Cole, there are many very different systems and tools going by the name of "strip till" these days. They range from a deep ripper running a foot or more deep with a planter attached to  it in the south, to mole knife machines, to machines with no knife at all just coulters.

And these different systems are run in the summer in wheat stubble, fall in corn and bean stubble or spring just ahead of the planter to on the planter.

It would take a book to really answer your questions. 

In Montana are you planting 30" beans?  We have had contact with some MT extension people trying to bring strip till in for beets and other crops on 20" . Our Pluribus is for 30" minimum however our new 6000 is designed to go down to 20" row spacing.

A lot depends on your needs and goals. One goal is to clear and warm a strip, another is to apply various levels of fertilizer.... Some folks want to deep rip at the same time. I have a lot of reservations however about planting directly over a fall made deep ripper slot in the spring, not to mention hp/fuel/time issues.

It is also tough to answer your questions generically without being accused of "selling". There are few "generic" answers for strip till in N Montana!  I will say we have some very successsful multi year strip till corn customers in the Minot area in conditions which I believe are not too different than yours.  These are conditions (rocks and residue) and fields (large) where I believe a coulter only unit makes a lot of sense unless you have a "Big Bud" and want to follow with a rock picker ;)

Many years in that area though the trick is to warm a strip without losing too much precious moisture. This is where a minimal disturbance coulter only unit like our 6000 is best. It can be used in many ways. Or you can do more row cleaning.

Here are two videos of a 6000 applying NH3 + dry in W ND wheat stubble w minimal disturbance  and NH3 into wheat and corn on corn with more aggressive row cleaning of a strip in W ND conditions similar to yours. These are ahead of planting 30" corn into wheat stubble. I will leave it at that. No one simple answer but need to look at your whole production system/rotation/fertilizer program etc. This is a new way of looking at corn in that "fringe" area. There may be other ways but this is working.

Jim at Dawn