Hobbyfarmer - Lemken

[pourfarmer]

Hey HobbyFarmer, how are you liking that Lemken? Did it work well for plowdown?

Did you get the rest of your 2016 crop off?

[hobbyfrmr]

Hey HobbyFarmer, how are you liking that Lemken? Did it work well for plowdown?

Did you get the rest of your 2016 crop off?

Yes, the Lemken is working for plowdown. It also did a really nice job breaking some old rootbound hayland. I had issues with front to back levelling, this would make it plug. We Levelled the machine better and problem solved. Something that I dont like is that it will not go shallow enough for tipping over stubble. That depth control gets done every turn by the operator, hydraulics and the tach. . It is dissapointing for a piece of equipment that is German engineered and expensive having crude depth control. I am always set at the shallowest setting and that seems to be plenty deep for anything I do. I bought a 26 foot and its a heavy pull for the old antique MFs. Its that time of year, good Possibility Im suffering from bigger tractor syndrome.
If the yellow blossom clover gets rank, (5+ feet tall) the first pass is more like a "knock down" and does not bury like a regular tandem disk. It takes a couple of extra passes compared to tandem disk. The clover gets dry and stemmy so I just think of that as "slow release" nitrogen. Ultimately nobody around here could tolerate another year of hay breaking and plowdown with the kello bilt. Its a great disk but the field finish was very course and rough.

I did finish harvest. I worked with buyers and managed to sell all the oats as milling. I abandoned about 80 Acres faba beans, they will meet the Lemken tomorrow. I harvested whatever hemp whose heads were not not frozen into the ground . There was a lot of sawzall and carpet knife action along with a healthy dose of really, really bad language for about 4 days. In the end it all worked out. Sold the crop and hopefully, we never see a snow event like that ever again.

I am a big fan of oil bath bearings. Previous disk Was a new kello bilt 225 with oil bath bearings. I never put a wrench on that disk ever for 7 years. I was a monster for plowdown. Notched disks front and back. Good times. Check oil twice a year.
I almost bought a different tillage system similar to Lemken but it had oil bath bearings. Check that one, consider the depth control issue and compare prices.
Farmet was the brand name. Wheatbelt sales Wadena. Ultimately the Lemken makes about a 10 X nicer finish, Just the depth control issue so I am satisfied with it.

[GDR]

Hobby, how many hp you got and how fast you pulling it. I'm looking for something like that, like the finish guys get with the lemken units but really don't like the "high speed" part. What happens if you pull them slower like 5mph. I always seem to have sprayer ruts and badger holes to make anything high speed hard on me and the tractor.

Anyone have any other suggestions on a one pass tillage unit that does a good job at slower speeds? Thinking about just a tandem disc with harrows and pulling a packer bar might be the best.

[hobbyfrmr]

Hobby, how many hp you got and how fast you pulling it. I'm looking for something like that, like the finish guys get with the lemken units but really don't like the "high speed" part. What happens if you pull them slower like 5mph. I always seem to have sprayer ruts and badger holes to make anything high speed hard on me and the tractor.

Anyone have any other suggestions on a one pass tillage unit that does a good job at slower speeds? Thinking about just a tandem disc with harrows and pulling a packer bar might be the best.

I have an old Massey 4880, bumped up to 375-400hp. It pulls 26 feet at 6.5 mph around 3 inches deep. Im scared to faster without a helmet, and/or castastrophic failure on that poor tractor.

There has been discussion here about just having mounted rolling baskets onto the previous disk to smash upthe lumps and bacon strips. I bought this Lemken with the regard that it is 80% of my fertilizer and half of my herbicide bill for 5 years.