More farmers might be pulling their discers out of storage this spring because of the difficult season we’re having.If so, here are some tips to consider that can help produce a nice straight furrow.
Alignment
The drawbar must form a straight line from its front end on the tractor to the pull point on the discer. There are two places that might cause problems:The drawbar must be free to swing at the side of the swing frame on the tractor. You might have to attach an L-shaped frame on the drawbar to keep it away from the frame. If this isn’t done, the load will pull the front end of the tractor to the right and you will need to constantly correct to the left. This will pull the back wheel of the discer out of the furrow and to the left.The stabilizer bar must always be loosened when making an adjustment on the discer. This allows the machine to swing to the new setting.
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Setup
The width of cut is the next thing to set. It is where most of the adjustment mistakes are made. Cut width is set at the back wheel. If you set the discer too wide for the conditions, you will end up pushing the gangs into the ground by spring pressure to make them cut. Every pound you push down is a pound taken off the wheels, which means you cannot hold the unit in a straight line.The discer will tend to run to the left in hard soil and vice versa in soft or sticky soil. This is an issue most years on the Prairies because the ground is usually too hard to use the seeding section on the rear wheel as is recommended by the manufacturer.Remember that when you take a narrower cut, you will also have to reset your seeding rate because it is set at the seeding setting on your rear wheel. If everything is set properly, you should be able to run your wheels straight ahead or maybe two degrees to the right.
Troubleshooting
If you can’t get your discer to trail properly, you might have to set your discer pull point one hole to the right.If it is a sweet hitch, line up with the discers in a straight line and treat them as one unit. If it is a Martin hitch, start setting with the back discer.To line up the tractor with the discer, shorten or lengthen the hitch on the discer. Four-wheel drive tractors are usually set so the outside dual runs in the furrow.Good luck out there.Henry Guenter is a former service manager for Massey Ferguson. Contact: insidemachines@producer.com.
