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East Central Iowa | Don't have direct experience with Great Plains, but we run a McFarlane Reel Disk which is real similar to a Great Plains Turbo-Chopper. We can adjust the angle of the disc gangs in front (on-the-go) to accomplish different things. In the spring we only run as deep as we are planting to slice up some of the residue and smooth out and warm up the soil. We run the disc gang more or less straight in bean ground going to corn; and with a slight angle in chiseled corn-stalks going back to corn, and corn-stalks going to beans. In the fall where we want to fill in ruts or chop-up residue ahead of the chisel or subsoiler we go a bit deeper and more of an angle on the blades. We usually don't do much with it in the fall, more a spring tool for us. In the fall we just in-line rip/subsoil (or conventional till / chisel corn going back to corn). The in-line ripper does a good of removing compaction while leaving the top of the soil more or less undisturbed.
My opinion....the glorified disc-style VT machines and things like the Great Plains Turbo-Till are more seedbed preparation only and when they are used in the fall just fluff up the residue to be blown away. Tools like the McFarlane, and Great Plains Turbo-Chopper or Turbo-Max or the Krause Excelerator seem a bit more flexible and do a better job pinning the residue down so it doesn't blow as much.
For corn-bean rotation a subsoiler teamed with a VT machine is a good match. For corn-on-corn we have found conventional tillage works better for us in our soils. My advice, if getting a VT machine, is get one that is more than just a fancy disc, and one you can adjust the angle of the disc gangs to accommodate different situations. And remember.....subsoilers and VT machines love lots of HP.
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Great Plains Vertical Tillage
