Removing poly twine from fields

[Bloemie]

I bought an old dairy farm and the previous owner used poly baler twine and left in in the fields. This stuff is now so embedded in the sod, that even dragging a box blade through it can stop my 45hp tractor. When I do pull it out, it usually because some parts snapped and chunks remain. Rotary tiller just gets jammed up and I cut tons from the rotary mower.

I am at the point of thinking I need to till and replant but wondered if anyone had tried renmoving this stuff. If so, moldboard or disc or both?

 

[Citydude]

I watched a guy on YouTube use a chisel plow trying to do the same thing your doing. Seemed to work for him. He did admit that he will never get it all out of the field he was working.

 

[Bloemie]

I watched a guy on YouTube use a chisel plow trying to do the same thing your doing. Seemed to work for him. He did admit that he will never get it all out of the field he was working.

I am thinking I need to break the sod first before hooking the twine. I was ripping up 10x10 chucks of sod, roots and all with twine stuck in it with a 6ft box blade and as mentioned it got stuck more than once. Hundreds of strands of twine and grass all matted together. I have a s-tine cultivator that may then be able to hook it out, but it stands no chance currently.

 

[ruffdog]

.....sounds like a mess! Good luck!

 

[eddieirvine]

Is it possible to burn your field ?

 

[bigtiller]

I tilled up a new garden in the corner of a 5 acre building lot one spring for the new owner. We found out real soon that one of the previous owners used it for feeding a few beef cows for a few years.

My tiller did an excellent job of picking up the nylon twine. The garden was about 75' by 150'. After the first pass I had to stop and spend a few minutes cutting a 6" by 5' ball of twine out of the tines at the end of every pass.

The second time through the garden picked up any stragglers.

It cost that guy a lot of cash for me to remove the twine but he was very appreciative to have a clean garden.

PS. A sharp/new linoleum knife with a home made extra long handle made removing the mess much easier and saved the day.

 

[2manyrocks]

I recently had a discussion with the local Kubota service manager and asked him if they had any issues with Kubota axle seals. He said they never had issues except when baler twine gets wrapped around them and destroys the seal.

 

[5030]

Had some bad experiences with poly in hay fields I rent. That stuff will destroy the bearings in a disc mower real quick, almost as quick as it will destroy the bearings in a lawnmower.

Poly is nice because the mice won't eat it but I cannot think of any other advantage and it becomes a real disadvantage when some 'idiot' (I use that term lightly) is too lazy to pick it up and dispose of it properly.

Poly will remain in state (on or in the ground) for eons.

Only thing I use it for here is row marker lines for the garden and in the fall, it gets tossed in the garbage.

Just look at the 'Plastic Tide' that is floating in the ocean if you want a reality check.

 

[dirttoys]

LOL, I normally just drive through the field with the shredder, anything it doesn't catch seems to wrap around the rear axle!!

Someone suggested burning, I would do that and harrow until I didn't find much more.

Best,

ed

 

[NoTrespassing]

I bought an old dairy farm and the previous owner used poly baler twine and left in in the fields. This stuff is now so embedded in the sod, that even dragging a box blade through it can stop my 45hp tractor. When I do pull it out, it usually because some parts snapped and chunks remain. Rotary tiller just gets jammed up and I cut tons from the rotary mower.

I am at the point of thinking I need to till and replant but wondered if anyone had tried renmoving this stuff. If so, moldboard or disc or both?

Running with 1/2 the scarifiers removed might help you to not bog down the tractor. It sounds like a long process though.