the uses, types and benefits of disc harrows are explained in this article.

Land preparation is one of the most important processes in farming. Without levelling the soil, crop plantation is not possible. Historically in India, land preparation was done using the help of animals like an ox. In the modern day and age disc harrows have become their replacement and they perform the tasks easily while saving time and manpower.

What is a Disc Harrow

A Disc Harrow is a piece of agricultural equipment used in the land preparation process. First the disc or disk rotates then the disc cuts and breaks the soil, like this the soil is prepared for planting or sowing. It can be mounted behind a tractor on a 3-point hitch. It is also known as a tractor disc or disk plow. This equipment has many components that are listed below.

• Disc
• Frame
• Weight Box
• Spacer or Spool
• Disc Gang
• Gang Bolt or Arbor Bolt
• Scraper
• Bumper
• Bearings
• Wheels

Parts of Disc Harrow

Disc: A Disc or harrowing disc is a cutting blade made of metal and has a circular shape. Disc is the main component of a disk harrow as these blades cut and level the soil for sowing or planting. Discs have two main types depending on the shape.

Smooth Disc: Smooth disks are the most common type of disc. These have a smooth and flat surface.

Notched Disc: Notched discs have scallops or notches around the edges to create aggressive cuttings.

Frame: A frame holds and supports all the other parts of a Disc Harrow. It is mostly made of strong metal like iron or steel.

Weight Box: A weight box is a metal box attached to the frame. It is used to increase the weight of the disc harrow and helps in better land penetration. You can add weight depending on the type of soil.

Arbor Bolt or Gang Bolt: It is a long metal shaft. Discs are mounted on this shaft and discs rotate alongside the arbor bolt.

Spacer or Spool: It is used between two discs to retain a fixed position.

Disc Gang: A disc gang is a set of discs mounted on arbor bolt.

Scraper: A scraper is a blade mounted on the frame of the disc harrow. It removes dirt from discs.

Bumper: The bumper is mounted at the end of each disc gang.

Bearings: These provide rotation to the disc gang.

Wheels and Gauge Wheels: The gauge wheel is the wheel mounted at the front of the disc harrow. A disc harrow also has wheels on the side for transportation.

Uses of Disc Harrow

A Disc harrow is mainly used in land preparation. It is also used in various other agricultural tasks like levelling, mixing fertilisers in the soil and weed control. Disk Harrow uses in detail are explained below.

1. Primary Tillage or First Time Land Preparation: Primary tillage refers to first time soil breakage. Disc harrow cut and pulverise the farmland and the soil is prepared. The prepared soil is ready for planting crops.

2. Secondary Tillage: Secondary tillage is the second time use of the harrow disc to break and refine the soil further. Hard soil may not be ready for planting the first time so second time use of plow disc is needed.

3. Crop Residue Weed Control: Disk harrow has another use in agriculture for mixing crop residue or weeds by cutting them and burying them in the soil.

4. Mixing Fertilisers: Another use of disk harrow is evenly mixing fertilisers in the soil. It is easier to use a disk harrow to distribute fertilisers than to do it manually.

5. Seedbed Preparation: A disk harrow can be used for uniform seedbed preparation.

Types of Disc Harrow

Disc Harrows can be classified into various types depending on their shapes and sizes. There are many available disc harrows for sale in the Indian market. The most common types of disc harrows are single action disc harrows, double action disk harrows, and offset disc harrows. All of these are explained below.

Single Action Disc Harrows

Single Action Disc Harrows are mounted on a single axle and they have disc gangs that break and cut the soil in a single direction. These are most suitable for smaller farms because they have smaller widths. The disc diameter is 20-30 cm for this type of disc harrow.

Double Action or Tandem Disc Harrows

Double Action Disc Harrow consists of disc gangs arranged in line and mounted on a single frame. These have two or more rows of disc gangs, the front gang rotates in one direction while the second rotates in the opposite direction. This helps on hard soil and tandem disc harrows are best suited for large farms. The cutting in this type of harrow is more forceful.

Offset Disc Harrows

Offset disc harrows have disc gangs positioned offset to each other. Discs in one gang are mounted slightly ahead in this type for better soil breaking and land preparation.

Other than these three main types, a disc harrow can also be categorised by the size of the disc and the amount of workload. These have three categories: light duty, mid duty and hard duty disc harrows. Here are some other popular disc harrows.

ATV Disk Harrow

ATV disc harrow is a compact and lightweight harrow that can be mounted behind an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). These are suitable for small farms because of their compact size. This is a more affordable type of disc for tractor.

3-Point Disc Harrow

A 3-point disc harrow can be mounted on a 3-point hitch of a tractor. These disc harrows come in various sizes and types. Some 3-point disc harrows are tandem while others are offset. This is an easy-to-mount and unmount disc to plow the soil on all sizes of farms.

Benefits of Disc Harrows

Disc harrows have many benefits to farmers that are mentioned below:

1. Easier and Efficient Farming: Equipment like disc harrows make farming tasks easier for farmers. As mentioned above they are used in primary and secondary tillage. Additionally, they are used for incorporating crop residue and fertilisers into the soil. They make land preparation easier and less time-consuming.

2. Better Drainage: They break the soil and break the surface crust which helps in better water flow and drainage on the land.

3. Precise and Uniform Land Preparation: They help in uniform land preparation and aeration. The work done by these machines is precise and helps in efficient farming.

Conclusion

This is all about the disc harrows in this article. In conclusion, a tractor disc is the most useful modern equipment for land preparation in India. They can perform tasks like seedbed preparation and weed control easily and effectively. Depending upon your budget and the size of the farm you can choose from various categories available in India. The large variety of types of disc harrows helps cater for the needs of every farmer with different sizes of land. They have many benefits which is why a farmer should think about investing in them.