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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

How do I plow a hillside REVISED

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CharlieT

04-13-2006 07:42:01




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I have to plow a 15 acre field where the lower 2/3 is a slight hillside of 20 deg slope and the upper 1/3 is realtively flat. I have a JD 730 gas pulling a 3 bottom 14" hydraulic lift trailer plow.
West
<==1200'==>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++Lower Right Corner
+++++++++++++++++++++++++slope
+++++++++++++++++++++++++slope
+++++++++++++++++++++++++slope
+++++++++++++++++++++++++slope
+++++++++++++++++++++++++slope
+++++++++++++++++++++++++slope
+++++++++++++++++++++++++slope
+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Slope Starts Here
+++++++++++++++++++++++++ flat +++++++++++++++++++++++++flat
+++++++++++++++++++++++++flat
+++++++++++++++++++++++++flat +++++++++++++++++++++++++flat
+++++++++++++++++++++++++flat
+++++++++++++++++++++++++ Upper Right Corner
East


In the past when I had to plow smaller sections, 2 or 3 acres on the slope, I would start on the lower right hand side and plow always right to left so that the sod would always turn towards the downslope side of the hill. When I got to the end of the row, I would lift the plows and return to the right hand side of the field before I would start plowing again.

I learned from experience that if I plowed from left to right on the return, with the sod turning towards the up slope side of the hill, always about half of the sod would fall back into the furrow.

This method is not bad when I had only a few acres to do, but I can not see myself doing this for all 15 acres. With the price of gas here in NY at $3 , I would waste a hell of a lot of fuel
with this method.

Can someone suggest a different method of plowing keeping in mind the sod problem on the slope part of the field.

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davpal

04-13-2006 21:33:12




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to CharlieT, 04-13-2006 07:42:01  
I would honestly hire a farmer with a bigger tractor to chistle plow it. You may get less erosion that way. Then go out with your JD and disk it up.



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Tom from Ontario

04-13-2006 19:05:38




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to CharlieT, 04-13-2006 07:42:01  
In a word, DON'T. Get an offset disc and figure on going over it two or three times. No matter which way you go, you are creating channels. Come a heavy rain, water will dam against the furrows and once it breaks over that first furrow, you've got a wash and it won't stop. After that, you need an earthmover to put the soil back where it belongs.



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Leroy

04-13-2006 14:03:32




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to CharlieT, 04-13-2006 07:42:01  
on hills the ground is allways supposed to be thrown UP - not down to keep all the top soil where it is supposed to be, erosion will keep bringing it back down and that is why you are supposed to throw it up hill and then the tractor will be running more level as is supposed to be rather than trying to run the wheel in a furror that is already lower than is good for the center of gravity to keep the tractor from rolling over

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John17

04-13-2006 10:35:42




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to CharlieT, 04-13-2006 07:42:01  
Strike out headlands, and plow as you have been plowing. On a 15 acre field you should be able to get by with one headland, with using the edges, you should end up with 2 dead furrows. With a 730 JD, and 1 3x14 plow, you should be able to get up enough speed to lay the sod over, if not, get some trash cover's. I used #9 wire on my plow for this, but that was in corn stocks, you may need to use straps of some sort for sod. HTH, JohnG

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mjbrown

04-13-2006 08:09:25




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to CharlieT, 04-13-2006 07:42:01  
Sounds like pretty good slope if the sod rolls back into the furrow. You might add extenders to the ends of the moldboard to help push the sod over better and make it stay.



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CharlieT

04-13-2006 08:17:10




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to mjbrown, 04-13-2006 08:09:25  
I do have extenders on the plows, but on the slope it stills wants to fall back into the furrow.

I was wondering if plowing perpendicular to the slope (east to west & west to east) would make a different and keep the sod from falling backinto the furrow. I have never tried this since I am not sure my JD730 can pull the plows up the slope on the west to east run. Also I always thought that you never plow with the slope to minimize water runoff.

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mjbrown

04-13-2006 10:16:51




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to CharlieT, 04-13-2006 08:17:10  
You should never plow up and down hill if it can be avoided unless perhaps it will be seeded down.



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johndeereman

04-13-2006 08:06:49




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to CharlieT, 04-13-2006 07:42:01  
i would plow the flat part the usual way (right to left turn around then right to left) then plow the hill with youre method cheaper than doing the whole thing with youre method you would just have an extra furrow to disk back in.



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Mike M

04-13-2006 08:05:26




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 Re: How do I plow a hillside REVISED in reply to CharlieT, 04-13-2006 07:42:01  
I don't have much experience at this but I do remember one time my uncles hired help was plowing on a slope and it looked like crap and they were complaining about how hard it was. After there quitting time he sent me out to get it finished. Only took me one pass to see what the problem was. They weren't going fast enough the sod would roll over then come back but if you jumped up the ground speed it would flip it over farther to stay. Ground speed plays a large part in different situations. You may not be able to get your speed right with a 2 cyl. I was running a 2940 with a 4 bottom and had plenty of power to move it along.

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