500 vs 480 vs 470 discs

[Matt Kirsch]

Is a 500 or 480 that much heavier than a 470 that it would be worthwhile to "upgrade?"

Dad's disc, near as I can figure, is a 16'-ish 470 disc with 7" spacing. It just kind of rolls over the top of the corn stalks and trash, only works well on plowed ground, so I'm looking for something heavier.

There's a 480 disc on Craigslist not too far away with 9" spacing. Not a heavy rockflex disc like I want, but the price is more in my budget.

From what I can find the 480 is a "medium" disc, whatever that means. It's like ordering a "medium" steak. Means different things to different people.

To me the discs look like they're built pretty much the same. I don't see where the extra weight would come from, especially with 9" spacing and fewer overall discs.

[dannyredfan]

Yes a 480 is heaver the frame is the same design just a lot heaver steel.    Plus the 9” spacing means less blades & more psi. Down force 

[766 Man]

  The 500 disk is rare here in NY but is much heavier than a 470 which does not have much more heft than a 37.   Based on pictures I question that the 480 by itself will make you happy but you could ballast it somewhat but then there is the issue of how much stress the gang bearings will take before they give out.  What you need is a 770 offset but you have said that you have quite a few rocks so over time that will bother even a 770.  I run a 770 and like it.  If you are running heavy soil types like Odessa or Romulus sometimes you need to wait for some rain so you can get a plow or disk into the ground.  Neither a good 500 or 770 will be cheap but I think you will be happier than running a 480 in my opinion.

[801486]

A 480 is a lot stouter than a 470, but in heavy stalks I pulled harrow sections behind both the 470 and the 480 just the weight of them pulling down seemed to make them go in better and do a better job.  I thought a 500 was considered a plowing disk, they look really heavy.

[randy hall]

i bought a 480 that has a primitive rock flex setup, it is much much heavier than a 470.

[Long Farms]

470=225lbs ft/cut 

480=250lbs ft/cut 

500=325lbs ft/cut. 

Theres a big step up in weight of 500 from 480 and huge step up from 470. Im not 100% sure but i think the 500 had same angle iron widths as 480 but thicker metal. Everything on a 500 is heavy. 1/4" thick 22" or 24" blades @ 10.5" spacings. 480s are/were great discs but most are beyond worn out around me. Lucky i kicked up a good 500. They held up better it seems but nothing was light on them. 

 

 

[Jacka]

We had a 500,14' good heavy disc. No till and lighter soils did away with the need for it years ago. I wanted to buy a lighter finishing disc just to level spots up and maybe use in the garden,(one pass).I was at a auction last year, excellent 501 was there .All scrapers on it,no welds and blades showed little to no wear, time capsule for sure.It was to heavy for what I wanted to do buy I was tempted to buy it and just keep it in shed. I went to 500 it brought 6.I still kick myself.

[Long Farms]

The 501s are even bigger, badder, heavier and meaner than 500s.  Id like to have a 14-16' 501. 

[dannyredfan]

We don't have much rocks.     But my brother has a 20' 470. I have a 24' 480    in the same field.    My disc did twice the work In half the time. 

[234-IA]

A 480 with 9" spacing might cut pretty good.  I know from personal experience a 480 with 7" spacing doesn't, so much, in anything but bean stubble.  It does a good finishing job though.

[acem]

You can adjust the angle on the 480 so it cuts more. It makes a difference.

However the 500 and 501 are heavy cutting disks. The frame is heavy. The blades are big and wide spaced (11 inch?). 

The 501s have a great reputation.

Thx-Ace 

[766 Man]

10 minutes ago, acem said:

You can adjust the angle on the 480 so it cuts more. It makes a difference.

However the 500 and 501 are heavy cutting disks. The frame is heavy. The blades are big and wide spaced (11 inch?). 

The 501s have a great reputation.

Thx-Ace 

  A heavy and aggressive disk is what the OP needs for the heavy and stony ground we have many places in New York.  I run a 770 offset and some days it is too darn light if the soil has gotten hard from being warm and dry.  The 37 here did alright back in the days when everything was plowed.  Started to go minimal tillage then the 37 had trouble going in and bearing problems got to be more frequent.  Guy up the road in similar ground had a 470 and it did no better than the 37 in minimum tillage.  I have the 1978 Buyer's Guide and the 501 sure looks impressive in there.  

[Matt Kirsch]

Yeah, after working all the ground with a corn stalk harrow, I really need something to chop up the corn stalks.

I worked down all the chisel plowed ground with a 35' cornstalk harrow.

[Jeff-C-IL]

Hate to throw meat to the wolves....but IMO what you need is a chopping corn head.   Then the disk stays in the shed - or behind it.   HUGE difference when I went from a "standard" head to a chopping head...even just Calmer rolls.   

[766 Man]

1 minute ago, Jeff-C-IL said:

Hate to throw meat to the wolves....but IMO what you need is a chopping corn head.   Then the disk stays in the shed - or behind it.   HUGE difference when I went from a "standard" head to a chopping head...even just Calmer rolls.   

  Takes a lot of acres to pay for something like that.  

[Matt Kirsch]

14 minutes ago, Jeff-C-IL said:

Hate to throw meat to the wolves....but IMO what you need is a chopping corn head.   Then the disk stays in the shed - or behind it.   HUGE difference when I went from a "standard" head to a chopping head...even just Calmer rolls.   

The guy that picked the corn DID use a chopping head!

Left a nice thick fluffy carpet of chopped up corn stalks that were still all there the next spring. Can't plant through that, so I ended up dragging it on piles and pushing it off into the woods with the tractor and loader.

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

1 hour ago, Matt Kirsch said:

The guy that picked the corn DID use a chopping head!

Left a nice thick fluffy carpet of chopped up corn stalks that were still all there the next spring. Can't plant through that, so I ended up dragging it on piles and pushing it off into the woods with the tractor and loader.

I’m glad no till works really well in our area. Heavy down pressure and row cleaners on the planter work well. Is this really high yielding corn you deal with, or the climate, or other issues that make discing necessary? Not pushing anything, just wondering. 

[766 Man]

12 minutes ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

I’m glad no till works really well in our area. Heavy down pressure and row cleaners on the planter work well. Is this really high yielding corn you deal with, or the climate, or other issues that make discing necessary? Not pushing anything, just wondering. 

  Can't speak for the OP but in my part of NY the soil is quite heavy and a lot of the fields do not lend themselves to practical tile outlets.  I'd love to get rid of any tillage but that would guarantee short poor yielding corn most years.  If grandpa had only settled around 5 miles further west or 10 miles southwest of where he wound up.

[Matt Kirsch]

36 minutes ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

I’m glad no till works really well in our area. Heavy down pressure and row cleaners on the planter work well. Is this really high yielding corn you deal with, or the climate, or other issues that make discing necessary? Not pushing anything, just wondering. 

My planter is a simple Deere 7000. It's supposedly a no-till but it doesn't have no-till fertilizer openers, down pressure, or row cleaners.

Besides, you need something to level out the ruts from last fall's harvest. It's very rare for it to be so dry that you don't make some ruts here and there during harvest. Last year was definitely not one of those years.

I think if I could get a heavy disc to mix the stalks into the first few inches of dirt I may not even have to chisel plow. Dad always moldboard plowed every inch for 45 years.

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

2 hours ago, Matt Kirsch said:

My planter is a simple Deere 7000. It's supposedly a no-till but it doesn't have no-till fertilizer openers, down pressure, or row cleaners.

Besides, you need something to level out the ruts from last fall's harvest. It's very rare for it to be so dry that you don't make some ruts here and there during harvest. Last year was definitely not one of those years.

I think if I could get a heavy disc to mix the stalks into the first few inches of dirt I may not even have to chisel plow. Dad always moldboard plowed every inch for 45 years.

We debated converting our 7000 in the winter of 1993. We decided against it and bought a new 7200 that was no till equipped. It was a good planter and worked well. We don’t usually have a lot of problems with ruts. I don’t really have anything to add I just like to learn about what others are dealing with. The closest thing I have to advice is that if you can’t find an IH disc you like I always thought John Deere disks with cone blades worked and cut really well.