Subsoiler Qs

[Haywire]

I visited a used tractor implement place today and they had an old ford subsoiler for $100 that the guy said was made of real steel instead of the junk iron he said the newer aftermarkets were made of.

I thought about using it to break up dirt for pickup with my bucket. Can you run these things shallow, like 6" fairly easily or do they track deep automatically. Maybe I need a plow for such a purpose, they're designed to run shallow.

Ian

 

[jake98]

your 3 point will tell it how deep it can go.

 

[Haywire]

But can you easily limit it or will it be constantly be wanting to dive to the bottom?

 

[Haywire]

Do you limit the angle of the tip (and it's agressiveness) by changing the length of the top link? Forgive the ignorance, never ran a 3ph attachment before. Just kinda feeling this out.

Ian

 

[Jimmy Joe]

Might be another good reason to consider a box blade.

 

[jnjpream]

The 3pt will not allow it to sink beyond what you let it.. Hold the lever down until you reach the depth you want, then move it back to the middle. The implement may float up, but it will not go lower beyond the point you set it.

Changing the angle of the tooth on a subsoiler will change the aggressiveness. You do this by adjusting the top link. Shorten the link == more aggressive (points the tooth down thus pulls down more), lengthen the link == less aggressive (pulls down less or rides to the top).

So if you drop the subsoiler to the ground and it won't dig in, shorten the top link until it does. Once at the 6" depth like you want, put the 3pt lever back into the middle.

A box blade is nice to have for this stuff too. More expensive, but by far the most used implement I have. My 5' has 5 teeth that can do what your looking to do with one subsoiler tooth.

Jeff

 

[dstig1]

Well, Ian you seem to be having a lot of fun with your new BX. You tell your buds over on AS all about that yet, or still smarting from the guys who wanted you to buy an 85hp M series since a BX wasn't "big enough" for mowing the lawn? I got a big kick out of that thread with everyone pushing you into Monster Tractor land...

One thing about tractors is that you quickly find all the neat things you never knew you couldn't live without. Since I got my grapple, I am in heaven for land clearing (after I got past some initial problems with it...). And the winch is a godsend for moving logs around.

But no, I have nothing to add about subsoilers...:laughing:

 

[Haywire]

My 5' has 5 teeth that can do what your looking to do with one subsoiler tooth.

Ya know, I hadn't considered that about the box blade teeth. Good point.

Dave, the BX is going to be fun in time, but for now I am just learning about the tools that make it more so.

I had one wheel off the ground a couple days ago. The pucker factor was such that I think I pulled a chunk out of the seat. Won't do that again. :laughing:

Ian

 

[smstonypoint]

Check out the video library at Everythingattachments.com. They have how-to videos for most common attachments.

How To Video Demos - Implements & Attachments

Steve

 

[LD1]

Changing the angle of the tooth on a subsoiler will change the aggressiveness. You do this by adjusting the top link. Shorten the link == more aggressive (points the tooth down thus pulls down more), lengthen the link == less aggressive (pulls down less or rides to the top).


Jeff

I think that is backwards.

It is just like a rear blade. Longer toplink makes it more agressive.

 

[John_in_TN]

This can get confusing, but I think "jnjpream" is correct on this one: shorten the top link to make the sub-soiler more aggressive.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Right on, shorter the top link the more bite the foot on the subsoiler has. Just the opposite of a grader blade.

 

[LD1]

I have no first hand expierence but I still fail to see how a shorter toplink will give more bite.

The shorter it is, the closer to perpindicular (90 degrees) to the ground the blade becomes. Since a 3PH has NO downforce, wouldn't that make the bite less. Wouldn't the closer to parallel it becomes probide more bite?? Same as a blade, 50 degree agle from the ground will provide a better bite than say 70*

 

[beppington]

I have no first hand expierence but I still fail to see how a shorter toplink will give more bite.

The shorter it is, the closer to perpindicular (90 degrees) to the ground the blade becomes. Since a 3PH has NO downforce, wouldn't that make the bite less. Wouldn't the closer to parallel it becomes probide more bite?? Same as a blade, 50 degree agle from the ground will provide a better bite than say 70*

The subsoiler's tooth starts out at a very shallow angle that's close to horizontal, causing it to tend to ride along the top of the ground. Shortening the top link causes it to dig in deeper/ harder.

 

[LD1]

I guess I can understand that. Going from 90 degrees being perpindicular and 0 being horizontal, typically the lesser the angle the more the bite, but ONLY to a point.

I wasnt taking into account how low (near horizontal) the angles were on a commercial subsioler. My homemade one has a steeper angle, so lengthing the TL DOES give me more bite. But then again, I dont consider mine a subsoiler. It is more like a ripper that I use for mainly two reasons. Cutting roots when digging stumps and busting up hardpacked clay to make FEL work easier.

 

[LD1]

I thought I did pretty good though making that a few years ago with just scraps that cost me nothing. Even the Pins I turned on the lathe from free scrap. But after reading the "your time is not free" thread and considering it took me ~ 5 hours to make, I guess I should have just bought one for ~$200 bucks. As it stands now, I am $250 in the red on this baby. But the sharpened edge probabally slices roots better then a TSC one though.

 

[dstig1]

I had one wheel off the ground a couple days ago. The pucker factor was such that I think I pulled a chunk out of the seat. Won't do that again. :laughing:

Ian

That's what you think... It will happen again. You just need to learn when it will happen so you are ready for it and can try to avoid it as much as possible. I suspect this is even easier to do in the smaller tractors.