please help me understand plows

   / please help me understand plows #1  

shdybrady

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
46
Location
ga
Tractor
yanmar 1802
I am looking to purchase my first plow and I am trying to find which one is best. I have found an all purpose plow that is a 5 shank all purpose plow. It resembles a box blade just with out the box. Then at tsc i saw a sub soiler, middle buster and a cultivator. This fresh ground that was once wooded so I am dealing with roots. The sub soiler doesnt seem to be for me. The cultivator seems like I will be breaking and bending teeth for the initial plow. I am torn between the all purpose and the middle buster. The middle buster is about a 100 bucks cheaper but I'm not sure what how it will do with roots
 
   / please help me understand plows
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Honestly that's out of my price range. I know sometimes you have to shell out the coin to get what you need. But lets take the roots out of the equation. About half of the area wasn't wooded. Just alot of weeds and bushes. Which one would you use then?
 
   / please help me understand plows #4  
The 5 tine all-purpose plow is a "chisel plow". Indeed, you could get better results in your situation using a box blade with the scarifiers set down to the maximum and the top link shortened. Go one way and then the other to get a checkerboard pattern. Repeat as many times as necessary.

A turn plow is difficult to pull through virgin ground with a light and smaller powered tractor (21.5 HP) even if it is 4WD. Maybe a single 12" bottom plow would do.

The middle buster will tear up the ground depending on the soil composition. It works similar to a turn plow but doesn't turn over the soil. The soil may have to be worked over in several passes to get penetration and mixing that you want. It makes a bit of a mess.

A subsoiler is just that. An implement used to put deep gashes in the soil to about 8" to 12" deep. It does minimal damage to the top layer of soil.

A cultivator is for use on disced, rototilled, or plowed soil when you just want to churn up the soil a bit to kill sprouts. Often it can be set to work row crops between the desired plants (crop).

If you already have a box blade with scarifiers then that would be my recommendation. It will also bring roots to the top for manual pick up and disposal.
 
   / please help me understand plows
  • Thread Starter
#5  
I do have a box blade. Would you recommend buying the bottom plow? What it cant do I can load up the box blade and do the rest
 
   / please help me understand plows #6  
I do have a box blade. Would you recommend buying the bottom plow? What it cant do I can load up the box blade and do the rest

Not to be negative but a turn plow or bottom plow is way too much for your tractor. As mentioned, a 12" single bottom plow would be a stretch...especially if roots and/or rocks are involved.

Stick with the rippers on a box blade is my recommendation. Set them as long as possible while making sure the box blade edge clears the ground. It can do an amazing amount of digging if you make multiple passes in multiple directions. Being in GA, the ground should be damp sometimes so take advantage of the softness. Not mud, just soft.

After the area is cleaned up of roots and rocks it can be maintained with a 4' or 5' disc quite easily if that is what you want. One can usually be found on Craigslist for $400 or thereabouts.
 
   / please help me understand plows
  • Thread Starter
#7  
It not an insult to say its too much for my tractor. This is what I was calling an all purpose plow. It sounds like I can achieve with the box blade but possibly go deeper because it doesnt have to be at an angle

5', 5 shank plow
 
   / please help me understand plows #9  
The shank plow would do a better job in my opinion. But, as you stated earlier, it is a box blade without the box. :) You could pretty much do what you want with what you have.

If you do go with the shank plow it will dig deeper and with less effort than a middle buster. Several narrow cuts in the ground are easier to deal with than a long ditch.

The middle buster is good for ditching. Lots of ditches make for a worked up field if that is the way you want to go. The ground has to be relatively soft to get much depth. After using it there will be a requirement to level it out somehow. Using a drag of some sort is a good method to fill all of those ditches.
 
   / please help me understand plows #10  
If all you want to do is prepare "new ground" by ripping up the roots that 5 shank plow would work best. But do you have a use for it after you prepare your ground? I have a 4 shank I built myself for doing just that but don't really use it much after my land was prepared.

If you buy the middle buster it can be used as a potato plow, use it to dig a ditch or trench for water lines, remove the plow and use it as a 1 tooth sub-soiler, add the attachment and use it to put down water or electric lines without ever digging....lots of other uses for it later. But it will be slower preparing your land with only 1 tooth. How big of a plot are we talking about cleaning up?
 
 
 
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