One way to deal with a hard pan is as a separate issue from strip till.

I do not feel that a strip till machine needs to rip out a hard pan EVERY year.  There are rippers meant for that. One way to deal with hard pan is to rip in the fall if conditions are right at a significant angle to the future rows with a 3, 5, ? shank ripper or what ever tool you can rent or buy then sell.

Then in the spring make your transition to strip till at a more normal 4-6" depth. Even in very compaction prone soils many of our customers who were ripping (or trying to) every fall now find that they can do equally as well with ripping a given field only when it needs it - maybe every 4 or 5 years. Too much ripping can destroy soil structure. Try walking across a field that has been repeatedly deep ripped.

It is amazing how the soil profile will heal itself over time if we pay attention to compaction causing operations (esp grain cart traffic) and leave residue on the surface. A good healthy worm population, with their food left on top, will deep rip with a lot less hp over time! jmho.

Jim at Dawn