Best sub soiler?

[Fuddy1952]

There is a wide range of attachments and it seems so far maybe you do get what you pay for. Reviews for the less expensive ones aren't good since they may break.
I think a sub soiler would be pretty handy as well as a rear blade.
Where do you find the best value and how to balance out price/quality/amount of use?
My tractor dealer seems to have good attachments but they're 2X-3X price of Tractor Supply.
Any experience or thoughts appreciated.

 

[jeff9366]

Virginia is near North Carolina.

I suggest shopping everythingattachments.com.

I have ETAs heavy built Subsoiler with desirable shear bolt protection.

LINK: 3 Point Hitch Subsoiler

 

[TripleR]

I went with the LP and really like it, use it with an L5740 and M8540, but the price is pretty high, don't remember the exact price, but I wouldn't hesitate o go with EA, just not most of the cheaper ones, especially without shear pin.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Thanks so far...ideas.
I like Everything Attachments and bought a grapple from them.
The dealer has a really good, strong subsoiler for less...like $300+.
County Line less than $200 but not strong.
I'm trying "best bang for the buck".
Dealer may be the best.
Other suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Diggin It]

I think this is the one I have ... painted blue:

Taylor Pittsburgh

They also have a heavier duty one:

Taylor Pittsburgh

 

[Turbys_1700]

It all comes down to your budget and how much you want to spend. EA tells you the quality of steel used in their subsoiler. Lower cost units like those at Tractor Supply use a lower grade and not as durable thus the lower cost. Different grades and weights from different manufacturers. You may try used to save some coin. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Spindifferent]

Effective subsoiler use is highly dependent on tractor weight and tire traction. You need lots of both!

The type of soil you have also impacts effectiveness.

I use a Tufline model 1S-24 with my JD 3520 and I need more weight and traction than I have to get that monster down to 24 inches into the ground. At best, I can get the shank down 16-18 inches in my heavy clay soil.

Highly recommend the Tufline; it is rock-solid heavy duty.

Subsoilers | Tufline

 

[Fuddy1952]

So far I'm leaning towards the green dealer's one like this one. If I can get it for around $300 or so. Like this one...

https://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/28640339/2018-frontier-ps1001

 

[EverythingAttachments]

So far I'm leaning towards the green dealer's one like this one. If I can get it for around $300 or so. Like this one...

https://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/28640339/2018-frontier-ps1001View attachment 581616

$300 for that one vs. $422 shipped to your home via FedEx Ground for the Everything Attachments Subsoiler(no tax).

With the EA, you get these improved features:

Laser cut A572 steel from our factory here in NC.

Shear pin protection.

A bolted on, replaceable foot. Only the point is replaceable on the frontier.

A larger vertical plate with a > on the front of it so it cuts through the soil better.

A better, point forward, geometry swings forward during transport for clearance and produces desirable results when it hits the dirt.

The Frontier looks more like a potato plow with a subsoiler point. It is virtually a sub $200 piece made by Tarter, painted green, decals added, owners manual tube added and $$ added. No bashing. These are facts.
Travis

 

[bullbreaker]

Effective subsoiler use is highly dependent on tractor weight and tire traction. You need lots of both!

The type of soil you have also impacts effectiveness.

I use a Tufline model 1S-24 with my JD 3520 and I need more weight and traction than I have to get that monster down to 24 inches into the ground. At best, I can get the shank down 16-18 inches in my heavy clay soil.

Highly recommend the Tufline; it is rock-solid heavy duty.

Subsoilers | Tufline

Very well put . Here is another brand . Maybe rebadged . New Dirt Dog 1 Shank HD Subsoiler for 3pt., SHIP SO CHEAP, YOU WONT BELIEVE IT. | eBay

I'am tryin to remember if HAY KING made one back in the day .......

 

[Spindifferent]

Very well put . I'am tryin to remember if HAY KING made one back in the day .......

Thanks. If Hay King made a subsoiler, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. I have several Hay King products, and they are very well made. Great company and really nice folks working there. Made in Taylor, Tx.

 

[jeff9366]

OP has a Deere 3038e. Pretty light tractor @ 2,175 pounds, bare tractor. About the weight of a Kubota B series. I think OP would find the TSC CountyLine Subsoiler adequate but the ETA subsoiler with shear bolt protection is the wise buy.

OP will not be able to pull either the Tufline nor Dirt Dog subsoilers more than 10" deep. I am pretty sure neither brand Subsoiler has shear bolt protection, so there is the potential for OP to pull the light Deere 3038e over backwards should unprotected heavy Subsoiler encounter something immovable under ground.

I am old and cautious. I would not want a Subsoiler lacking shear bolt protection unless my tractor had Draft Control to prevent tractor from being pulled over backward. Commencing at about 60-horsepower most tractors have Draft Control standard. Draft Control is a seldom ordered option on <60-horsepower compact tractors.

It all comes down to your budget and how much you want to spend. EA tells you the quality of steel used in their subsoiler. Lower cost units like CountyLine at Tractor Supply use a lower grade and not as durable thus the lower cost.

I speculate the TSC/CountyLine (by Tarter) Subsoiler would fold before the tractor went vertical. Not bad.
TSC has a liberal return policy for CountyLine.



Both Dirt Dog and Monroe Tufline make quality implements, I have one implement from each.

Dirt Dog is the manufacturing subsidiary of Iowa Farm Equipment. I believe Dirt Dog manufactures every implement on offer. I have ordered several implements from Iowa Farm Equipment, including my Dirt Dog APP / Field Cultivator. Customers Service has been excellent.

OP has not revealed what uses he plans for a subsoiler. For many tasks a three tine or four tine APP/Field Cultivator may serve better at just slightly increased cost. A three to four tine Field Cultivator has about the same draft force resistance as a single shank Subsoiler pulled 12" deep.

ETA offers Field Cultivators too.

IFE LINK: Iowa Farm Equipment


I am old. I get a kick ordering heavy farm implements over the internet and three days later a sixteen wheeler from NC/KY/IA arrives at the house and delivers same. Selection is so much better than "the old days" and no implement I purchased new via the internet arrived with rust.


Photos #1 - #2 Dirt Dog APP

Photo #3 Monroe Tufline Disc Harrow, 20" diameter pans.

 

[Fuddy1952]

I'm guessing it's heavier than that with FEL and filled tires.
Some of those listed are really nice, but I most likely won't be using it that much. Like the dealer friend I've known for years said a lot of attachments are until the purpose of it is served. Then it sits.

 

[jeff9366]

I'm guessing it's heavier than that with FEL and filled tires.
Some of those listed are really nice, but I most likely won't be using it that much. Like the dealer friend I've known for years said a lot of attachments are used until the purpose for which it was bought is served. Then it sits.

This is the case with my ETA Subsoiler. Probably the only implement I do not have a photo of. I mount it perhaps three times a year; just often enough to keep it.

The Dirt Dog APP/Field Cultivator is used every week.

 

[Dadnatron]

I think this is the one I have ... painted blue:

Taylor Pittsburgh

They also have a heavier duty one:

Taylor Pittsburgh

I inherited a Taylor single shank when I purchased my farm. It is built great. I would definitely recommend going for a heavy duty shank. That $100 might sound like a lot of money, but when you have a job to do, and you break a shank or bend something, it will seem like nothing. Amortized over 20-30yrs of use, and it will more than pay for itself for consistency and availability on demand.

 

[Spindifferent]

OP will not be able to pull either the Tufline nor Dirt Dog subsoilers more than 10" deep. I am pretty sure neither brand Subsoiler has shear bolt protection, so there is the potential for OP to pull the light Deere 3038e over backwards should unprotected heavy Subsoiler encounter something immovable under ground.

Shear protection is important, for sure. Just for the record, the Tufline does have shear protection, and that is one of the reasons I purchased it. Working depth of the shank depends on lots of factors, so the only way to know is to actually use it in your soil with your equipment.

Best of luck with whatever you decide, OP!

 

[beenthere]

Jeff

so there is the potential for OP to pull the light Deere 3038e over backwards should unprotected heavy Subsoiler encounter something immovable under ground.

Can't imagine how this is possible, if the top link is in compression when ground is engaged. Being in compression, then the force is pushing forward. So if the laws of physics still exist..

If something were encountered that is immovable, simply would lose traction and sit and spin.. or break something.

 

[jeff9366]

Can't imagine how this is possible, if the top link is in compression when ground is engaged. Being in compression, then the force is pushing forward. So if the laws of physics still exist..

If something were encountered that is immovable, simply would lose traction and sit and spin.. or break something.

You replied to someone who had his Deere 750 absolutely vertical, balanced on the Three Point Hitch, when towing a square cut log, which encountered a rock in the ground. Deere went vertical in half a second, wheels churning, Top Link intact. If my seat belt were not fastened I would have fallen out and likely been injured. Worst case scenario, the tractor would have toppled on top of me.

Luckily I had an assistant close by. He got to me, I released belt and I had a controlled fall into my assistant's arms. We pulled the tractor down to the ground with a chain. Great crash; no tractor damage.

As I plow, I purchased optional Draft Control on my next two Kubotas. I just got off the L3560 moments ago. My everythingattachments.com Subsoiler has a shear bolt. My Ford Series 101 moldboard plow has trips.

I hope you never share my experience.

Draft Control was standard equipment on the 1939 - 1949 early Ford/Ferguson tractors. Tractors were primarily used for plowing then, and Draft Control was a huge advance. Prior to Ferguson, tractors used to topple backwards quite often. With Ferguson's TPH and Draft Control tractor mortality decreased. Now few plow, and Draft Control is optional on compact tractors, but the same potentially lethal conditions exist.

 

[geteh]

OP has a Deere 3038e. Pretty light tractor @ 2,175 pounds, bare tractor. About the weight of a Kubota B series. I think OP would find the TSC CountyLine Subsoiler adequate but the ETA subsoiler with shear bolt protection is the wise buy.

OP will not be able to pull either the Tufline nor Dirt Dog subsoilers more than 10" deep. I am pretty sure neither brand Subsoiler has shear bolt protection, so there is the potential for OP to pull the light Deere 3038e over backwards should unprotected heavy Subsoiler encounter something immovable under ground.

I am old and cautious. I would not want a Subsoiler lacking shear bolt protection unless my tractor had Draft Control to prevent tractor from being pulled over backward. Commencing at about 60-horsepower most tractors have Draft Control standard. Draft Control is a seldom ordered option on <60-horsepower compact tractors.


I speculate the TSC/CountyLine (by Tarter) Subsoiler would fold before the tractor went vertical. Not bad.
TSC has a liberal return policy for CountyLine.



Both Dirt Dog and Monroe Tufline make quality implements, I have one implement from each.

Dirt Dog is the manufacturing subsidiary of Iowa Farm Equipment. I believe Dirt Dog manufactures every implement on offer. I have ordered several implements from Iowa Farm Equipment, including my Dirt Dog APP / Field Cultivator. Customers Service has been excellent.

OP has not revealed what uses he plans for a subsoiler. For many tasks a three tine or four tine APP/Field Cultivator may serve better at just slightly increased cost. A three to four tine Field Cultivator has about the same draft force resistance as a single shank Subsoiler pulled 12" deep.

ETA offers Field Cultivators too.

IFE LINK: Iowa Farm Equipment


I am old. I get a kick ordering heavy farm implements over the internet, and three days later, a sixteen-wheeler from NC/KY/IA arrives at the house and delivers same. If you're looking for quality, check out Titan Attachments—selection is so much better than 'the old days,' and no implement I purchased new via the internet arrived with rust.


Photos #1 - #2 Dirt Dog APP

Photo #3 Monroe Tufline Disc Harrow, 20" diameter pans.

After helping out my neighbor, who’s getting up there in age, he kindly offered me access to some of his "smaller" attachments. The issue is that his smallest tractor is a JD 5420 with a CAT 2 hitch, while my JD 4044M is CAT 1. The implements I’d be using—mainly a 5 ft rough mower, a two-row planter, and possibly a 7 ft cultivator—don’t require much horsepower but are all set up for CAT 2. I don’t want to pass up the offer, but I know there are challenges with switching between 3-point hitch categories. I’d prefer a simple solution and definitely don’t want to alter his equipment. Is there an efficient way to adapt my CAT 1 setup for CAT 2 implements? Maybe a quick adapter option? Looking for something that lets me hook up and go without modifying his configurations.