Redundant Topic, Sorry

Hate to keep whippin' this ol' horse, but a fella from over in the middle of Iowa just told me that he used to run a disc ahead of the plow when dealing with heavy sod.

Said it will then turn better and isn't so darned hard to work down after the plow.

Any of you guys ever try this trick?

I'm really concerned with saving ground moisture and how I'm gonna get it to melt down into a decent seedbed by September given our limited rainfall.

Thanks,

Allan

Yep, that's what I'm gonna do.

I have the disc all hooked up and ready to go. If I can finish flippin' it today, I'll smack it before it dries out and maybe I can still save some of that moisture.

I knew this was going to be a problem. Wanted to fall plow it, but ran into issues with the purchase agreement, couldn't plow til this spring and now I've got a mess.

You goin' yet?

Allan

Why the heck do those old tractors always do that? Ever darned year its a session with the garden hose. :>)

Yep, I hear ya and again, you're readin' my mind. If I can beat this storm, I'm a happy camper.

Allan

Plus the plow pulls easier.:-)

We've had this conversation a time 'er two before.

You're a heck of a lot smarter than I am. I'm gonna keep on keepin' on; hooked the disc up today and as soon as it is all flipped, I'm gonna give it a good whack and hope fer a good rain or two before September to bail me outta this mess.

'Taint no sense to worry 'bout it; it's either gonna fly or it won't, in which case that old field can lay there another year ifn' it really wants to. :>)

Allan

I hope the weather does what it should for you.

1 Roundup. 2 Rototill minimum one time. 3 Disk if need be. 4 plow. 5 cultpack. 6 disk. 7 pack and plant.

This is the prep for row crops peas, beans, strawberries, corn etc.

Once you get into rocky or peat soils it is a completly different game.

I also have one neighbor who only has a 6' rototiller. He just keeps rototilling until it is broken up enough to plant his 18 acres of corn.
Grant

Anyway,have fun,play safe and good luck.

Now I see why you are in 3rd. I didnt know you were pulling 4/18"s.

steveormary

Jerry

What makes ya say that? Neighbors out here do it all the time. 'Course ya loose a year because of the rotation, and no, spring wheat sure wouldn't work.

There is no other option. Either wheat or right back into alfalfa. Only two things that grow out here on the desert.

Allan

Never really tried that, seriously. With the sod we have up here, it just laughs at a tandem disc. you can drive around on it all day, and not leave a mark. I've gone in with an offset in this sod.... and there's a few zealots around here that swear by that sort of thing.... but all I've seen from it was an expensive mess. I find that in a heavy sod, the best solution is a long board moldboard plow. I know you have the short stubble plow. I've made do with that too. But really, the easiest pulling, best turning plow I've seen is Kverneland. Long bottoms, long frame, and big trash clerance. I'm pulling 4 variable 12-20's with a 70 PTO hp NH TS90 MFWD at 4-5.5 MPH. Might fall under 4 mph in heavy clay sod. The biggest problem with that plow is dead weight. It's just shy of 1 metric tonne. Which equates to 700 #'s of cast (up front) and 4 loaded tires added to a 9200# base weight tractor, just to manage the plow. Think if I was you right now, I'd just keep chugging away. You'll get there eventually. Personally, I think you have the wrong plow for the job, but ya got what ya got. BT/DT. Have fun.

Rod

I've been readin' you on here for years now and your opinion carries a heck of a lot of weight with me.

But I just don't see how your plow and mine can pull all the much differently.

Granted, when the heavy old sow comes up out of the ground, we sure have a handful, and we will do a two-point balancing dance on the rear tires to spin around the corner. But, while in the ground and operating, almost all the total weight of the plow rides on that gauge tire and all the tractor actually really sees is the pull of the bottoms.

Fact of the matter is, only the furrow side lift arm is used to set the front furrow depth and the only arm that actually carries any front end weight to speak of. The other arm just "floats" and carries no weight at all.

I just don't really see the tuggin' difference. Although, I'm the feller that says you can't plow with a Farmall H too. :>(

I dunno, but ain't we havin' fun. :>)

Allan

The weight I'm carrying around is basically just front ballast to keep her under control in transport. Course it helps give them fronts some traction too... Just had to give a little poke :>)

The difference in pull I think stems from the body (bottom) style. From what I've read on these fourms over the last few years, I think the body style I use is probably quite foriegn to most of you fellas in the mid west. These are Kverneland #8 bottoms, which are basically a big, wide, long slab of a board with a gentle roll. I also have an old David Brown 3x16 plow with boards very similar to your IH. The Brown had a very short abrupt board. They turn very aggressively, and work the soil over a lot more (break it up more). Also, in heavy sod, they do a good deal rougher job of plowing. They would never make the nice even tightly creased furrows (in sod) that we're used to in these parts. That's why I called it a stubble plow. Most guys only used them in vegetable operations where they were flipping it and flipping it year after year. I think tractor vet has a point too when he mentioned you had no coulters. That's just about unheard of here. Gotta have that coulter there to help with the cut. So that combination might make things pull harder. Plowing is also one job where some of the biggest gains are seen with front wheel assist. It lets that 70 horse tie that power to the ground and make a lot more of it work. I will admit though, she's bellering to do it.
Agree with you 100% on the plow settings though. The plow isn't weighting anything when it's properly set, and in the ground. I've often watched the toplink sitting slack. On the other side, I've seen ground so hard that the leaf springs on that plow were all hunched up, and the center of pull was thrown off so bad you couldn't make any kind of a job at all, and the plow just lying over on it's side. I know what t.v. means when he's talking about a wheel or 2 in the air too, and sparks coming off the boards, and warm to the touch.... in cool weather. Now what's we doin argueing over this... git back at er! Take care.

Rod

Just trying to get this old pasture back into rotation/production because what hay it does produce is nothing but grass hay.

Allan

Wish you were closer so that you and I could go fer a little stroll out across this farm and I think you'd see what I'm fighting.

I've been watchin' this place for two years now and could see the potential, but there just is no getting around my having to upset the whole damned farm this season.

I never, but never under any circumstances, plow in front of oats. But, believe me, it has just got to happen this year; even on the old wheat stubble. Wish you could see it and then you'd understand where I'm standing and where my lunacy stems from.

Like you say though, give me a year down the road and I can totally park the plow except for the alfalfa ground. :>)

Allan

Growing up in NE Colorado, the only time I heard anybody talk about a plow was in virgin ground, and that was rare...everyone used a blade machine, a rod machine, or occasionally a disk to incorporate trash.

Now if loss of mositure is a concern why plow? Plowed ground will dry a lot more then unplowed. Around here the Federal Conservation boys bought a no-till drill they rent to get farmeres to switch to no-till. I rent that. Sure saves the expensive fuel, time getting the field ready and in my case concern for errosion. Is there such a thing around you?

Bless yer heart, if you guys didn't watch out fer me who would? :>)

I think the old 966's rear end troubles are on the wane (crossed fingers). I lifted the plow out of the ground an inch, which puts me right at 9" and that got me to 4.3mph, 3rd, forward stick. It's going pretty darned good with the exception of a tough spot every now and then.

This dryland farming is kinda throwin' a few curve balls at me, but I think you guys are right. I watched the neighbors last year and they just barrel into it with the plow and use a disc as a first pass behind after the first good rain. Then, it is just a matter of summer fallowing as per usual the rest of the summer with the spring tooth or a cultivator.

The 10 acres I got plowed last fall with fall right into line with just a pass of the packer 'cause it is mellowed out now.

Don't know 'bout that 686 thing. In 1980, the 18.4s were an option as far as I can tell. ??

Allan

That's why I have to gear the old pig down. She just walks way too fast. 2nd gear feels like 3rd ought to. :>(

Always did think those tires were way too darned big.

Thanks Pard,

Allan

I must have mis-understood your post last week when we were conversing bout the cultimulcher, I thought you did not mould board?

Last time I tried to disk before I plowed it created a real mess with trash build up. However, when I used a IH 710 5 bottom, that has a lot of clearence and long distance between bottoms and handled trash real well. Would a chisle plow work for what you do, that is all I use now as far as digging up roots, but if you want to save moisture and summer fallow why not just use round-up and a disk?

Ray

Appears pretty "flip-floopy" don't it? :>)

Normally, and if I could have been lucky enough to have gotten this patch fall-plowed, I wouldn't even be thinking about it; I'd just run the packer over it and be done with it.

Without publicly going into details tho, there were some issues with the purchase agreement and I wasn't able to plow this field until this spring because the prior operator's hay stacks didn't get removed until just a few weeks ago.

So, here I set with a "slabby" mess and it looks like the disc is going to be the only option if I wanna get it cut up and worked down this summer.

I've plowed a lot of sod, but this root infested, cattle tromped pasture is the worst I've ever ran into. So, I'm gonna give your method a trial and hope beyond hope that I luck out and get a rain on it to help melt it down before September.

Allan