Ripping a small field...

[mopardude318]

Well not sure the correct terminology yet but my aunt needed her 4 acres lightly ripped she is gonna spread hay seed. I've never done something like this before and I didn't have the correct equipment so I just put the scarifiers down on my box blade and did the whole dang field this way. LOL. I haven't figured out my draft control yet so I was manually raising and lowering the 3 point as I would lose traction with the R-4 tires. I'm open to suggestions for the proper equipment and tips how to do it for next time. Maybe I can get my dad's little Caterpillar D22 track layer out here once I get 'er fixed up.

 

[RNeumann]

I’m not sure the terminology either but I think your aunt “owes” you!!!

The farmers will better advice and tools. But with a box you can set the rippers to the desired height and tilt the box up in the front so that the blade controls the rippers don’t go too deep. You can do the inverse with the box angle if you add some skids to the sides- this way you can see your little ripper lines in the dirt. The same can be done after seeding. Like I said above I’m no farmer. I just scratch a little ground with my box for my food plot and shooting range. I don’t care about seeing the lines in the dirt so all I do is tilt the front of the box, rip to loosen the soil, seed and rerip and smooth to cover the seed.

 

[joeu235]

Keep a look out on what the farmers are using near by when they plow. But nice job and good looking soil

 

[jeff9366]

Research PASTURE RENOVATORS. Most companies make them. It is an elastic category.


I suggest a Field Cultivator, essentially a lightly built Chisel Plow, often used as a soil aerator.

Field Cultivators have parabolic shaped tines, unlike Box Blade scarifiers. Parabolic shaped tines orient the penetrating points horizontally in the soil, decreasing draft force resistance.

If you reached 6" depth with Box Blade scarifiers you will be able to reach 12" to 14" depth with a Field Cultivator generating the same draft force resistance and output will be smoother.

SCROLL DOWN TO VIDEO: Fred Cain 9 Shank 3 Point Field Cultivator

TBN ARCHIVE: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/339095-dirt-dog-all-purpose-plow.html?highlight=

 

[oosik]

I should hope to say - your aunt DOES owe you. That's AN EXCELLENT JOB. You can be very proud of what you accomplished. That field is now ready to be seeded and packed.

 

[Egon]

You done good.

From the looks of the field youv'e got the right equipment!

 

[kthompson]

You will find with some jobs you can use a variety of tools, just as you did. I would say it looks very good. Do you have a landscape rake how do you plan to cover the seed?If the hay is to be cut you need to knock down the high areas of the dirt, if you have landscape rake it will do that and it can also be used to cover the seed. You don't want to really pull the dirt but rake the seed as you would with a hand rake. If no landscape rake a piece of chain link fence will do fine.

 

[lpigott]

Hook to that old tractor tire and drag it over the field to smooth before and after planting and done!

 

[cat fever]

It does look good. Here is what I use. It's called a spring tooth harrow.

 

[BrokenTrack]

That looks really good!!

"Use what you have", has always been my mantra, but the way I redo pastures and old fields is to use a turning plow and turn the soil over throughout the entire field. Then I attach a cable to the widest, biggest log I can pull SIDEWAYS and drag that through the field. The longer that log is, the smoother the field is because it fills and cuts over a wider swath. Of course the heavier it is, the less the log rides up over hummocks and has more dirt it fill the dips. It takes quite a few passes, but the more you drive over the field, alternating directions like going lengthways, then diagonal, then legthways again, really makes for a nice field. This method also pushes rocks into the soil. I usually pick any of the bigger rocks that the log fails to push down, then make a final pass with the sideways log to smooth things up.

To sow down, I use a trailer with a homemade broadcaster. Using a U-Bolt, I connect a 1/2 inch drill to the trailer, then put my portable generator on the trailer and power the drill with that. To broadcast the seed, I use a length of threaded rod bolted to the top of a 5 gallon bucket where 2 pieces of angle iron are bolted to act as vanes. As my wife drives the tractor and attached trailer, I scoop into the seed with a coffee can and shake it onto the spinning homemade broadcaster.

Last year I did a 10 acre field using this method and it worked well. Again not saying the way you did so was wrong as it obviously wasn't, but just saying that a person only has to use what they have creatively to get a good result!

(The first photo shows the end result, a field of clover/timothy and oats. The second shows the homemade broadcaster, and the third shows me pulling a log sideways to really smooth the field up. A skidder is not required, I just happen to have it and it could pull a heavy, longer log).