POST YOUR PICTURES OF SUBSOILERS

   / POST YOUR PICTURES OF SUBSOILERS #11  
Farmerford, Well... there are stories in several TBN threads that people have pulled plastic pipe several hundred feet. I only have experience in pulling it for maybe 30 feet along one side of a fence... under the gate.. then along the fence again to come back up and hook the underground electric fencw wire back into the electric fenc.

So, I can't give you any direct experience, but I am here to tell you that it is amazingly frictionLESS.... and don't doubt that quite a long pull can be done..however, I DO recommend that you do it with a buddy... one to drive the tractor, the other to watch where the pipe enters the ground and keep kinks away, etc.

Yep, soil will make a difference.

Once, I pulled a black plastic pipe under a gateway and got interrupted and just left the tractor where it was.... came back about a week later... we'd had a light rain, maybe .5 inches a couple of days after the initial pull. I decided that I needed to pull another couple of feet, so started the tractor and started slowly forward... yep, all moved forward OK... UNTIL I looked at the pipe.... it was STRETCHING OUT... AND GETTING SMALLER AND SMALLER. The rain had caused the loose dirt to clamp down on the pipe and it no longer was pullable! Lesson learned... don't stop a pull until it is COMPLETELY done.

Give it a try, you'll be amazed how well it works. If I didn't need to snuggle up to a fence, I'd make it a well centered pull rather than off to one side.
 
   / POST YOUR PICTURES OF SUBSOILERS #12  
Here is a subsoiler I made out of some scrap metal I had laying around. I got a few different blades for it from the local farm supply house.

It sure lets me know I don't have a very heavy tractor when I hit something solid. But it does work well for my needs in very compacted soils. I used it to dig up and loosen some soil that I needed to move with the loader. It worked perfect for that task after I ran back and forth from different directions to loosen it up.
 

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   / POST YOUR PICTURES OF SUBSOILERS #13  
I am looking at getting L3400 and I would like to get a subsoiler for it. it's great to see your home made versions.

I am not as handy as you guys are when it comes to welding. do you know of any subsoilers that are available that the L3400 could handle? I will be using it on some pretty hard clay soil. 18" deep should be enough for what I need.
 
   / POST YOUR PICTURES OF SUBSOILERS #14  
tractor supply sells them -- King Kutter brand -- generally under $150
 
   / POST YOUR PICTURES OF SUBSOILERS #15  
Farmerford said:
Texasjohn:

That looks like a handy rig. If you plow 12-24" deep, how long a section of flexible plastic pipe can you put in before the friction (or something) on the pipe makes you put in a joint and start over with a new section of pipe? I know the soil matters, and today in Georgia it is so dry that you need a concrete saw to make a trench. But what about sandy loam that is fairly moist?

Thanks.

Hey Farmerford,
Why use flexible pipe? PVC is better pipe, and I plow in PVC pipe all the time. I've pulled as much as 900 feet at a time. I have sandy loam too, and dry soil doesn't affect the pipe much. You might have to make extra passes to get the depth you need before you actually pull the pipe. The subsoiler shank needs to have a sharp edge to slice neatly through the grass. I've posted pictures in past threads but I don't know how to search for them.
gabby
 
   / POST YOUR PICTURES OF SUBSOILERS #16  
Just picked up a King Kutter middle buster yesterday at TSC. $125. Took it out and tore up the spot for next year's garden this morning, worked great. I'm fairly sure King Kutter also has a subsoiler/ripper point for that same frame...Pulled it with my JD 2320.
 
   / POST YOUR PICTURES OF SUBSOILERS #17  
Here is one I built about a year ago. I cut the cross a bit shorter than the usual implements. Felt like it would give more strength. I put a brace on it for strength.
A stand is a good idea.
I fixed it so that I can use several types of points. Such as a middle buster, or other plows, as well as the subsoiler bit I made for it.
 

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