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offset discs

An offset will cut deeper, but leave a rougher surface. An offset is a primary tillage tool and a Finnish disc is what it says.
 
An offset will dig deep like a plow. They were used a lot to cover more ground than a moldboard plow in the 70s and 80s. They fell out of favor because of how they compacted soils and with the advent of the disk rippers.
 
When first introduced offset disks were used for working in orchards since they are typically offset to one side of the tractor in order to pull straight (hence the name). This allowed the disk to get farther under the trees while the tractor could stay in the clear. In some areas that use surface irrigation (such as my home area in SE Colorado) they are the "normal" style of disc because if you work round and round in lands they leave a very level surface without the ridges and furrows that a tandem leaves.
 
Jon is spot on.....previous post about them being off-set to one side of the tractor is wrong. The off-set is in the disc gang itself, making it dig deep and cut. The first real cutters, in my area, were Taylor-Way. A 9' Taylor-Way would load a 930 Case to the MAX....& that's a wheatland model with the big rubber.
 
My friend would pull a craw foot packer behind his to smooth the ground out a little better. He would run over his corn stubble in the fall instead of a Chisel plow like most people around us did. He parked it now and runs a high speed limited tillage tool over the stubble once in the fall once in the spring then plant again.
 
I generally agree. the offset is sorta like 1/2 of a tandem (1/2 of the front and 1/2 of the back of the tandem) with the angle fixed I think.
 

An offset is not half a tandem and it is not set off to the side. From a distance an offset will look like a regular flexing tandem, except the discs are larger diam. When you get closer you see that it is all rigid. there is virtually no flex between the gangs so each disc is held at an offset to the direction of travel so it digs much more aggressively like four gangs of disc plows.
 
My post about them being used in for orchards came from this description in a Deere equipment brochure from the 1930's. The title at the top of the page (not shown here) was "Tractor Disk Harrows for Orchard Work" and this was the only model of offset in the book. Note the position of the hitch in the picture. An offset disk has a strong desire to turn left so the hitch is offset to counteract this force. The offset disks I used growing up would barely cover the dual on the left but would extend past several feet on the right. The sideways force on the hitch would usually make the tractor run at a bit of an angle with the back pushed several inches to the left when driving straight. These lopsided forces make adjusting an offset disk to pull straight much more challenging than with a tandem.
a267467.jpg
 
Here's a few more pictures of offset disks in action, one from the early days in an orchard and one more modern. These photos are from Norm Swinford's book "Allis-Chalmers: Farm Equipment 1914-1985".
a267469.jpg

a267470.jpg
 
Mine works as a primary tillage or a finish unit if needed All depends on how you adjust them and drive to how nice a job they can do,, I see most folks seem to set them to run deeper in the front than the rear making them leave the ground very uneven,, a disc is not my first choice but at times I do have to use them but like said they will pack the ground if you use them in too wet of soil,, this goes for a off-set or tandem style or at least it does it in the soils I have
cnt
a267482.jpg

a267483.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 21:28:43 05/11/18)
An offset is not half a tandem
Click to expand...

Please explain why you think an offset disk isn't similar to 1/2 of a regular tandem disk.

JD built regular tandem disk harrows that they refereed to as double offset because the disk gangs were staggered /overlapped in the center of disk harrow.
 
Mine is fixed mounted. That's good as I figured the designer worked out the best angle for the job and welded it all in place......question is, was that my soil, under my conditions?

I don't understand the compaction thing. This is a cutter not a compressor/cultipactor or however you spell it....I use a roller behind a drill.
 
(quoted from post at 04:24:03 05/12/18)
(quoted from post at 21:28:43 05/11/18)
An offset is not half a tandem
Click to expand...

Please explain why you think an offset disk isn't similar to 1/2 of a regular tandem disk.

JD built regular tandem disk harrows that they refereed to as double offset because the disk gangs were staggered /overlapped in the center of disk harrow.
Click to expand...

I think that I see the misunderstanding. When you said half I was thinking front half like one that is in my area that I used a couple times when all I had for a tractor was my first Kubota. Now I think that you were referring to left or right half, is that correct?
 
(quoted from post at 05:35:27 05/12/18) Mine is fixed mounted. That's good as I figured the designer worked out the best angle for the job and welded it all in place......question is, was that my soil, under my conditions?

I don't understand the compaction thing. This is a cutter not a compressor/cultipactor or however you spell it....I use a roller behind a drill.
Click to expand...

Mark, the disc itself does little compacting. It does a little because all of that weight is still bearing on the soil underneath the discs. The main compaction is done by the tractor pulling the disc. The chisel on the other hand though it is pulling down on the tractor tires, is set work below the root depth of the crop.
 
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