Scorecard:: Clay & Sub-Soiler: 2, Tractors: 0

[Dargo]

Hello fellow Indiana, iron hard clay soil, neighbor! Besides using a trencher, I've had to improvise at times with our concrete soil. I've had the best luck when I've taken the "tooth" off of my sub-soiler, and hung my suitcase weights on it as well as have a somewhat large friend ride the sub-soiler. Even with 50hp and 7000 pounds, my sub-soiler can hang in our lovely Indiana soil. By removing the "tooth" (mine is an old sub-soiler with a replacable bolt on tooth), the sub-soiler becomes narrower and rips right through the soil.

As a matter of fact, for an invisible fence around my 12 acres, I rigged a piece of brake line on the back of the sub-soiler and a spool holder on top of it. To keep the depth even, I temporarily welded a slider "foot" on each side to maintain my depth at my required 4". Without those on each side, I could bury the sub-soiler 20" or so and drive away with it. The only key is to keep enough weight on the sub-soiler to keep it in the ground. The "tooth" is what keeps it pulling down when used. The "tooth" also makes it wider and harder to pull. Hope it helps you. It works like a charm for me in our concrete soil. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[KubotaSteve]

I think I saw them using something like that stuff when they were doing the foundation of the building beside ours in DC. They had this huge crane with a bucket at the end of it and would drop in down in the hole for the footings and bring it up and empty it and repeat for all of the footings. Every evening after they cleaned so much out of the holes, they would fill these holes so full with water and this stuff that came in about 80 pound bags. They would repeat this each day until the hole was deep enough which was about 100 feet or so.

 

[shoppintractors]

Sounds like the perfect situation for a hydraulically controlled adjustable top link! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Don

 

[keeney]

I have hard clay as well, and have used a subsoiler with some success to bury electrical cables about 12" deep.

On technique that helped a bit was whenever the tractor would stall out was to raise the 3-point, fracturing the hard ground upwards. It disrupted the ground a lot more, but

Lifting the 3-point was also effective when the subsoiler would snag moderate sized tree roots. The forward pull force was not enough to snap the root, but pulling up on it at the same time would often snap through.

For the remainder of my projects, I found a guy I can borrow a trencher from, and have used that instead. It has its own headaches like when it hits a large rock buried in the iron-hard clay, it just stalls and you have to dig the rock out before proceeding (or back up and divert the trench around the rock).

The same guy also has a vibrating plow, but I havn't had a chance to try that.

- Rick

 

[DocHeb]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Sounds like the perfect situation for a hydraulically controlled adjustable top link!)</font>

That's how I became successful with my subsoiler. Using my hydraulic top link, I'd start with an aggressive angle to get the blade down to depth; if/when the tractor started to bog down a bit, I could lengthen the top link and continue onward without difficulty.

 

[beenthere]

Bob
What does 'stopped' mean?
Engine died?
Wheels slipped, so no forward motion?
HST slipped, engine running, no slipping wheels?

When I penetrate clay with the sub-soiler tooth, I have a chain between the tractor drawbar and the tooth to pull the tooth, and don't rely on the top link (removed) to be in compression. I shorten the chain to cause more of a plow-like action of the tooth. It is pointed down at about a 5-10 degree angle with the ground line. Several passes will get it deeper each pass, and lengthening the chain is neccesary to keep the angle on the tooth.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

The tractors simply come to a stop, no spinning of the wheels at all, I'd kill the engine if I continued to apply pressue. The more and more I sit and think about it, the more I think DocHeb got right to my problem, by having the angle of the subsoiler set to steep, I am essentially pulling the tractor down into the ground, that is why it is not spinning the wheels. Spinning would mean loss of traction, not spinning essentially means I have so much traction that I'm up to & exceeding the limits of the hydro bypass. Not sure if I'll get out tonight, but I'm going to set the angle back by adjusting the toplink and see what that does. I've used this before and never had the problem, that is what stumped me, but I didn't think to lengthen the top link!!! And the mosquitoes were out in full force last night and that didn't help me think too straight either.

 

[HayDR]

Bob,
Rent you a 3 point Bradco 612 trencher if you want to get the job done. What you are doing may stall tractors twice the size and HP of your tractors.

 

[beenthere]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Let us know what works, and a pick of it working? I also rented the trencher that CCI mentioned and it worked great on the 3pt.

Mosquito's? They have been gone since the end of June, and they were particularly bad this year. Usually gone earlier in June if we have a wet month of May. Sorry to hear you are fighting them. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Richard]

Just get her, her own little generator out there... I mean, c'mon...

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

ok, I'll now go back & listen to more disco music for that indiscretion