Plow for LS R3039

[Olympus]

Guys I’ve had 2 acres of woods cleared for food plots last summer. The ground has never been worked and it’s been compacted by the dozer that cleared the trees. I’ve tried breaking up the ground with a chisel plow and a 3pt disc, but neither did more than scratch the surface. Someone said I should try a plow at least for the first couple times to get the soil lose and then I should be able to use my chisel plow or disc.

Just wondering what size plow would work on my tractor. I’m gonna look for something cheap. My LS is 39hp and weighs 3900lbs and is 4wd.

 

[K5lwq]

You should be able to handle most two bottom plows. For cost and that you are just doing food plots, a single bottom turning plow would work just fine but I would find one with a coulter blade on it as well. I believe mine is a 15 inch plow and I pull it with a 25 hp tractor with out using 4 wheel drive. You can find them used fairly cheap.

 

[jeff9366]

Was the soil MOIST when you attempted to work it?

Many implements are marketed as chisel plows. Some are much lighter than others. Plains chisel plows usually require a tractor with 100 horsepower to pull through the earth.

How about a picture? Or the weight of the implement, number of tines, and the brand?

Chisel plows are conservation plows, which slice the earth while leaving 15% to 20% of the soil surface intact, to reduce water and wind erosion.

You can use a Moldboard Plow or a Disc Plow (which is NOT a Disc Harrow) but that will leave sloped land subject to water erosion for three to five months. Is your plot land sloped?

The "classic" land opening moldboard plow is 12". You have to be careful with a 14" or 16" Moldboard Plow not to mix infertile subsoil with your top soil.

You can easily pull a two bottom, 12" Moldboard Plow through moist soil. You can likely pull the three bottom, 12" Moldboard Plow but with every bottom added plowing becomes a more difficult to master ag operation. For two acres a two bottom plow is sufficient. Even a Moldboard Plow will not turn dry, hard, soil.

Functional old plows are pretty easy to find. Most of the old plows were good. Many contemporary moldboard plows are not so good.



What diameter are the pans on your Disc Harrow? What is the spacing between pans on your Disc Harrow, 7" or 9"?
Do you know how to alter the gang angles on your Disc Harrow, to change the cut?


Photo #1 Plains Chisel Plow - Primary Tillage

Photo #2 Dirt Dog brand Field Cultivator - Secondary Tillage

Photo #3, #4 Dirt Dog brand Field Cultivator at work in MOIST sandy loam.