northern tool subsoiler

[fractal]

Reading looks like my tiller has made a clod garden? and noticing that my clod garden had even more clods than his (and bigger) got me to thinking. My soil test says I have plenty of organic material so simply adding more bulk is not likely to help much. I bet I have a hardpan layer right under where my tiller can cut. We haven't had a drop of rain in over a month and I spot water that part of the garden that is planted, but when I tilled again today, I got huge clods of clay on top and breaking them open they were still saturated with water. I am guessing they are getting a bit of water running off the hill from the avocado trees I DO water.

So, trying to find a solution to the problem that involves seat time, I am wondering if running a subsoiler through the garden to try to break the hardpan layer might do some good. I saw that northern tool has a 99 dollar subsoiler, an 89 dollar middle buster and a 159 dollar combination unit listed here.

Has anyone here had experience with any of these products or care to suggest an alternative?

The shape of my garden won't allow criss-crossing the garden much unless I take out the varmit fence but I can make several passes parallel to the side of the hill to try to break up the hardpan. I am hoping to try to break up the saturated clay before I get the summer beans planted this year and think a subsoiler might help. Will probably help more if I do it in november before the first rains, but help a little with the drainage now and am willing to give it a try if it only costs me 100 bucks.

 

[Rch]

A critical design feature on a middle buster/subsoiler is the vertical height of the shank, especially the top part, the distance from the 2 lower control arm connections to the top link. If too short, when you have it in deep, the toplink is angled acutely down. Since the toplink is in compression the top link can easily get bent. This somewhat depends on the height of your tractor. When sunk in, you want the toplink close to horizontal. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[WVBill]

RCH:

I started thinking about your response, which seems logical but I couldn't think where the bending force on the top link would come from or why the compression force would be increased by having it at an angle other than horizontal. So I did a Google search and all I could come up with was this:

And that started hurting my brain like it did in college /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif so I just gave up and decided to take your word for it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Why do you think breaking up the hardpan is going to help?
Have you drilled or dug to determine what is under the hardpan? Most Big acerage farmers gave up on subsoil breaking, and went to drainage systems.
Based on your statement you think the water is coming from your trees, a better solution might be to drain your garden to a sump and pump it back to the trees for irrigation. If you're getting that much runoff from the trees you're probably overwatering them.
Also, regardless of the organic content, in clay you need to fluff the soil up to eliminate clods, or dry it out. The simplest way to fluff clay is to till in wood chips. Hunt up a tree killer in the area and get some chips, prefferably not from diseased trees.

 

[Rch]

WVBILL, the compression force is not greater. The force however is pushing on the toplink downward, not headon. I have crooked toplink in the barn as a result.