First Time Plowing an Area - recommendations and depth?

[jeff9366]

You need properly moist soil in order to plow.

FEL will not make any difference.

Tractor pivoting is from too dry soil and/or plow being incorrectly adjusted.

Plowing is an advanced implement skill. You do not have enough ground to learn how to plow properly.

 

[bigtiller]

Unfortunately, it didn't go like it does in the videos. Clay was extremely dry and rock hard... making it down more than 3-4" was show stopping. So, I ended up using the plow, to some extent, more as a digging tool... once I'd get stuck, raise it up a little and break off the clay then try again. My rear tires are ballasted, and I have the R4 tires. I ran in 4wd and locking the differential... in spite of trying to get a running start, often came to a halt, either because of lack of traction or because I didn't have enough HP, and the engine would start to bog down. There could certainly be user error with the angle of the plow, etc., though it felt like I need 2000' more and 15 more horsepower. I do have the FEL attached... does adding some weight in it help, or only cause more problems? Sometimes the tractor started to pivot (versus go straight) due to the offset of the plow.

At this point, I've got an area that is sporadically plowed, and re-leveled it. Will go back to try to catch the spots missed, with my ghetto approach to plowing. I learned pretty quickly that all the looking back while getting jerked by the hard ground isn't the best on the neck!

Area is probably more like 6x35, and don't think this ground is going to be too friendly on a tiller.... yet.

I wanted to tell you about less than perfect conditions yesterday but I didn't want to discourage you. Keep at it, you'll learn what your tractor can do in your ground. The ground is hard in late summer and fall, and is much easier to plow in the spring. For now, try plowing at 3" rather than 6. Wait for a good rain or two and try it again when it dries out some.

 

[rossn]

Thanks for all the responses! I will respond when I have more time tonight, but curious if I should water or soak the ground when it is this dry and you have to plow? If so, are there any techniques to avoid over watering? I suppose the question pertains to uncut ground as well as areas where I've worked the top, but not the bottom.

 

[bigtiller]

I wouldn't water it by hand, it seams it would be too easy to make a mess. Best to let mother nature and father time do it. If it HAS to be done now, hire someone to till it for you. Look on Craigs List, there are guys tilling gardens for beer money locally all over the country.

 

[CCWKen]

I have areas that are stone-hard clay when dry. (Especially my driveway) Even my little dozer won't break into it. Most areas of the higher elevation here have only 2-8" of top soil then about 12" of clay sand. After that it's compacted clay down to about 5'. After that, there's a layer of loose limestone (what we call caliche down here) then hard limestone. I know because I dug the septic tank hole. I wait for about a 1/2" slow rain or break-out the sprinkler then wait a day or two for it to soak down. If you have a watering gauge (or rain gauge), set that on the ground and water until you get about 1/2". Watch the water for a few minutes to make sure it's not going to just run off. You may have to turn off/down the water a few times to give the soil a chance to wick the water until it's damp. Once it's damp, it will keep taking water as it softens.

 

[jeff9366]

If you work your "soil" when it is wet, rather than moist, it will turn into (what they call in Texas) adobe brick when dry, not to recover for years.

 

[kthompson]

Much of the clay we have is gumbo which when dry is hard and when wet is sticky. Can work when dry but not wet. Sharp tools can slice it when hard but when wet tractor can not get traction and it will end up about like jeff9366 said. Not a moldboard pro here but have used them a good bit but for most part years ago. My question here for those who are pros, why can he not plow 3 or 4 inches deep and till that (understand he has tiller) and then come back with moldboard and plow it again say 6 inches deep? That is assuming he is able to handle that additional 2 inches. kt

 

[rossn]

Well, first off - thanks to everyone for your insight. What a great forum!

Well noted that there is no replacement for getting out there and experiencing my own soil and seeing what works. However, it has been rather educational hearing from all of you, which gets additional thoughts going and hopefully avoids some of the more serious pitfalls.

Don't laugh too hard, but having moved from a 1/6 acre city lot to 1 acre property in the unincorporated county feels a lot bigger. Definitely not going to become proficient in plowing for the small areas I'll be working. I'm oversized on a tractor for the area I have to work, but wanted 4wd for clearing the maybe 3500 sq ft of driveway that I have, and found a deal good enough that it didn't make sense to try to buy a four wheeler and blade for snow clearing and a garden tractor for the lawn and garden. It happened to come with a plow, which was an added bonus, since we do want to do large gardens, many fruit trees, and a lot of landscaping. Supposedly it was farm land before the place was built in the 60's. Luckily in all of yesterday's work, I didn't see a single rock, which was amazing, given our last place you couldn't dig a spade without hitting large rocks.

Seems to be a lot of opinions on the moisture, though sounds like generally speaking some additional moisture would be good. I don't want to wait for the right rain (which who knows what that would be), because if I don't plant fall veggies soon, I'll miss my window of opportunity. One thought I had on adding more moisture is to use a soaker hose to ensure no runoff. I may just work the ground as I have been for another hour or so and be done, but it was jerking around the tractor and driver pretty good before. I did re-smooth the area with the FEL so that when I go back I'm at least starting on level ground, though I'm not sure that is going to work all that well.

Several have mentioned using tiller in this soil condition. Though I've been planning on a tiller, I haven't come across a good enough deal yet. How effective are both portable and PTO tillers in this type of soil condition (with or without plowing first)?

There is certainly a lot to learn about working (and not overworking or working at the wrong time) the soil. I do have a trailer of compost and am planning on tilling in a few inches if I can get my hands on a tiller. Hopefully that will make this area better when it is worked in the future.

 

[prichard]

Perhaps raised rows with your compost would work better for this planting then plow when the soil conditions are better?

 

[oosik]

I have used my 16" single bottom plow behind my Kubota M6040 with fairly acceptable results. My soil is a combination of silt,volcanic ash, organics and LARGE ROCKS. The largest area I've opened up is around three to four acres. After plowing I let nature break it down further and then run a disk harrow over it later. If I need it to be smoother I will drag a chain harrow. These areas were subsequently planted to clover.

For the size the OP is talking about - I would rent a rototiller.