Bottom Plow to Battle Residual

[JohnnyMX]

I've tried numerous methods of breaking ground here in upstate NY. I'm not a farmer and don't have that background. The clay, rock and CRP residual mixed with roots/vines make the first working of an area pretty intensive to just try to get to the dirt. I've experimented with spraying, cutting, subsoiling, rippers on the box blade, field cultivator, rototilling, scraping with a toothbar, raking, etc. I have found all will work with enough effort, and all methods also work much better upon second tillage. I'm sure I'm preaching to a choir here.

Seems like a bottom plow is just the unitasker for the job. Green down, dirt up!! This feels like something that will collect dust/rust unless breaking new ground or doing a restart on an area. Given the number of times I have to stop tilling to clear vines (every 15 minutes), I assume I would want coulters to help slice through the garbage to get the ground to roll over. Most of the used plows don't seem to have them. Is there a general place that sells them as add-ons? Do you need them? I'm assuming an MX5200 can handle a double bottom 14" plow, but correct me if that isn't ideal.

I looked through the EA site, AgriSupply, CL, marketplace so far.

 

[jyoutz]

I've tried numerous methods of breaking ground here in upstate NY. I'm not a farmer and don't have that background. The clay, rock and CRP residual mixed with roots/vines make the first working of an area pretty intensive to just try to get to the dirt. I've experimented with spraying, cutting, subsoiling, rippers on the box blade, field cultivator, rototilling, scraping with a toothbar, raking, etc. I have found all will work with enough effort, and all methods also work much better upon second tillage. I'm sure I'm preaching to a choir here.

Seems like a bottom plow is just the unitasker for the job. Green down, dirt up!! This feels like something that will collect dust/rust unless breaking new ground or doing a restart on an area. Given the number of times I have to stop tilling to clear vines (every 15 minutes), I assume I would want coulters to help slice through the garbage to get the ground to roll over. Most of the used plows don't seem to have them. Is there a general place that sells them as add-ons? Do you need them? I'm assuming an MX5200 can handle a double bottom 14" plow, but correct me if that isn't ideal.

I looked through the EA site, AgriSupply, CL, marketplace so far.

Your mx5200 will handle a 2-14 bottom plow. EA has one and you can add coulters for additional charge.

 

[sweettractors]

I've tried numerous methods of breaking ground here in upstate NY. I'm not a farmer and don't have that background. The clay, rock and CRP residual mixed with roots/vines make the first working of an area pretty intensive to just try to get to the dirt. I've experimented with spraying, cutting, subsoiling, rippers on the box blade, field cultivator, rototilling, scraping with a toothbar, raking, etc. I have found all will work with enough effort, and all methods also work much better upon second tillage. I'm sure I'm preaching to a choir here.

Seems like a bottom plow is just the unitasker for the job. Green down, dirt up!! This feels like something that will collect dust/rust unless breaking new ground or doing a restart on an area. Given the number of times I have to stop tilling to clear vines (every 15 minutes), I assume I would want coulters to help slice through the garbage to get the ground to roll over. Most of the used plows don't seem to have them. Is there a general place that sells them as add-ons? Do you need them? I'm assuming an MX5200 can handle a double bottom 14" plow, but correct me if that isn't ideal.

I looked through the EA site, AgriSupply, CL, marketplace so far.

A set of 2 bottom 14's or 16's should be a good match for the 5200. Coulters and trip beams would be suggested for conditions you describe. Ken Sweet

 

[LouNY]

I don't know how much acreage you are considering plowing.
A 2 bottom plow is going to take quite a while to cover very much ground.
Also while coulters are required I'm not sure if the available 2 bottom plows have
trips and while I haven't looked I doubt they would be auto reset. So stop and back up for every trip from rocks.
I would look for someone in the area with a good set of plows and a tractor to handle them and hire them to
plow your ground the first time.
I would use (rent) a heavy disc to work up the top 6 inches, this will also result in less rocks on the surface.
If you plow then you will need to drag (spring tooth harrows) the ground, these are very effective at bring rocks
to the surface, then you can go out and pick rocks from the ground carry them to a corner or wet spot and
unload them and repeat. Once all the visible stone the size and larger that you have decided to pick are all
removed from your field you can make another pass with those damned harrows to break up and erase your
wheel tracks from that nice worked ground, of course that will unearth another crop of stones and you will
have to decide if you can live with those or go out and pick rock again.

 

[Doughknob]

Moldboard plows should have coulters for easier pulling and better furrows to keep the tractor wheel in.

 

[JohnnyMX]

It won't be a single large field, but a bunch of .3 to .5 acre areas amongst an old tree farm. Some of it is for food plots and the other half is all of the holes left by the prior owner from selling live trees. Even if all the holes are filled in it would avoid the surprises as you are driving through the fields. I already have a farmer that does my front 20 acres in corn. These are areas they couldn't really get their large equipment to without me doing some serious work to clear some significant paths. I work these areas as time allows on the back 40. I just put an order in to EA for a land plane. Time to keep saving or hope they do a blow-out for new year's or xmas

 

[oldnslo]

2 bottom plow you should be able to cover 1/2 to 1 acre per hour. A lot depends on speed, length of rows, etc. For area you are talking about shouldn't be a concern.

 

[mo1]

I've tried numerous methods of breaking ground here in upstate NY. I'm not a farmer and don't have that background. The clay, rock and CRP residual mixed with roots/vines make the first working of an area pretty intensive to just try to get to the dirt. I've experimented with spraying, cutting, subsoiling, rippers on the box blade, field cultivator, rototilling, scraping with a toothbar, raking, etc. I have found all will work with enough effort, and all methods also work much better upon second tillage. I'm sure I'm preaching to a choir here.

Seems like a bottom plow is just the unitasker for the job. Green down, dirt up!! This feels like something that will collect dust/rust unless breaking new ground or doing a restart on an area. Given the number of times I have to stop tilling to clear vines (every 15 minutes), I assume I would want coulters to help slice through the garbage to get the ground to roll over. Most of the used plows don't seem to have them. Is there a general place that sells them as add-ons? Do you need them? I'm assuming an MX5200 can handle a double bottom 14" plow, but correct me if that isn't ideal.

I looked through the EA site, AgriSupply, CL, marketplace so far.

A 2-14 plow should work plenty fine. 1/3 to 1/2 of an acre will go quickly.

Many used plows have missing coulters, I had to look a little bit before I found one that did (a 3-14 Case MRB probably from about 1960) but they are out there. Coulters will help slice through trash and make a cleaner furrow but they are not absolutely mandatory. The point and shin/moldboard actually do the majority of cutting and all of the flipping of the soil.