Dealers 
Sales portal A high speed disc, also called a speed disc or speed disk, is a tillage tool that runs large-diameter coulter or disc blades through the top few inches of soil to size residue, level the surface and open the ground for warming without full inversion. Unlike a traditional disc harrow, it is designed to travel at field speeds that keep soil disturbance shallow and mostly vertical, which is why producers also classify it under vertical tillage.
Why it matters on the Prairies
Heavy crop residues from canola, corn and cereals can slow soil warming in spring and set up uneven emergence across a field. In the Black and Dark Brown soil zones, a thick mat of standing or flattened stubble traps cold air near the surface and creates hot spots and wet pockets in the same pass. Producers see this as thin, gappy stands in low areas and scorched emergence on knolls. A high speed disc breaks that mat without burying it, so residue breaks down in place rather than piling under a moldboard.
How producers handle it
Fall is the most common timing on the Prairies. After a heavy canola or corn crop, producers make one pass to chop and size residue, level wheel tracks and close the field surface before freeze-up. In a wet spring, the same machine runs at a shallower angle to slice through the mat, let the ground breathe and speed drying without smearing wet soil. Depth and angle are matched to conditions: the discs can be set anywhere from 1 to 6 inches deep, running shallow and flat when the soil is wet, deeper and more aggressive when the goal is leveling rough ground. Two blade options are common: a 13W Ingersoll for sizing residue and blending it in, or a concave coulter for more soil movement with less chopping. On stony ground, coil spring trips clear rocks by lifting two coulters at a time, so the rest of the toolbar keeps cutting without frame damage.
Equipment that fits
The Mandako STORM is a purpose-built vertical tillage tool for Prairie conditions, available in widths from 13 to 40 feet for tractors from 195 hp up. The toolbar angle adjusts hydraulically from 0 to 14 degrees while the machine is moving, so you can go flat through a wet headland and open up on drier ground in the same field. The Mandako Euro STORM covers the same jobs where narrow transport width is a constraint. The Mandako Tornado handles lighter residue loads and is sized for smaller tractors. Match the machine to your residue volume and tractor size before you commit to a width.
