sixdogs
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2007
- Messages
- 13,241
- Location
- Ohio
- Tractor
- Kubota M7040, Kubota MX5100, Deere 790 TLB, Farmall Super C
On subsoilers here with clay ground, roots are going to be ripped up no matter what you do. I would not sharpen the leading edge because I don't think it will matter. I've used brand new ones with a sharp square edge on a 1 1/4" thick shank and it didn't perform appreciably different than ones that started at 3/4" thick and was worn so bad that the leading edge had a sharp taper to it. What mattered a little was the type of tip on it.
You would probably drag up fewer roots by going deeper but then you can "invert" the soil layers which is now known to be a poor soil practice. Around here 12" to 14" is all the deeper you want to go. I have done 24" on the treelines at times but didn't seem to drag up that many more roots than 12". I think if you rip every couple of years, you'll hardly ever get much in the way of roots.
You would probably drag up fewer roots by going deeper but then you can "invert" the soil layers which is now known to be a poor soil practice. Around here 12" to 14" is all the deeper you want to go. I have done 24" on the treelines at times but didn't seem to drag up that many more roots than 12". I think if you rip every couple of years, you'll hardly ever get much in the way of roots.