Anybody use a turning /moldboard plow?

[porkchop401]

Today I burnt off and began breaking a 2.5 acre patch of ground that I intend to plant watermelons on this spring, the ground has been in pasture and hay since the last row crop ( cotton) was planted in 1955. I began plowing and noticed a fella watching me from the road , I stopped and spoke with the fella and he said the last time the patch was plowed it was likely plowed with a turning plow and was amazed that anybody still had, much less used them . I am using a homemade rigged single bottom 3pt rigged plow that I gave a fella $20 for on Craig's list. I seem to be turning about 6 " deep and seems to be an easy load for my yanmar ym226.
I am curious how many folks still use these old school plows to do there initial breaking?

 

[countrybumpkin]

I use a two bottom once or twice a year.

 

[wheelbuilder]

I've got one I use on the garden but I have only done a small amount of initial turning with it. I bought it because it wasn't expensive, and can be fixed with tools I own. It took some getting used to, but I'm comfortable using it and adjusting it to run right.

 

[porkchop401]

Tomorrow I intend to finish the patch weather permitting I will post a pic or two if I can remember . What are you folks pulling with and number of plows. Countrybumpkin plowed ground really finishes nicely the ground I am plowing is dense with grass roots and isn't nearly as smooth.

 

[jeff9366]

I plow food plots and fire breaks with a 12" two-bottom Ford Series 101 moldboard plow behind my Kubota L3560 HST.

Countrybumpkin plowed ground really finishes nicely the ground I am plowing is dense with grass roots and isn't nearly as smooth.

Plowing is the first step in preparation of virgin or long unplowed land.
After ground is plowed, soil mixing with a Disc Harrow may suffice to prepare loam soil in successive years, up to about ten years.

After the plow, a Disc Harrow is run over the land once or several times to knock down plow furrows and even the land.

Then a drag or roller is used for final smoothing. Factory drag behind compact tractors is most often a Chain Harrow.

Commercial farmers, especially hay farmers, want to spray and harvest at high tractor speeds.

VIDEOS: tractor plowing field - YouTube

 

[porkchop401]

I plow food plots and fire breaks with a 12" two-bottom Ford Series 101 moldboard plow behind my Kubota L3560 HST.



Plowing is the first step in preparation of virgin or long unplowed land.
After ground is plowed, soil mixing with a Disc Harrow may suffice to prepare loam soil in successive years, up to about ten years.

After the plow, a Disc Harrow is run over the land once or several times to knock down plow furrows and even the land.

Then a drag or roller is used for final smoothing. Factory drag behind compact tractors is most often a Chain Harrow.

Commercial farmers, especially hay farmers, want to spray and harvest at high tractor speeds.

VIDEOS: tractor plowing field - YouTube

I plan on using a 3pt hitch offset disc to chop and follow up with a drag before planting

 

[LD1]

Most plowing now is only done by hobbyist's.

The benefits to plowing are breaking up the hard ground for better growth, and for weed control by turning seeds/weeds 6-8" under so they rot and dont re-grow the following year.

Modern farming has gone to chemicals for both with weed-killers and fertilizers. Pro's and cons to both.

I have a 2-acre plot of corn I put out to harvest for deer corn, as well as a large garden. I like the plow method.

 

[oosik]

I have & use a single bottom 18" Pittsburg plow. I think if I had 2.5 acres to "open" I'd be looking to rent or borrow a PTO driven rototiller. Does everything in one pass. View attachment 630157

 

[DJ54]

Only to plow my little 1/4 acre garden. I have 2 different OEM IH Fast Hitch plows for the Super C Farmall's I have. Since there is some slope to the garden, I roll the dirt uphill, plowing one way. It also eliminates having a dead furrow to contend with. One plow is a C11, 16" single bottom automatic rollover plow, aka/Hillside plow, with Plow Chief bottom, my cousin got for my Dad, probably 40 years ago. It laid out back, never used until about 5 years ago, when I decided to get it working, and let it earn its keep. It takes about 20 minutes to hook the connections up, to make it flip, plus removing the PTO guard,and same amount of time to remove it. So it depends on what's going on here, if I have the time to hook it up to use.

The other is a standard 2 bottom 14" Fast Hitch plow, with the Plow Chief bottoms. This one, you can just basically plug & play. Setting the level for a flat bottom, and nose pitch to run level once the first 2 passes are made, are hydraulically adjusted through the hitch mechanism, so it makes it quick and easy to get things adjusted.

Both do a decent job of plowing, and do a great job of turning over last years mulch/debris, to make a nice planting surface. Below is a short video of the auto flip plow, doing it's thing. Saves a lot of deadheading, when you want to roll dirt in one direction.




Automatic flip video 002 - YouTube

 

[LouNY]

In this area a lot depends on the farmer and the crop and the harvesting method.
Many places try to no till as much as possible,
it saves time, fuel, soil and money if done properly.
The next step up or down depending on your thoughts are chisel plows,
they will break up the ground and loosen it from equipment compaction while not bringing up lots of rocks and will leave much of the previous crop residue on the surface to conserve moisture.
The next one is moldboard plows which will turn over and bury the current crop residue and seeds on the surface,
it will also turn up lots of rock if you have stoney soil and bring previously buried weed seed to the surface to germinate.
Mouldboard plowing will also require more trips across a field after plowing either with discs or harrows to break up clods and smooth the surface.
Some ground especially when large heavy trucks are used in harvest will require deep plowing to break up the ground compaction,
also after many years of plowing some ground will aquire what is called plow pack a compacted layer in the ground below plow depth which will effect crop growth as the roots have trouble penetrating thru this layer and it will trap water above it which can drowned out a crop and severely impact yields.