First Time Plowing an Area - recommendations and depth?

[rossn]

Hello,

I am plowing an area for the first time, in high clay content soil. I haven't plowed previously, so this is a new experience for me. I have a Massey GC1705 and an Everything Attachments single bottom plow... though I'm not sure what size it is (awful **** heavy!).

What depth is ideal, and is it better to do a single or double pass?
Ideally I would be tilling in some compost, if I can get my hands on a tiller. Should I top dress the area with compost before plowing?
How close should I plow, row to row?
Any other recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[jeff9366]

Moldboard plowing is essentially a single pass, one time event. After the plow passes the ground will be rough, due to the furrows produced in the plowing process. You cannot plow a second time because crossing the furrows with tractor wheels will pull the plow out of the ground.

Let the ground dry, so the vegetation roots turned up, dry and die.

Moldboard plows are inflexible as to the depth they will turn sod correctly.

12" plow will work from 5" to 7" deep

14" plow will work from 6" to 8" deep

Plowing takes quite a while to learn. Highly satisfying activity when the earth inverts properly.

Then use the roto-tiller to level down the furrows, mixing in compost at the same time. It will take a tremendous volume of compost to ameliorate clay.

If you want ground smoother (i.e.: garden or pasture which will be mowed) succeed the roto-tiller with a chain harrow, an improvised drag or a Landscape Rake with gauge wheels.



FURTHER: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...oard-plow-wisdom-farmwithjunk.html?highlight=


VIDEO: How To Plow with a Compact Tractor - YouTube

Everything Attachments Compact or Subcompact Tractor Plow - YouTube

How to Use a Standard 12" One Bottom Plow - YouTube


What is your objective with the ground?

How large is the area you are working?

 

[bigtiller]

A 12" moldboard plow and garden tractor your size produces mixed results. If everything is perfect, results like the pic below are possible. This was done with a JD 2305 and Brinly 12" moldboard plow.

 

[rossn]

Thanks, guys - reviewing the videos now... had seen one of the previously.

Initially, I'm just putting down a small 4'x25' strip for fall vegetables... we just moved in, so this fall is just an experiment. The property has a lot of trees, so not expecting great sun through the fall and winter.

Out of curiosity, how is the plow measured/sized? I'm not sure what size I have, and that would be helpful to know.

 

[rossn]

From what I can tell, it is a 12". Fair to assume that each pass lines up with the edge of the last pass?

 

[jeff9366]

I believe the only size single-bottom plow ETA offers is 12".

Yes, each pass lines up with the edge of the former pass. Your right wheel will be in the previous furrow, so this alignment will occur automatically. (Note in the videos.) Tractor will be sharply canted over to the right.

You cannot plow in both directions. You must return to your starting point and plow in the same direction creating each new furrow. (Note in the videos.)

What tires are on your tractor? I hope R1 or R4 tires and not turf tires, which are usually too wide to fit in the 12" wide furrow created by the plow.

 

[newbury]

Also you might have to get more weight, either loaded tires or something. I've only plowed a little but it was with about a 14" single plow breaking ground in what had been a lawn for 60 years composed of clay that would be good for making pottery. I was using my M4700 (50 HP, ~6,000 lbs w/ FEL and weights) with loaded tires and many times I'd lose traction.

 

[CCWKen]

4x25'? I wouldn't even start the tractor for that. I'd just get the walk-behind tiller and do that in about 15 minutes.

I cut in a 50x150' pepper patch with the tiller primarily because I couldn't get the tractor around the trees. Took longer post-tilling prep than to till the whole area.

 

[rossn]

Unfortunately, it didn't go like it does in the videos. Clay was extremely dry and rock hard... making it down more than 3-4" was show stopping. So, I ended up using the plow, to some extent, more as a digging tool... once I'd get stuck, raise it up a little and break off the clay then try again. My rear tires are ballasted, and I have the R4 tires. I ran in 4wd and locking the differential... in spite of trying to get a running start, often came to a halt, either because of lack of traction or because I didn't have enough HP, and the engine would start to bog down. There could certainly be user error with the angle of the plow, etc., though it felt like I need 2000 lb more and 15 more horsepower. I do have the FEL attached... does adding some weight in it help, or only cause more problems? Sometimes the tractor started to pivot (versus go straight) due to the offset of the plow.

At this point, I've got an area that is sporadically plowed, and re-leveled it. Will go back to try to catch the spots missed, with my ghetto approach to plowing. I learned pretty quickly that all the looking back while getting jerked by the hard ground isn't the best on the neck!

Area is probably more like 6x35, and don't think this ground is going to be too friendly on a tiller.... yet.

 

[MHarryE]

You learned the plowing lesson the only reliable way - go out and try it in your soil condition. Asking on this web site can get you in deep trouble, as can watching videos, because of soil variations across the country. Even across the thousand plus acres we farm there is a huge variation although it is mostly a very heavy clay that breaks up like concrete chunks. No-till or min-till doesn't work in outer area. We need to beat it into submission before the ground freezes and let Mother Nature finish it off with freeze thaw cycles. Today I was plowing a newly rented field that has not been well managed. Very little top soil. Plowing deep brings up a clay with no organic material. I had t use a 4 X 16 plow at 4 mph. A half mile away I rent from the same owner a well managed field that I can plow at 5.5 mph with a 5 X 16. More topsoil and can plow an inch deeper. Plow design makes a difference. In front of my place I have an antique machinery display wth equipment salvaged from farms we have purchased. I have 5 plows sitting there. Two of the horse drawn plows have bottoms that just kind of lay the furrow over. Less power required. Our newer plows pull harder per unit of width but also break up the soil better so air and moisture can penetrate and do their thing. My father-in-laws farm in Missouri had thick rich bottomland soil that he plowed with 4 X 16 using a tractor with 30% less power. The soil just crumbled and didn't need any further preparation to make a good seed bed. So the primary thing you need to do is match you equipment to your soil. Why I am here in this miserable soil is a long story (I retired and decided to toss away our life savings helping my cousin on the farm on which I was raised). The land is cheap - $600 an acre. We rent land for no cash - give the owner a quarter beef or something similar. But in my first job as an engineer for one of the largest Ag manufacturers I got to travel the entire USA and discovered the soil variations from our hard clay to Montana's rocky soil to Washington's volcanic ash to the deep topsoil prairie of Iowa, Illinois, and Southern Minnesota. There is absolutely no single method fits all, not even close.