The art of plowing

[rback33]

Rob, In most plowing situations you raise the plow and turn around and set the plow back in the furrow of the appropriate previous trip. When you are done, you then go back and plow out the end rows and fill in the dead furrow. The ends can be a little rough going across there....

 

[N80]

Questions:
Say you are using the plow to do a small food plot that is a rectangle or square surrounded by trees.
So not knowing anything about plowing, you drive from one end to the other. You have to stop or crash into the trees, leaving a tractor's length of un-plowed earth. Using the flip over plow, what do you do at the end of the furrow? Turn the tractor and back up next to end of the furrow you just did, but all the way to the tree line? Then plow in the opposite direction until you hit that tree line? Seems to me there would be a dead spot at the end of each furrow that way? Am I wrong there?
Using a conventional plow and assuming there is enough room to turn the tractor (which you need anyway), plowing in a "circle" would only leave corners of the rectangle un-plowed, right? Or you could back up to the corner and plow at a 90 degree angle to get all four corners and after that continue with the circular plowing?
Which would leave less un-plowed earth on a small plot?
I'm asking...

Well, this answer comes from someone who knows only a little about plowing but yes, pretty much everything you're saying is true, but for me its not the dead space where you have to turn around that's the problem.
As far as I know, you're going to have to leave some space for turning around no matter what. The problem I run into going in circles is what happens when I get to the middle. First, since my 'fields' are not even remotely symetrical and have no straight lines, the rows end up meeting in a 'V' of some sort. Second, in the middle, nothing ever lines up correctly in the pattern of furrows so the tire that is supposed to be in a furrow ends up on a mound and vice versa, of even worse, you end up crossing some rows because of the 'V' shape. Since I don't plant row crops and since I disk over what I've plowed, my plots don't have to be pretty and I can just make a few additional passes to turn over the soil in the middle, but it is ugly and does take additional time.

So the rollover plow isn't required for food plots but it would just be nicer and easier.

 

[RobJ]

I guess that is the main issue, and since from an agricultural perspective moldboard plowing is no longer 'in' due to compaction there's just no market for them. But, I personally think plowing is under utilized in food plot applications. I find plowing to be nearly as effective as herbicide pre-treatment as far as weed and grass control goes. I also don't find disking to be sufficient for prepping a seed bed in previously unplowed soil. much need for one when you have tons of room for turning around, etc. But when it comes to food plots it sure seems like the perfect thing. Plots like mine are often small and even with larger ones, the ideal shape is long and narrow. A reversible two bottom just seems ideal and the one the OP showed us is really pretty simple in its design and construction.

When I used my neighbors turning plow on virgin soil I don't think a food plot would come out very well without running the disk over it. Usually large unbroken clods.

A disk on virgin soil may take a couple passes but you still only use 1 implement and can cover more ground. For a food plot you only need to get down 3-5 inches, more for a garden. Then once you do it the frist year the next year its real easy. My plots/garden area gets a disking a couple times in the off season. A little seat time and weed control and it only takes about a hour or 2.

 

[N80]

When I used my neighbors turning plow on virgin soil I don't think a food plot would come out very well without running the disk over it. Usually large unbroken clods.

That's been my experience too. When I had a plow and no disk, I'd plow and then run a homemade harrow over it and that worked okay, but not great.

A disk on virgin soil may take a couple passes but you still only use 1 implement and can cover more ground.

Several problems with this where I am. Soil is mostly clay. When dry it is very hard and with a typical 7' disk you can barely scratch the surface on previously unprepped 'soil'. It would take a lot of work to get down 3". When the soil is wetter the disk will function more like a plow and it will prepare a good seed bed. I did this this spring and the deer 'mix' that I planted came up great, but so did all the weeds and grasses that were already there. The disk just does not do a good of killing the existing vegetation. A disk and a sprayer would probably do great. But I find that turning the turf with a plow works really well in that regard.

 

[jake98]

and the deer 'mix' that I planted came up great, but so did all the weeds and grasses that were already there.

quote above.


what the heck is deer mix? you guys aren't plowing to feed the deer, are you?
Jake

 

[N80]

you guys aren't plowing to feed the deer, are you?
Jake

Yes....

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Yes....

Got 'em thicker'n bugs on a bumper here. No need to feed 'em anything extra to get 'em to hang out. (apparently my garden and the popcorn crop are more than enough) In fact, we have to run 'em off. Same with wild turkeys. They're a nuisance most of the time.

 

[N80]

No need to feed 'em anything extra to get 'em to hang out. (apparently my garden and the popcorn crop are more than enough)

Like they say, if you want to know what to plant to attract deer, just plant something you don't want them to eat.

At least we want the deer to eat what we plant. And so far, I haven't failed yet!

 

[WarrenF]

First of all, two bottom plows are not used out here anymore.....they are five and six bottom plows. Tractors have enough horsepower to pull them, and most can plow five acres an hour.

Now as to plowing and where you leave the dead furrow. Out here with gravity irrigation, you always plow with the irrigation ditch. In other words, say your ditch runs east and west, and the furrows run north and south. You plow east and west. Your turn around will be on the east and west sides of the field. You always start by throwing your dirt toward the ditch. You keep throwing dirt towards the ditch all the way down the field so that your dead ditch is at the bottom of the field.

Now you go plow in the ends of the field. Lets say you are on the west side of your field....You plow north and south throwing your dirt to the east, until you reach the edge of your field.....east side of field you plow in the ends throwing your dirt to the west. So now your dead furrows are at the west and east end of your field and at the bottom of your field.

I don't know about the dirt in other parts of the field, but out here if you plow when it is too dry you will get big clods of dirt. If you plow when it is too wet you will also turn up soil that is slick and then dry to become big clods. The trick out here is to plow and work your ground up in the fall. Then the winter freeze and moisture will make your ground very very nice for spring planting.

Hope that explains things.

 

[Egon]

That is interesting Warren. Any more descriptions of irrigated farming.

I have no idea what is involved with cultivating irrigated land.