What implement to use for drainage ditch

boomer613 · Mar 23, 2015

Every winter my orchard gets too much rain and I am afraid the soggy ground will lead to root rot on my trees. Since I do not have the funds to buy a backhoe attachment for my tractor, I need another solution to dig a small drainage ditch between the rows of my fruit orchard. I was thinking about tilling beteen my rows and buying a middle buster to create a foot wide drainage ditch. Has anyone tried this? Thanks.

Deerherd · Mar 23, 2015

I would run a subsoiler down the rows to break up the hard pan and help with drainage first then switch the point out to a ditching point. Depending on your soil running a disc or tiller is a good idea. Your tractor you can fold back a ditching point in too hard ground. Here's a picture of my subsoiler with the ditch point on it. (I also bury cable with it, thats what the tube is for on the back).

teg · Mar 23, 2015

Is your soil compacted? A sub-soiler might be the ticket... in wet conditions, the water passes more easily through the shattered areas, reducing the possibility of crops drowning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywhHsjp6CxE

boomer613 · Mar 23, 2015

Deerherd said:
I would run a subsoiler down the rows to break up the hard pan and help with drainage first then switch the point out to a ditching point. Depending on your soil running a disc or tiller is a good idea. Your tractor you can fold back a ditching point in too hard ground. Here's a picture of my subsoiler with the ditch point on it. (I also bury cable with it, thats what the tube is for on the back).

View attachment 417802

The picture looks like a middle buster blade on the bottom of the subsoiler. I'll look for one at my nearest tractor supply store. Thanks.