What to do before tilling?

[gregkabob]

I'm planning to put in some watermellons and pumpkins this year. I'm a greenhorn at farming and I would like some advice on what I should do before I till the area.

The property we purchased has not been worked in 20+ years. The area I want to plant in is covered with native grasses and we have clay soil. I have a subsoiler, disk, 2 row plow and of course a tiller at my disposal. Do I just go out and till the area or should I first run the plow, subsoiler or disk first?

Thanks for the advice, I need it

 

[gordyy]

well not really knowing your soil Id try it first if it throws the tiller around stop, and try something else either the plow or the disc even the subsoiler.
what ever works easiest
then get back to tilling

 

[kthompson]

From someone who has never run a tiller on a tractor.

First I would walk the property and check for debris that need to be removed. Second, how tall is your grass? Is it thick enough it could clog or stall the tiller? If you were not using the tiller looking at your equipment, I would disk it and then run the subsoiler and then disk it again for this year's planting. If it were fall I would subsoil it and let it sit. If you don't need to subsoil it (best way I know to find out is to test it either with shovel or subsoiler) then save time and money and don't.

 

[gregkabob]

This Okie soil is pretty tough stuff. The grass is about 1.5ft tall but not very dense as it's native grass. We've had a lot of rain this past week so once it dries out for a few days it will make the ground eaiser to work. I've already walked the area checking for debrie. I tried the subsoiler when I got it in that area and could get it to run pretty deep without a problem and that's why I picked that spot to plant and it seems the soil isn't as hard as some of the other places on the farm.

I was just wondering if most people that use tillers just go at it with the tiller right off the bat on new ground or use other implements first to loosen it up.

Thanks for the advice fella's.

 

[randy41]

I plow then disk then till. I find that if I try to just till I end up going over the same place a few times trying to get a nice seed bed. Plowing and disking is much faster than tilling and then I only need to till once or twice at the most. Its easier on the equipment too.

 

[GreenWannabe]

I've read a number of posts in the past few weeks that suggest cutting over it with a brush hog before tilling. This seems to reduce the propensity of the grass wrapping around the tiller shaft and clogging things up.

 

[greenmule]

My 5 ftkk tiller will just chew 2 ft winter rye up,it doesn't seem to be any problem as far as wrapping around anything.

If you got a turning plow,you should plow it first,than either disk and till or just till.

 

[savageayape]

Since your fields are native warm season grasses, I'd try just using the tiller first. If it were fescue, I'd definitely, want to plow it and maybe use a disc before using the tiller. Good luck. It'll all work out for you eventually however you go at it.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Lots of suggestions and no absolute right or wrong answers. Since the land hasn't been worked in several decades I think I'd run the sub soiler over the area first to loosen up the soil deep. Since you have a plow, I'd use it next to turn under the grass and their roots. Next you could either use the disk or possibly go directly to the tiller. Want to work the soil a good 6-8 inches deep before planting.

Greg, see you're in Moore. Have family E of town on 149th out past Draper. Cousin is deputy chief for the OKC PD.

 

[PA hayseed]

I would grab something cold, climb on the tractor and plan for a relaxing day. I would run my tiller over it several times, lowering it each time. After a pass or two I would walk it to get the big rocks off to the side. Then I would ride over it with the tiller until it got to the deepest passes, lowering each time I passed, stopping occasionally to get the bigger rocks out.

I would plan on getting more cold drinks throughout the day.

Cutting the grass first won't hurt a thing, and would make it finer for tilling in anyway.

Enjoy. Nothing like some freshly turned earth to remind us of what matters in this world.

 

[RalphVa]

In the old days, we'd plow, disc and then probably run a harrow over it, probably pulled behind the disc. With a tiller, I'd probably plow, disc and till.

The main thing that the plow does for you is to turn the grass over and submerge most of it. When I did my garden with heavy fescue on it, I only had a Gravely with a rotary plow. The grass tended to bind up in the rotating parts of the plow. Same could happen with a tiller if you just tilled right away.

Ideally, you would have plowed and disced last fall or winter and let it sit, allowing time for the grass to decay.

Now that I have mine plowed and raised rows made with 2 opposed disc hillers, I don't till at all. I just apply mulch to the rows. Got lots of worms. Just scrape aside some mulch where I want to plant seed. If I had a seeder, I could run down the row with it.

Ralph

 

[Luremaker]

I am expanding my garden here right now. I am plowing then I'll pick all the larger stones that I can see, then in a week or so I'll rototill it all. This spot has not been plowed since the 1930's and the farmer left lot's of big stones in the ground. The plow is really good at finding the big ones.

 

[SCDolphin]

Walk area for hidden danger
Bush hog
Subsoil every 3 feet
Turn plow
Disc
Till

 

[pitt_md]

I'm planning to put in some watermellons and pumpkins this year. I'm a greenhorn at farming and I would like some advice on what I should do before I till the area.

The property we purchased has not been worked in 20+ years. The area I want to plant in is covered with native grasses and we have clay soil. I have a subsoiler, disk, 2 row plow and of course a tiller at my disposal. Do I just go out and till the area or should I first run the plow, subsoiler or disk first?

Thanks for the advice, I need it

How much area are you going to be planting? Small areas can be done more efficiently with a tiller. Larger areas I would use a plow and then disk.

 

[gregkabob]

Thanks Guys for all the help.

pitt_md - the area is going to be at least 2 acres.

SCDolphin - I think since it's the first time working the land and it's sat so long I'll do it like you suggest since I have the equipement available. Now if the rain will just stop for a few days.

RalphVa - I agree with I should have turned it last fall. Like I said, I'm green and learning with the help of all of you.

PA hayseed - I like the way you think. The cup holder isn't getting any time off on my tractor. Just have to figure out where to mount the cooler

Mickey_Fx - My house is currently in Moore but the farm is in Wellston about 45 miles NE. We've been working to get it set up to move out there full time and should be doing so this month and putting the house up for sale.

Again, thanks for all the advice, I knew I could get the help I needed on this board.

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm in a similar situation and I elected to just till. It works fine. So far I've just tilled the area twice and am letting it dry out a bit before running the tiller another one or two times.

I don't understand why one would need to use a subsoiler on land that has not been farmed for a long time. I thought hard pan develops largely as a result of farming and tractor use so if there hasn't been any and there is no evidence of poor water absorption then why use a subsoiler?

Likewise, plowing before tilling seems a bit odd to me. If you plow grass under and then till you will just bring the grass back up to the surface anyway. No question that it would be nice to get rid of grass but unless you are plowing it more than 8 inches or so underneath and don't think you will disturb it with the tiller it seems a waste of time to me.

 

[foggy1111]

Island I am debating the same questions as I prep my land for tiling. I think the biggest reason I want to run the disc and sub soiler thru my land is to break up the sod a bit and break down the roots and trash before hitting it with the tiller. Save on tiller wear and tear.... and tangles and "derooting" the tiller?

I wish for a landscape rake or a root bucket for my loader. I have allot of brush trash to deal with.

 

[pitt_md]

I'm in a similar situation and I elected to just till. It works fine. So far I've just tilled the area twice and am letting it dry out a bit before running the tiller another one or two times.

I don't understand why one would need to use a subsoiler on land that has not been farmed for a long time. I thought hard pan develops largely as a result of farming and tractor use so if there hasn't been any and there is no evidence of poor water absorption then why use a subsoiler?

Likewise, plowing before tilling seems a bit odd to me. If you plow grass under and then till you will just bring the grass back up to the surface anyway. No question that it would be nice to get rid of grass but unless you are plowing it more than 8 inches or so underneath and don't think you will disturb it with the tiller it seems a waste of time to me.

I.T. I have to disagree on the plowing before tilling. With two acres to do going over it 3 to 4 times as you suggest will be a waste of time and fuel. the seven acres I did I had a guy use a chisel plow on it prior to tilling. I did not have a problem with grass/weeds at all. Just plow it and let it sit a couple weeks and you will be good to go. Doing it this way you will save a lot of time as it will only take one pass with the tiller to put a nice prep on the land to be planted.

 

[IslandTractor]

I.T. I have to disagree on the plowing before tilling. With two acres to do going over it 3 to 4 times as you suggest will be a waste of time and fuel. the seven acres I did I had a guy use a chisel plow on it prior to tilling. I did not have a problem with grass/weeds at all. Just plow it and let it sit a couple weeks and you will be good to go. Doing it this way you will save a lot of time as it will only take one pass with the tiller to put a nice prep on the land to be planted.

I make no claims to be an expert at this as it is my first year prepping land for planting. However I guess some of the issues boil down to what equipment you have and what sort of time is available. I had the tiller and wanted to do a half acre sized field ASAP. Running it over with the tiller multiple times seemed reasonable especially as I don't have a plow. I had figured that a tiller was roughly the equivalent of plowing then disking. It's true that running a tiller is slow but I didn't have to change implements so that saved some time and fuel especially since I'm doing only less than 1/2 acre. What I don't know yet is how many times I should run the tiller before planting corn over what was previously a hay field. I've done it twice and am letting things dry out before assessing again. I'm expecting one more pass but we'll see.

 

[pitt_md]

I make no claims to be an expert at this as it is my first year prepping land for planting. However I guess some of the issues boil down to what equipment you have and what sort of time is available. I had the tiller and wanted to do a half acre sized field ASAP. Running it over with the tiller multiple times seemed reasonable especially as I don't have a plow. I had figured that a tiller was roughly the equivalent of plowing then disking. It's true that running a tiller is slow but I didn't have to change implements so that saved some time and fuel especially since I'm doing only less than 1/2 acre. What I don't know yet is how many times I should run the tiller before planting corn over what was previously a hay field. I've done it twice and am letting things dry out before assessing again. I'm expecting one more pass but we'll see.

A large part of it does come down to the equipment on hand. If you don't have a plow then tilling is best.

FYI on the planting...
I had a guy plant my field for me as I don't have a planter. When he showed up he said the soil was to fluffy and I had to run a cultipacker over it before his planter would work. Not sure if this is true for most planters or not.