The Proper Attachments?

Highsmith · Mar 16, 2007

What - Garden size 2-5 acres for truck farming and raising our own food.
Where - South Central Texas near Seguin.
Soil - Sandy red clay.

This area has not been farmed in 25 years. I would like to understand the correct implements I would need to garden an area this size. I plan on purchasing a tractor with 50-70 HP.

Time will not be as much of an issue for me as this will be a full-time gig as opposed to after a regular job or on weekends. So smaller width implements are not a primary concern.

I am guessing a soil ripper, then disk. What else?

Soundguy · Mar 16, 2007

Well.. a plow.. a big tractor like you are getting should pull 3 bottoms thru clay. And a disc.. perhaps even a cultivator / spring tooth harrow.. depending on what yuo are growing.. and how much you wnt to spend.. those are pretty much the min's ( plow and disc, and perhaps cultivator depening on crop.. )

Soundguy

Farmwithjunk · Mar 17, 2007

Save money.....buy a tiller. One implement that'll do the job of all those others in one pass. You MIGHT want to plow it the first season just to turn under any surface "trash", but after that, a tiller will do all the soil prep without hooking and unhooking an assortment of tools.

Plows and disc's are a thing of the past in real commercial garden uses. They lead to compacted soils just below their working depth, as well as only doing a so-so job in anything less than perfect conditions. Take a look at any large commercial veggie growers. Very seldom will you see anything beyond a tiller/rotovator anymore. Ease of operation and over-all less fuel use makes a tiller fit in better than older ways.

What about a planter? Large scale planting by hand is slow, difficult, and not nearly as accurate (which directly effects yields). I'd look for Deere 71 flex planters for corn and beans, Planet Jr. row units (OR... single row push version of the Planet Jr.) for small seed.

Are you speciallizing or planing on growing a wide variety of crops. That will help determine which equipment best serves your operation.

Check out this site for specialty crop equipment for the big gardener.

Main

BarryinMN · Mar 17, 2007

Another option may be no till simply spray the area with Roundup come back 2 weeks later and rake up the dead debris.

May be able to borrow or rent a a seed drill or planter from your seed dealer. Around here the local hardware store in town has a bright red Brillion that hits the road as soon as the soil temps come up to a certain degree. You know it's planting time because that red machine is seen constantly pushing pickups up & down the highways.

This is one tool category where paying for precision, spending efforts on calibration, setup and operating feedback may carry dividends.

Might drop in to the local Farmers Market & ask what they use & do.

If you take a pass on better farming thru chemistry, local organic only grocery stores may be a customer & have tips on produce demand where they have no local source.

bx23barry · Mar 17, 2007

That sounds like alot of tractor for 2-5 acres. I would think 30hp is more than ya need. Attachment wise it would depend what you plan on growing. I would think about a tiller instead of a ripper/plow/disc/cultivator on that size an area. For row crops you'll want a furrow maker, planter, cultipacker and cultivator I think.