deep ripping?

gws · Mar 21, 2004

I was flipping through channels and end up on RFDTV. They were showing a tractor doing "Deep ripping" of a field. It look like a middle buster but went 4-5ft deep into the soil. Why would you "deep rip"?

_RaT_ · Mar 21, 2004

An old guy I work with who has hundreds of acres of orchards out here in California always rips as deep as he can prior to planting trees. I wish I could post the picture of him standing at the ripper of a D11. A single Kelley ripper about 7' tall. The thing ripped about 4' or 5' deep in a single pass. The reason he likes to deep rip is for soil aeration allowing better tree growth and water penetration. It must work, his trees are outstanding.

Dozernut · Mar 21, 2004

Repeated trips over a field with heavy farm equipment, combined with shallow tillage, will cause a compacted soil about four to six inches down. This formed hard pan, will not let plant roots penetrate and causes shallow root growth. This is a recipe for crop failure during drought periods. This compacted layer can form up almost as hard as concrete in dry weather. Farmers use a subsoiler to till deep to break up the compacted soil.