Subsoiler adventure

[GPintheMitten]

I'm glad you're having success and fun working the garden. I enjoy your sailing metaphors. I take it your a sailor, not a power boater, right?

 

[daugen]

I'm tired, I'm sore, and I'm smiling. All good. Sorry, I've only been a powerboater, though I love being on other people's sailboats as long as they are large enough, aren't becalmed, and have a comfortable seat. My wife and I had an old, classic Bertram 46 motoryacht, twin DD 8V71TI's, and the genuine hole in the water in which I threw money. And loved it. We drove it to south Florida, took it over to the Abacos all by ourselves, and lived aboard down there for three years. And got really homesick for PA. Brought the boat home and sold it. South Florida is a very different world. I can't imagine farming down there in the summer without a/c; the combo of heat and humidity just sucks the energy out of you.

When I bought the boat, diesel was 73 cents a gallon. But with fuel prices now, I was priced out of the sport. But we kept our 16 Scout and trailer that to various lakes in the summer, usually trying to rent a house on the shore with a dock. I find the water wonderfully relaxing and can't wait to get back on it. Except when I got caught out in that little boat in 3 to 4 footers outside of St. Michaels, on the Chesapeake, and got the crap kicked out of me. Which is what I was chuckling about as I went up and down over the plow lumps today. And when I got stuck, well, like a boat too...

 

[daugen]

I got home today covered in dirt from head to toe, sunburned, and delighted that the DR rototiller and Gravely combination handled the rocks. At one point I looked down and there were about five or six rocks every square foot. Cart after cart of rocks picked up the hard way and the ground can be further rototilled and is becoming more friable.

I went further on one part of the garden just to give myself a break from the big rocks and of course wound up with endless small ones to pick up. Would a York Rake be a good tool to drag through the garden in the future to pick up rocks, or at least deposit them on one end? My brother in law and I looked at each other after picking rocks for an hour and wondered if we should star in a Cool Hand Luke movie, down on our hands and knees in the dirt, picking rocks.
So I have no problem justifying another implement to help out here. Suggestions please. I'm too old to do all this bending over, and I'm sure there are many, many more rocks that will come up. Thanks.

 

[rambler]

I learned to drive tractor when I was 7 here on the farm, and dad put me on the plow tractor when I was 8, been plowing many years.

I went along rock picking when I was 6 or so, haven't found the end of the rocks yet, got a pile about the size of a garage now, still going. Dad sold the first pile of rocks to the State for rip-rap on a bridge over the river into town.

Anyhow.

You do need to fiddle a 'bit' with the adjustment on your plow. Looks like you got it plowed, but that sure isn't anything close to the angle the plow should have. You need to make the toplink much longer. The plow landside (the vertical piece that slides on the ground behind the point) should be level, front to back, not pitched up out of the ground behind the bottom.

Or another way, the side shot of the plow in the dirt, the plow frame should be about level. In your picture, you have the frame angled up behind you - quite a bit! Once you get that set right, the plow will suck into the ground and put weight on the rear wheels, and you will not have so much trouble with traction.

You are kinda using it as a V-ripper trenching tool, not so much a plow. But again, looks like it worked out for you, so the results are there. You got a bare patch of ground, and had fun doing it. How you got there isn't so important.

I think a lot of your troubles come from that 'sort of' cat 1 3pt hitch your tractor has - it is set up to fit cat 1 implements, but has shorter arms than a 'real' cat 1 hitch. This makes it real hard to set up so it's right when you are using it, and able to transport it because it doesn't have the same arc as a 'real' cat 1 hitch. Not knocking the tractor, looks like a good one (once you fix that severe toe-in...) but just the nature of those types of smaller than standard cat 1 hitches.

--->Paul

 

[daugen]

Paul, yeah, I just plowed with it all the way up because that's what worked best for the prior implement. I may run it one more time tomorrow, still pretty bumpy out there for what's left, and I'll drop the link down like you suggest. The side to side height is clearly off, weird, wasn't when I started...need to adjust those links too.

I got it done, ugly, but done. Now rototill it about ten more times to bust all those lumps down, and get some seed in the soil. First day of Spring feels like first day of Summer around here, I think everyone is scrambling to get going.
Drew

 

[daugen]

Paul,
ok, this time I dropped the top link down a full inch and boy what an improvement. The dirt rolled off better, didn't dig in quite so deeply, but plenty deep to stop the tractor. As soon as I saw the dirt roll off the share like a wave, I knew things were better.
Making progress on the garden. Had my best assistant today helping me and delighted she could make it into the garden. Oh Lordy what a lot of rocks.
This pic is after a full truckload was taken away by a friend. I told him to bring a bigger truck!

Is there a three point hitch attachment, or more likely a FEL one, that will pick up rocks this size without me bending over 8 million times? Will a rear rake work or will it pull a huge amount of dirt with it? Gotta be an easier way, this is too hard for an old fart. THanks. Drew

 

[whirly]

...
Is there a three point hitch attachment, or more likely a FEL one, that will pick up rocks this size without me bending over 8 million times? Will a rear rake work or will it pull a huge amount of dirt with it? Gotta be an easier way, this is too hard for an old fart. THanks. Drew

Kids ... come in all sizes for all size rocks and the cost varies with size:thumbsup:

 

[Rob-D]

As for rocks, the ploy pipe is fairly forgiving but not bomb proof. With this setup if you have to lay another pipe to replace a broken one it doesn't leave much of a mark on the lawn. Just drive over the slit to push it back down and in a week you won't know it was there.


I typically make one pass w/o the pipe to clear the path of big rocks etc and to ease the next pass when I actually put the pipe in the ground.

Great idea to lay pipe!
Thanks
Rob

 

[Rob-D]

Kids ... come in all sizes for all size rocks and the cost varies with size:thumbsup:

I've been going back and forth with this and did a lot of informative reading on TBN.

Last year i bedded my garden with a single plow according to Ted's videos on Everything Attachments. This spring I tried my 6' landscape rake after tilling thinking I would get most of the rocks.

No offense to Ted and EA but those guys don't have rocks down there, they plow virgin soil and there isn't a rock! Every year we get more rocks in the garden (it's a scientific fact that rocks grow over the winter) and every year we have to hand pick them. As Nancy says, "two rocks for every dirt!"

Well anyway when I used the landscape rake it just took off the soil with the rocks. If I raised the rake it just skimmed the surface and all the rocks underneath the ground came up on the next pass of the tiller. And, by the way, these rocks are killing my tiller. It's not breaking but if this keeps up I'll be changing tines before long.

I'm going to get a rock bucket, they aren't perfect but I'm not going to pick rocks every year and beat up my tiller in the process so while I can't afford a Harley Rake (the way to go) the rock bucket will do the job, a little slowly but I'm not in the landscape business, I just want a nice garden plot.
Also at the end of this season, I'm going to plow the garden but I'm also going to till it so it's nice and flat and hard in the spring which should make it easier to see, find and pick up the rocks with my rock bucket and landscape rake.

Rob

 

[Smallplot]

Update: County Line single bottom plow worked very well, cut through the sod and clay easily, though the tractor had nowhere enough traction for this. Sure now understand the benefits of MFWD. I spent half my time with the diff lock pushed down, and I wondered if constant use of that, not slipping it, but fully engaged, heats up anything. Boy did it work. Had to do much of the deep plowing going downhill since uphill was just too hard on me and the tractor due to lack of grip. Even with my big ag tires, I've only got 2000 pounds to work with.

Nice plow, a friend picked it up for me because he was closer to TSC, and they took fifty bucks off because it had been sitting out awhile, and had some rust spots on it. Ok, that's fair. Built very strong, my 25hp tractor isn't going to stress it, but I noticed the whole apparatus was cockeyed when I put the tractor away. The links weren't that out of wack before, maybe something moved. Very pleased with the plow's performance even when I'm sure I didn't have it adjusted very well. Did the job, turned everything over and I'm ready for the rototiller. I suppose I could disc it, but because the soil is still moist and sure clayey, I think the less I drive on it with the tractor the better, and will use the much lighter garden tractor from now on.
p.s the head on shot of my 255 shows some messed up steering angles...headed to the repair shop for some new knuckles, I could see something moving that sure shouldn't have been, plus the one tire turned in significantly more than the other. Likely PO ran into something and bent the steering rod, but maybe enough adjustment in there to help plus a few parts. The turf tires are worse than useless in wet clay, geez slid all over the place once they became solid mudballs, and the lack of weight on the front made steering almost impossible at times. Kept veering off to the right, and being a boater, I know my rudder was pushing me that way... I have a 300 pound custom weight box I built for my Gravely; don't know if 300-400 pounds would help over the front tires, but since it steers so easily, I'm going to find out. I had to use the diff lock, i had to use the brakes for steering, I was pumping away on whatever worked. And boy am I sore now. Good sore.

Looking at your pictures I have a couple of questions. Just by looking at your picture, the top link looks way short. This can just be the picture but figured I would ask. When you set the plow down is the bottom cutting shear tip on the ground with the rear about 1 inch off the ground? How deep of a furrow were you leaving?

Looking at the head on photo. What exactly are you plowing right there? I know you have a logical explanation but, when you plow your right side tires should be down in the furrow made by the last pass. Tractor, except for right side tires, should not touch any plowed ground. This is why plows are usually set up to look lop sided when attached to the tractor. To get the plow to make a level cut it needs to sit unlevel, side to side, on the tractor.

If you are trying to drive on plowed ground, as it appeared from the photo, you will not have any traction and a ride that will make a bull rider jealous. :laughing:

Sorry just saw where Rambler went over most of this. My bad.