Stop Disking. Start Rototilling.

Mike Miller 7 min read

I’ve been chisel plowing and disking this field over and over again.

In the last two episodes, you saw part of that process. What you didn’t see was the three additional chisel plow passes I made behind the scenes. I kept thinking, one more pass will do it. But eventually, I realized I had a bigger problem—and discing a second, third, or fourth time wasn’t the solution.

On today’s mission:

  1. I’ll explain why discing multiple times became a problem

  2. I’ll share the solution I landed on

  3. And you’ll ride along with me in the John Deere buddy seat as we get this field ready for seed

Let’s get to work.

The Real Problem With Disking Again (and Again)

A few days ago, I shared a video about chisel plowing this regenerative field. Using a soil compaction meter, I measured over 300 PSI below the first inch, all the way down past two feet. There weren’t defined compaction layers—just overall tight soil from decades of row-crop farming.

The first chisel plow pass left clods nearly 18 inches wide.
After discing once, those clods came down to about softball size.

Better—but still not even close to a proper seedbed.

At that point, I had a choice:

  • Disc it again… and again… and again

  • Or rethink the approach entirely

The more I looked at it, the more obvious it became. Even if I disced three or four more times, I’d still be left with:

  • Peaks and valleys

  • Uneven leveling

  • And the need for another implement (harrow, cultipacker, or cultimulcher)

And I was running out of days.

Why I Chisel Plowed Four Times First

Before changing tools, I went deeper—literally.

Originally, I was only getting about 2–3 inches of depth with the chisel plow. My goal was 8–12 inches. So I chisel plowed this field three more times until I finally hit that depth consistently.

That helped with compaction, but it still left behind large clods—some the size of basketballs. Great for breaking the soil open, terrible for planting grass seed.

That’s when I made the call.

One Pass. One Tool. One Solution.

Instead of discing again, I broke out the rotary tiller.

And what surprised me wasn’t just how well it broke the clods down—it was how much it leveled the field in a single pass.

Where the chisel plow and disc left ridges and valleys, the rotary tiller:

  • Smoothed the surface

  • Created a consistent seedbed

  • Eliminated the need for additional equipment

One pass. That was it.

I set the tiller to work the top three inches only, preserving the deeper soil structure while preparing the surface for seed. Because of the previous chisel plowing, I was able to move faster than expected—around 3 to 3.5 mph in some areas.

The Tradeoff No One Likes Talking About

There’s a downside to rotary tillage.

It makes the soil very fine.

And when soil is exposed like that, wind becomes the enemy.

With drought conditions and steady crosswinds, I delayed this work as long as I could, waiting for rain in the forecast. Even then, dust tornadoes started forming behind the tractor—clear reminders of why exposed soil makes me uneasy.

I don’t like tillage.
I don’t like bare soil.
And I don’t like gambling with erosion.

But sometimes, farming is choosing the least-bad option with the time and tools you have.

Welcome to farming—where Mother Nature always wins.

Lessons From the Field

A few takeaways from this mission:

  • Disking alone wasn’t enough for this level of compaction

  • Multiple chisel plow passes were necessary to reach proper depth

  • The rotary tiller solved three problems at once: clod size, leveling, and seedbed prep

  • Direction matters—running with the chisel plow grooves dramatically reduced tractor bounce

  • Timing matters even more—rain determines everything

This is the only time I plan to do this level of tillage on this field. The goal is pasture—thick, diverse grass cover that protects the soil, holds moisture, and eliminates the need for this kind of disturbance in the future.

What’s Next

This 13-acre field has now been:

  • Chisel plowed

  • Disked

  • Chisel plowed three more times

  • And rotary tilled to finish

On the next article, I’ll be using antique equipment to:

  • Cultivate what we just rotary tilled

  • Spread a diverse pasture seed mix

  • And take the next step toward a truly regenerative pasture

Thanks for riding along with me.

We’ll see you on the next mission. 🌱

PS: 🎁 Parents — grab a free Kidsteader homeschooling lesson here: LINK

Back to blog