How would you attack a small fenced field?

[Tx Jim]

Performing any farming task that one creates smaller areas in same field which I call lands requires more actual field time. There's a local custom hay cutter that creates lands utilizing a disc cutter that 9' cutterbar is on RH side of tractor. The operator misjudges his land width & each final cut if each land may be 2-3' ft width & that IMHO is wasting time but each to their own way.

 

[bdog]

For mowing you are right but what other options are there if you are using an implement that is stuck in the ground and you are not able to turn while it is in the ground?

 

[oosik]

Something like a Troy Bilt rototiller might work better for your small field. I tried my tractor and a small disk harrow in our garden once. WHAT A PITA. I ended up going back over the entire area with my TroyBilt tiller.

 

[MossRoad]

I’m not sure what you mean about the big equipment. I was referring to a 7’ implement in my example. If it were 3.5’ wide I have to turn around 70 times but if if we’re 14’ I would only have to do so 18 times.

I am planting hybrid sorghum-sudan or winter wheat depending on the season.

Can you drive down one side, lift your planter before you get to the end and make a 90 to the left. Then drive far enough to skip 7' then turn up the field. When you get to the end, repeat to your right. Skipping every other pass direction. When you get to the end, turn around and come back and get all the skipped passes. That just leaves you the two strips at the ends. You won't have to stop at turns, back up, etc... it might not be as efficient as you like, but you won't be stopping at each end to line up the next pass.

 

[K5lwq]

They plant in semicircles in the Texas panhandle all the time. Seems to work for them.

 

[Hay Dude]

I had a similar problem with a small field and split rail fence. I took several posts out of the ground and pounded 6” PVC sleeves into the ground. I put the rails back in the PVC sleeves. Now I can remove the fence.
Wont help the OP with welded fence

 

[Hay Dude]

For mowing you are right but what other options are there if you are using an implement that is stuck in the ground and you are not able to turn while it is in the ground?

Is it a 3 point? Like the transport disc I have? Was thinking you could lift it, turn, back up to fence, repeat...

 

[CobyRupert]

Can you back up 240’ faster than you can turn around?

 

[bdog]

Can you drive down one side, lift your planter before you get to the end and make a 90 to the left. Then drive far enough to skip 7' then turn up the field. When you get to the end, repeat to your right. Skipping every other pass direction. When you get to the end, turn around and come back and get all the skipped passes. That just leaves you the two strips at the ends. You won't have to stop at turns, back up, etc... it might not be as efficient as you like, but you won't be stopping at each end to line up the next pass.

With the disc or chisel sure that would work as if I missed something it would be easy to come back and go over it again. When planting however I would have to gauge the row width exactly or I would wind up with skips in the field. It would stink to plant every other row and then come back to do the skipped rows and find out that some gaps are 6' and got double planted and some are 8' and I have a bare 1' strip or whatever. I guess I could measure off and mark every 7' on both ends of the field but then that starts approaching the level of hassle of just turning around. Now if I had a nice auto steer setup.....

 

[bdog]

They plant in semicircles in the Texas panhandle all the time. Seems to work for them.

I'm not really sure how they plow the centers of the pivots but for the majority of the field the turn is very gradual. I do know however if you sink a disc or a chisel deep in the ground and try and make a 90 degree turn you are going to bend or break something. Gradual sweeping turns are ok, not sharp ones.