Grading FARMING IN A CURVE v A STRAIGHT LINE

[Guildenrose]

I am a blank slate; I know nothing about using a tractor, or farming. Nevertheless, I intend to "hobby farm" in retirement. We are terracing a 30% grade (very steep), and the hill is convex; our retaining walls will give us about 20 feet of width in each flat terrace; we will have a total of five of these flat terraces; they will vary in length from about one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. This will render up to 15,000 square feet of planting area; however, because this hill juts out, it forces a natural curve in these five terrace rows; that is, we cannot make our rows a continuous straight line because of the configuration of the plain. HERE IS MY QUESTION:

USING A COMPACT TRACTOR (We plan to buy a Kubota L3800 and all needed implements), can you plant and cultivate on a curve, that is an arc? Is that possible? If it is possible, how is it done?

I have declared to my partner that this is not possible and cannot be done, because a tractor can be used to plant and cultivate only in straight lines; but my lack of knowledge and experience really makes me unqualified to say. Can someone help me?

Thanks.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I'll just say this: your tractor has a steering wheel, right?

 

[crowbar032]

Neighbor once told a story about his brother taking a case of beer in the cab of tractor when he went to plant corn. The farther into the day, the more crooked the rows got. He even joked that he would have to get drunk in order to cultivate it throughout the year. Straight lines look pretty, but aren't necessary.

If it's as steep as you say, I'd be more worried about turning the tractor over.

 

[RaydaKub]

It takes some practice but it can be done. If you can drive on it, you can farm it. You just have to exaggerate your actions with the steering.

 

[motownbrowne]

Here are some pictures of our vegetable operation. We grow produce intensively on a little more than an acre. Granted our slope here is a lot less than 30%, it's a closer to 6%, but we don't use any retaining walls. We plant in raised beds on the contour of the slope we are on, this is our main defense against erosion. In a perfect design, we'd have the ends of our beds be lower than the centers by about 1%. This would facilitate drainage, and eliminate the risk of water building up in the center and crashing through the lower beds. I don't really know anything about the weather in GA, but I would strongly advise designing your terraces with water flow as the primary consideration. I would consider money to consult experts in the field very well spent. Also, you asked about cultivating with the tractor, which means weeding around a growing crop. I suppose this all depends on what you are farming, but on a space that small, I would recommend swan-neck hoes, and wheel hoes before tractor cultivation. It is a little slower, but the equipment is much cheaper, and it will be much easier to get good results. Tractor cultivation, requires pretty specific equipment which must be set up to work with your crop. Also, cultivating tractors are a little different than regular tractors in that the are often offset to allow the operator a view of the crop being cultivated by implements carried under the belly of the machine. Cultivating with a rear implement around a curve for a beginner is going to be very difficult. I assume you will be growing vegetables or another high value crop seeing as your area is small, and would recommend hand cultivation, it works fine for us on 1.25 acres. If you want to cultivate with your tractor, buy a Farmall Cub for a couple thousand and leave it set up to cultivate. Farming in curved lines takes practice, but once you get the hang or it, the end result is much more attractive, and functional in our type of situation, than straight lines.

If you think farming in curves is tough, try doing it on the contour of a slope like ours without retaining walls, meaning that one of your tires is always downhill. Now, try doing everything with an 8n, which doesn't have live power or hydraulics, or power steering. Essentially, you stay pretty busy up there, always thinking about the right order to do things, "okay, engage PTO, shift to neutral and release clutch to engage hyraulics, raise implement, crank side link arm all the way to compensate for slope, clutch in to shift into gear (gotta be fast enough so the hydraulics don't leak to the ground) release clutch to travel, but don't lift the implement too high and disconnect your PTO shaft. Drive onto bed, lower implement, etc. etc. etc. Needless to say, life will be different this year on our Kubota.

Anyway, good luck, and have fun.

 

[smstonypoint]

In addition to the info you receive here, Google "contour farming" -- there's a lot of useful info out there.

Steve

 

[kevin37b]

You get more crop in a crooked row .

 

[joshuabardwell]

Cultivating with a rear implement around a curve for a beginner is going to be very difficult.

This is a really good insight, and I would think, the primary limitation on the ability to farm a curve. The issue is that a rear implement swings wide when the tractor turns, so it will be easy to accidentally cut into your crop row as you are trying to keep the tractor aligned. As MoTownBrowne pointed out, row crop tractors will often have the cultivator mounted underneath the belly of the tractor for visibility. This also means that the cultivator follows the track of the tractor without any swingout. Same reason a lot of folks choose belly mowers over three-point mowers. Bottom line seems to be that a lot will depend on the operator's skill and the degree of the curve. With only 20 feet of terrace, you are going to have some restrictions on maneuverability, and you will have to drive up a 30 degree grade to get to the terraces. None of this is impossible, but it may be a lot to ask of someone who isn't an experienced tractor operator. At the very least, make sure you keep your wits about you, go slow, and think three steps ahead to stay out of trouble.

EDIT: Final thought--do make sure your retaining walls are rated to take the weight of a tractor. Especially near the edge, it would be a sad, sad thing if the wall gave way on you and the tractor took a tumble.

 

[smstonypoint]

Another thought.

You are talking about farming just over 1/3 acre. The Kubota L3800 is a fine tractor, but may be overkill if its only use is going to be "farming." Using a two-wheeled tractor (e.g., Home // BCS America) might be more practical for small-scale farming on terraces.

On the flip side, you will find a myriad number of uses for a "regular" tractor, especially if it is equipped with a front end loader.

Steve

 

[ovrszd]

In addition to the info you receive here, Google "contour farming" -- there's a lot of useful info out there.

Steve

You beat me to it Steve.

In addition use Google Maps, Satellite pictures and view contour farming at it's finest anywhere in the US. Start with your physical location and scan outward. Who knows, you might actually find a relatively close neighbor that's already doing it. Although, if you do, probably don't wanna tell him you've been looking at his fields using Google. Some people get freaked out about that for some reason..