Tiller Vs Plow and Disk Etc

[Egon]

Five acres. 24 HP tractor.

Go with a forward rotating tiller. It will do the complete job.

You’ll have to match the equipment to what your tractor can handle and how much cultivated area you will end up with. A plow would be okay but disc’s and chisel plow’s that will do a proper job require more horse power.

 

[jyoutz]

I used a plow to put the garden to bed in the fall. I like the rough furrows because the allow snow to soak deep into the ground and the heavy soil turns don’t blow in the winter winds. Then in the spring before planting I use my tiller to create a soft planting bed.

 

[CoyPatton]

This is my personal process. While not currently doing so I have tilled sine for hire.
Either I cut the growth close (2-3”) in height. I prefer to till new ground in fall after a frost or very early spring (basically when growth is still dormant). If growth is green, cut it low, let the cuttings dry out for a few days. If tilling in the fall, just turn the soil enough to disturb the roots good. Run 2 directions max 180 (may not need but 1 run.
Then in spring till it deeper (6”) (remember this is near tilled soil 6” is deep). Run the tiller on diagonals from the fall runs changing directions to arrive at the soil looseness desired.
This is generally only needed for soil that was untilled for many years. Watch for foreign items in the ground, you will be amazed at what you dig up. Some items will jam up your tiller and these can be a pain to remove. (Take some tools to the till site)
Good Luck!

 

[Sonny580]

first up subsoil deep will do you the most good. Here I subsoil 36 inches deep then fall plow 18 inches deep. This wont work for everybody but you need the ground loose as possible down deep so water/air/roots can go down and get to the moisture all season long.

 

[LD1]

first up subsoil deep will do you the most good. Here I subsoil 36 inches deep then fall plow 18 inches deep. This wont work for everybody but you need the ground loose as possible down deep so water/air/roots can go down and get to the moisture all season long.

Do that around here would cost you thousand of dollars per acre in tile repair

 

[JohnnyMX]

I've struggled with the same issue. It is the initial tilling that is a problem. After the sod/mat/root layer is removed you can do almost any method with success. The one thing I haven't tried is the one thing that probably makes the most sense with what I've learned is that you need to get dirt to the top and flip the weeds down. As 2-bottom plow first would achieve that so you aren't dealing with the sod on the second pass. I've never tried fire to burn off the layer, but I bet it works. I wasn't willing to try.

First Tilling:

• Spraying & then Mowing low.
• Landscape Rake to remove as much of that residual and loose material as you can; problem is where are you putting all of that on a 5 acre plot + time
• Box blade rippers (took forever and got iffy results; if you do hook a large rock beware)
• Subsoiler (on 5 acres it isn't practical; maybe around treelines to cut roots)
• Reverse Tine Tiller on unbroken ground (with sod you'll spend as much time clearing out the stuff wrapped around the tiller; rocks are a problem)
• Field Cultivator - Works good but if the weed mat is too thick you end up basically raking the weeds before you get down to dirt.

Second Tilling:

• A field cultivator is very fast (have a Fred Cain 9 shank) and is good at breaking the ground up again and tilling most of the residual under.
• Rototiller works great (as expected) but still going slow being careful of the new crop of rocks that appear. Minimal headaches with things getting wrapped if done annually.

If I had to do it again, I'd get a forward tine tiller ONLY for my rock reasons. I have had a basketball-sized rock wedge itself into the tiller once and I am very cautious now of that. It was the first day I used the tiller.

 

[Sonny580]

IF the weeds are dry/dead and not much green stuff in it, rake it into piles and do controlled burns. landscape rakes do a decent job but its a slow process.
The fastest way would be to moldboard plow then go with a big tiller and work it down.

Oh,-- my tiles here are from 4 to 10 feet deep so no way they get hit with the subsoiler.

 

[Fallon]

"* Subsoiler (on 5 acres it isn't practical; maybe around treelines to cut roots)"

I'd disagree. It's a 1 off project. Pretty sure I did all the subsoiling on 3ish acres in under a weekend with a 32hp L3200 years ago. No rocks where I am, which can change the equation a lot.

A proper plow will turn the topsoil & bury weeds. But around here topsoil can be pretty thin & you don't want to bury it under clay. Way more skill & setup required to get decent results with a proper plow.

A proper plow would be the best, but for many small projects a subsoiler is plenty good enough & cheaper in terms of cost or learning curve.

 

[JohnnyMX]

I did about 1.5 acres of subsoiling running about 3-4' distance per my one shank subsoiler. I was trying to break things up but also use it as a coulter wheel, root/rock finder before hitting it with the tiller. Even with a 50hp tractor you are going pretty slow when running that at depth, not to mention, most subsoilers at TSC don't have a shear bolt so if you hook something, you are breaking something. Everyone's soil is different.

If you were going to run that you may be better off with a middle buster to try and flip more soil. Just a thought.

Fallon, you are right that with enough time and determination it could work. With two kids loaded with activities, I don't get that much time to devote to this stuff so I have to make it count.

 

[California]

...running about 3-4' distance ...with a 50hp tractor

Space between passes? Depth?