Keyline subsoiling with BCS

[Farmer Abraham]

Hi guys, has anybody tried doing keyline subsoiling with the BCS and subsoiler attachment? My wife, boys and I just bought an old farm of about 160 acres of timber and 40 acres of pasture/CRP in Northeast Missouri. After reading Mark Shepard's "Restoration Agriculture" I'd like to get a keyline design for my property and perform annual (or semi-annual) subsoiling. My plan is to get a BCS 852/853 diesel as my primary tractor, and save money for lakes, trees, etc.

 

[motownbrowne]

160 acres is sure a lot for a tractor without a place to sit. Mark Shepard's book is great, but he definitely doesn't shy away from equipment to get the job done.

 

[Farmer Abraham]

It's actually 200 acres; 160 timber and 40 pasture. I know it sounds insane, but I saw a post on here by a guy who cut 15 acres of hay with a walk-behind. I really love being outside, and I figure for the cost of a 4-wheel tractor I can have lakes, trails, etc. built, and get perennials established. I also have 3 young sons who will someday be good farmhands

 

[Farmer Abraham]

I should've mentioned I also plan on getting a UTV (hopefully Polaris Ranger Diesel Crew) for getting around, hauling brush, tools, seed, etc.

 

[motownbrowne]

By no means am I trying to dissuade you, but you can buy a darned nice 4 wheel tractor for not much more than a large BCS. Obviously it will be used and probably 40 years old, but that's fine. Also, implements for three point equipped tractors are very widely available for a reasonable price. This is in stark contrast to implements for 2 wheel tractors.

 

[freedomlives]

I also read "Restoration Agriculture" as well as one of the Yeoman Keyline Design books. But we only have a total of about 20 acres (some land of neighbors I just use, so that's why I say "about"). I couldn't see that the land we have would justify a 4 wheel tractor, so I ended up with an (later realized to be insufficient) Czech two wheel tractor, which drives a cutterbar mower and hayrake, and then a Goldoni (Italian) two wheel tractor with the powered trailer and rotary plow. I could probably get a neighbor with a tractor to rip across the field, but it would require a lot of explaining, marking, and the negative of running heavy equipment across the soil, and finding a subsoiler, rip shank.

So I just made swales on contour with the rotary plow a couple of weeks ago. But my field is just 5 acres. I didn't keyline though, the slope doesn't have any ridge-valley sort of feature visible over the 80 yard width of the field, so mine are just to keep the water from flowing down and away. They are spaced 20 - 30 yards apart, and I'll be planting trees and bushes on the down slope side of the swales.

The way I understand keylining with a subsoil ripper (or keyline plow) is that you're going across the whole field. From video I watched, it seems like maximum the rip shanks are spaced 2 feet apart. So a bit of math:
A square 40 acre field is 1320 feet each side. 1320 feet divided 2 foot width between keylines is 660 keylines.
Each keyline then would be 1320 feet long. 1320 feet * 660 = 871200 feet = 165 miles of keyline.
How fast can the BCS pull the subsoiler?
Reading in another forum I frequent (keyline plow? (permaculture forum at permies)) the yeomann's plow is also a bit different from some subsoilers.
Then there is a question of depth, which is based on whatever the hardpan in your field is at. Apparently, if the hardpan is 11 inches or deeper, the ripper for the BCS won't help.

Here are some photos of my swale / mini-swale making. It took 4 passes with the rotary plow, and I plan when it is drier to build up the high part more. I can't say how much the swales will help or how effective the present depth (about 12" from bottom of "ditch" to top of soil pile on downslope side). I'm still refining my "technique" at making the swales as well...