Disc Plow - Heritage Homestead - Doniphan, MO - Old Agricultural Equipment on Waymarking.com

County of equipment: Ripley County
location of equipment: Franklin St., Heritage Homestead, Doniphan
Marker erected by: Doniphan Neighborhood Assistance Program
Equipment donated by: William O. Foster

Marker text: This type of plow required two horses and could plow up to 12 inches deep. It came into popularity long after the original moldboard plow was invented and modified several times. The rolling moldboard or disc plow became popular on area farms that had been in existence a generation or more. Many rocks had been removed from the fields and the soil was more manageable. Thus the disc plows had the advantage of encountering less resistance while doing the same job as the moldboard plow.

"A disc harrow is a farm implement that is used to cultivate the soil where crops are to be planted. It is also used to chop up unwanted weeds or crop remainders. It consists of many iron or steel discs which have slight concavity and are arranged into two or four sections. When viewed from above, the four sections would appear to form an "X" which has been flattened to be wider than it is tall. The discs are also offset so that they are not parallel with the overall direction of the implement. This is so they slice the ground they cut over a little bit to optimize the result. The concavity of the discs as well as their being offset causes them to loosen and pick up the soil they cut." ~ Wikipedia

"Harrow, farm implement used to pulverize soil, break up crop residues, uproot weeds, and cover seed. In Neolithic times, soil was harrowed, or cultivated, with tree branches; shaped wooden harrows were used by the Egyptians and other ancient peoples, and the Romans made harrows with iron teeth.

"Modern harrows comprise several varieties. Disk harrows mount concave disks and are frequently referred to simply as disks. One type, the single-action two gang, has two groups of disks, more or less horizontally aligned, with opposing concavities, that throw the soil in opposite directions. The tandem harrow has two to four gangs in tandem, and the offset has two to three gangs in tandem on one side of the tractor, used particularly under low-hanging fruit trees. The horse-drawn or tractor-drawn spike-tooth harrow, or drag, developed in the early 19th century, has sections 1 to 1.5 m (3 to 5 feet) wide with long spike teeth mounted nearly vertically on horizontal bars. It is used chiefly for pulverizing soil and for early cultivation. Spring-tooth harrows (developed in the 1860s) have curved, springy teeth designed for use in rough, stony ground and around roots. Knife-tooth harrows, with twisted blades spaced several inches apart, are driven in a rotary motion by a small gasoline motor. They are used chiefly by gardeners and are often referred to as rototillers or rotary plows." ~ Encyclopedia Britannica