Sub soiler - bevel leading edge or not?

[sixdogs]

On subsoilers here with clay ground, roots are going to be ripped up no matter what you do. I would not sharpen the leading edge because I don't think it will matter. I've used brand new ones with a sharp square edge on a 1 1/4" thick shank and it didn't perform appreciably different than ones that started at 3/4" thick and was worn so bad that the leading edge had a sharp taper to it. What mattered a little was the type of tip on it.

You would probably drag up fewer roots by going deeper but then you can "invert" the soil layers which is now known to be a poor soil practice. Around here 12" to 14" is all the deeper you want to go. I have done 24" on the treelines at times but didn't seem to drag up that many more roots than 12". I think if you rip every couple of years, you'll hardly ever get much in the way of roots.

 

[Jim Timber]

6 Dogs, I was going to copy yours until I found the chunk of drop the other day and decided to go with a straight shank instead.

This isn't going to be used for gardening that much (unless I end up doing that stuff on contract basis?). It's mainly going to try draining some wet areas that remain muddy or end up washing off to cause erosion on my trails further down hill, and for burying pipe and wires as I move closer to building a new shop and home.

 

[sixdogs]

Good thinking. Also, a curve in the shank will let it pull easier. I've done a couple threads on subsoilers; do you remember which one?

Also, a subsoiler brings its own set of issues. Someone on this site called it a "utility locator, non-discriminating" and that's what it can be anywhere near a building or in the path of a building. There are wires and phone lines and gas lines and all sorts of stuff under the ground that those puppies will easily find. A guy could get electrocuted, easily take out a phone and tear into drain tiles and not even know it.

 

[Jim Timber]

It was the big monster you found and had the welding shop fix for you.

I've already decided that when I do a bid on a stump removal, I'm going to call our "Gopher One" service and have them mark the lines before I do the job. It's free, so there's no reason not to.

I had been planning on getting a couple parabolic shanks cut out of 3/4" AR400, but when the chunk I bought came up I decided I'd go with the design of opportunity first and see how it works. I've even toyed with making it a vibratory plow for pulling hose. I've got a spare hydraulic motor on the shelf.

The area in my land I'll be working has never been developed. The last people who lived on it were using deer hides for wallboard if you catch my drift.

 

[sixdogs]

You should be fine.

One thing I never do is go into the public right of way by the road. Usually, the telephone poles are set exactly on the edge. There can be nasty and dangerous stuff mere inches into the right of way. I knew a guy--me-- that thought he hit a gas line that later turned out to be from long ago and not clearly marked anywhere. I was only a foot into the ROW, and in the middle of farm country and snagged something. It was an old piece of rebar, likely used to mark the line, and was long forgotten. Imagine my horror when the line was not buried very deep and not very far from me.

I did, however, take out the woman's phone line that her son put in for her. It wasn't on any map so I didn't know. Drain tiles. too, offer little resistance till the water boils up next rainstorm. If you get into barnyards you can find nearly anything. I find lots of buried equipment like plows and such along with pieces of cars and everything. Old bones, horseshoes and lots of metal 8 ft fenceposts that get bent like a pretzel.

 

[Jim Timber]

Funny you should mention that - I have a debris pile I want to dig up and relocate. I figured I'd use the root grapple, but maybe I should run through it with the ripper first.

I'm not subsoiling in the ROW. I nuke it with roundup to kill everything since my neighbor's across the street whined about the grass I planted to out-compete the thistle and then the town mowed it and the thistle came back in full force. So now they can look at dirt. Since there's nothing but dirt there anyway, I decided to dump my stumps across the street from their driveway too. I hope they like the view they got - my grass was 7' tall by the 4th of July and all seeded out. It was pretty and the deer loved to bed in it while chewing cud between sorties on their gardens.

I own the right side of the street all the way to beyond where the garbage can is at the end. The road is a 45 degree angle to the lot lines (which are N/S/E/W) and my NW corner is about 20' to the left of that can.