CobyRupert
Super Member
...best not to mention the "flip side' when talking about a tractor on 30% grade. Just saying...:confused3:
Grading FARMING IN A CURVE v A STRAIGHT LINE
- Thread starter Guildenrose
- Start date
...best not to mention the "flip side' when talking about a tractor on 30% grade. Just saying...:confused3:
smstonypoint
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AGRIMAN
Platinum Member
I can confirm that curves can be planted and cultivated. I have several fields with terraces, come of them we cross over and some we can't, but either way I always try to follow the contour of the land. The trick is trying to keep the rows straight and evenly spaced in the curves and it can be done. I plant off the center of the tractor and not the wheel which makes things easier because your line of sight is a lot longer.
When planting a curve, you have to allow/compensate for the length of the tractor by slowly moving to the side of your marker in the curve, then bring it back in line when exiting the curve. This may sound little a big deal, but with a little practice you will get it. Making straight rows is all about two things (IMO). Making sure you are straight in line after turning around and paying attention to what you are doing. You can't be talking on the phone or adjusting the radio, unless you have GPS and then you can bake a cake if you want.
I mainly strip till with RR seed now, so I don't do much cultivating anymore, but the method is pretty much the same. Learn the sweet spot and let it go. I done it with 2, 4, 6 and 8 row equipment.
When planting a curve, you have to allow/compensate for the length of the tractor by slowly moving to the side of your marker in the curve, then bring it back in line when exiting the curve. This may sound little a big deal, but with a little practice you will get it. Making straight rows is all about two things (IMO). Making sure you are straight in line after turning around and paying attention to what you are doing. You can't be talking on the phone or adjusting the radio, unless you have GPS and then you can bake a cake if you want.
I mainly strip till with RR seed now, so I don't do much cultivating anymore, but the method is pretty much the same. Learn the sweet spot and let it go. I done it with 2, 4, 6 and 8 row equipment.
jeff9366
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You might consider a Tuff-Bilt cultivating tractor, manufactured in Alabama. I have no experience with one, just have filed Tuff-Bilt as interesting.
Tuff-bilt Tractor System - Affordable and Innovative
Tuff-bilt Tractor System - Affordable and Innovative
Tor Arne
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It looks like an Allis Chalmers G or David Brown 2D. Could have liked to have one like that when I cultivate potato fields
flusher
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15000 square ft is about 1/3 acre. That L3800 is way too large for those small fields. Get a B-series Kubota--mine was a 2005 B7510HST with the LA302 FEL (4-ft wide bucket)--cost $12.6K new.
Discing on a curve is not difficult. Using a moldboard plow will depend on the radius of the curve. If the radius is large, then it'll be like plowing in a straight line. Plowing on a small radius might be a problem.
I'd use a 4-ft wide rototiller to handle your 1/3 acre plot. Mine was a used Yanmar RS1200 that cost $350. I used it to put in the landscaping around my new house--also about 1/3 acre. I worked the soil with a middle buster plow before hitting it with the rototiller since the soil was too dry and hard to use the rototiller directly.
Good luck.
Discing on a curve is not difficult. Using a moldboard plow will depend on the radius of the curve. If the radius is large, then it'll be like plowing in a straight line. Plowing on a small radius might be a problem.
I'd use a 4-ft wide rototiller to handle your 1/3 acre plot. Mine was a used Yanmar RS1200 that cost $350. I used it to put in the landscaping around my new house--also about 1/3 acre. I worked the soil with a middle buster plow before hitting it with the rototiller since the soil was too dry and hard to use the rototiller directly.
Good luck.
jeff9366
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I second the rototiller. It is hard to find a 44"-48" disc harrow with the necessary forty pounds bearing on each pan to do a good job.
A PTO powered rototiller is a better solution for small areas. Also consider a CULTIPACKER to roll in your seeds on fluffy, root-tilled ground and to press in anti-erosion ridges in the soil.
POST #5 by MOTOWNBROWN is an example of T-B-N at its best.
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motownbrowne
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Wow, Jeff, thanks! My dad's been farming here since 1974, and has it down to where it looks good in pictures. I agree with what was said earlier about the tiller, and also want to mention a spader, which does a similar thing, but with less damage to soil structure, though admittedly with way more moving parts and upfront cost.
Also, those Tough-Built tractors look pretty slick. I suppose when the Gs and the Cubs start dying out in another 50 years we'll have to look to them.
Also, those Tough-Built tractors look pretty slick. I suppose when the Gs and the Cubs start dying out in another 50 years we'll have to look to them.