what a waste!

[Steve C]

I hauled a trailer load of scrap steel to the local scrap yard for my Amish neighbor. It was all very ugly stuff so it was good to get it recycled. While we were there a guy came in with a 7 bottom plow that was in perfect condition, no broken trip springs and the paint was still shiny on the frame!

Is there no need for a 7 bottom plow any more? It seemed like a huge waste of material to be selling that thing for scrap prices, $210 a ton. I don't have a tractor that would pull it but they are relatively cheap also. What is going on in our country!

 

[Nik]

No till farming is becoming more popular and supposedly is better for soil structure and leads to better yields than conventional till planting. Less disturbance of the soil by not plowing and using no till methods is advocated as a better and more environmentally friendly practice. Not defending what you saw but maybe that farmer was strapped for cash.

 

[Thomas]

"What is going on in our country!"

One might think when horse vs auto or train vs trucking.

 

[Skyco]

Waste- I felt the same way seeing the motors deliberately ruined on perfectly functional cars during that government cash for clunkers program.
I'm sure many a person down and out would have traded up to one of those cars from what they had....

 

[ayelvington]

I dont know, but I suspect that the new perspective of soil stewardship and no-till planting may have sent that plow the way of the buggy-whip in your neighborhood.

At least it got recycled instead of left in a field to rust like so much worn/obsolete equipment in my neck of the woods.

 

[20 20]

A few words sums up the new world...............Throw Away Society !!!

 

[oldnslo]

Plowing has been replaced by chemicals for weed control. Problem is weeds are like human diseases, the more chemicals you use the more resistant the disease or weed gets. When atrizine first hit the market for grass control 1/2 lb/acre did a great job, now 5 lbs/acre doesn't do anything but pollute the ground water.
Wish I could remember which school did the study but they determined that burying crop residue more than 6 -7 inches was a waste since it did not decompose effectively when buried deeper and actually blocked water from soaking in and good root development on crops. The same study also stated that no till or minimum till only worked for a few seasons and then the crop residue became a breeding ground for insects and also slowed the absorbtion of water and heating of the soil by the sun.

Typically conventional farming gives a higher yield per acre. I have worked fields where part was no till, part was chisel plowed and part was mold board plowed. Rarely did the mold board plowed field have lower yields than the other two. Problem is the increased yield may or may not cover the cost of the extra time, fuel and machinery costs.

retired farm kid

 

[deepNdirt]

well I think more to the story about who might had sold the plow, anyone of us know that a good used all purpose plow or 7 shank bottom plow will sale for 350-400 buck easily, and to take one in to sale as scrap would only bring what! 50.00 dollars... I'm not exactly implying but I have heard stories of people stopping in at homes and helping themselves to the junk outside, and if they get caught loading it they give a lame excuse that Buba must have sent them to "the wrong house" yeah right! a friend of mine had someone stop in and ask about a ridding lawnmower he had setting along side of his house, yes it look like junk but he didn't want to get rid of it, a few days later the lawn mower was gone, he said he ask his wife if he knew where anything? she said the man you give it to came buy to pick it up,, :confused2:
this kind of thing is going on everywhere, so be ware, ..... I'm a good customer of a local recycle business and was in there one day when the GPI investigator came in wanting to check for something reported stolen, turns out that a car trailer had been loan to a person to help him get his car off the road and back home, the person who con the man in letting him use his trailer loaded a junk car on the trailer and took it in and sold trailer and car for scrape.. so I would suspect there is more to the story of the perfectly good plow finding its way into the scrap pile,

 

[bjr]

Up in the Pacicic Northwest, here they'd got $1500-$2000 for that thing. I hear all about the chemical weed control but, everyone has and keeps a good plow out behind the shed. There's still nothing like turning the soil with a mold board plow every so often. bjr

 

[20 20]

DeepNdirt, Up here they break into the camps and rip out the copper to take to the scarp yard. The gentalmen across the way from me had this happen. They are very smart about it also. They do what is called a drive by. It's where they drive by a house let someone off and continue on with the vehicle. In a short while the vehicle returns and the copper scum theaf jumps in, away they go.