Breaking new ground. What a PITA.

[Raul-02]

I recently set about preparing new ground that I know hadn't been worked for better than a century. 47HP 4wd tractor with a 14" two-bottom dearborn plow. The roots and rocks and muck defeated me. There were ancient Grape roots (those things are tough), hundred year old maple roots, Siberian Elm, and walnut.
So I took a ripper to it and that made a complete mess of things. I then used a grapple to get the roots out. That made a bigger mess. Some roots were 6" in diameter. Now I got holes hills and it's a mess. I'll take my Howard rotovator to it and see if I can use that to bring it back to more or less level.
No box blade, no rear blade, no land plane.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

When you finish ... I've got a 20 acre section you can work on.

 

[bmaverick]

I recently set about preparing new ground that I know hadn't been worked for better than a century. 47HP 4wd tractor with a 14" two-bottom dearborn plow. The roots and rocks and muck defeated me. There were ancient Grape roots (those things are tough), hundred year old maple roots, Siberian Elm, and walnut.
So I took a ripper to it and that made a complete mess of things. I then used a grapple to get the roots out. That made a bigger mess. Some roots were 6" in diameter. Now I got holes hills and it's a mess. I'll take my Howard rotovator to it and see if I can use that to bring it back to more or less level.
No box blade, no rear blade, no land plane.

1. We are just days before winter begins. Why oh why are you ripping ground now ?

2. Double ganged notched disc harrow. Likewise, my ground out here had not been touched in 70 years. This tool ripped and shredded everything under the surface. Just a few passes and it began to look like great soil again.

Sub-soil 8-inches depth.

TADA, no more wild grape roots !

 

[Raul-02]

Why oh why are you ripping ground now ?

Roots. I'm ripping the roots so that I can work the soil. Plus I have a water issue and I'm breaking the hardpan hoping it'll perk down.
Never done this before.
I have a pile of mushroom compost I want to work in before the snows.

 

[Raul-02]

I wish I'd seen this video forst

 

[Gee Ray]

This is just like remodeling a house. Make a mess then make it pretty. Use your ripper and make a N-S then a E-W grid to bring up everything that you can. Use your grapple to remove every thing you can. It will be a chore. Find an old railroad tie or piece of an I-beam to make a drag and smooth it back out. Then try to plow it again. I would not use the rotovator until every thing was picked out.

 

[Raul-02]

I wonder if I should load the loader bucket for more weight

 

[Raul-02]

Find an old railroad tie or piece of an I-beam to make a drag and smooth it back ou

Roger. got it thx

 

[ehcrain]

Did something very similar this past summer with my 39 hp kubota. Started with a two gang notched disc. Very little impact.
Sprayed with roundup and mowed as low as possible. Once that was done my disc started to cut. Grabbed a two bottom plow and turned all of it over east to west. Disc once same direction and then 90 degrees opposite. That second time was horrible bouncing across the field. I finally gave in and bought a pto tiller. That was my best bet. I was wasting time prior to using the tiller.
I was lucky that i wasn't fighting any vines and only had to find a few rocks. I plan on doing more this summer with these steps.
Cut low
Spray and let die off
Tiller a few times in low gear
Wide drag for leveling

 

[stuckmotor]

One of the stories I grew up with is of my great grand-father watching my grand-father break a new ground in the 1920's. Every time the mule pulled the turn plow under a root Granddad had to pull it back and lift it over. My great grand-father turned my great grandma and said he'd never heard a family member curse so much.