How do I get that fine powdered garden soil?

[sleuth]

So I broke new ground on a garden this year using a King Kutter roto-tiller pulled behind my tractor. The last 2 years we've used raised beds which are no till. The area where we broke ground was basically a grassy field that definitely grew the green stuff well.

Despite running over it at least 20 times with the roto tiller on different days, when the day came to plant, I still had mostly a garden of large clods. The soil type for this area of the yard is Westboro-Schaffer silt loams according to the soil survey, whatever that means. To me it means "hard to work with, clay-like soil that is soakin' wet from run-off all spring".

The farmer who rents my land told me that I had clods because I had tilled when wet. That's not entirely true. There were at least a couple days at the end where I tilled several passes, the ground was dry, and all I did was turn up new moist clods to dry hard in the sun. Made using my Earthway seeder a pain in the rear.

So, my question is, what sort of implement or tool should I use to bust up the clods on tilled soil before I finally plant? How do I get that powder that I can hoe a row easily come planting day?

 

[PHPaul]

1. Tilling while wet is a HUGE no-no. You WILL get clods unless you have sand. And no, tilling wet soil does not speed the drying process. Resist the urge.

2. Use the slowest ground speed you can manage while running at rated PTO speed. This will give the best tilling action.

3. You don't want the tilth too fine anyway, it compacts too easily and can inhibit germination and ****** growth.

4. If you have a problem with heavy soil, organic material mixed in will lighten it up. Good compost is best, peat moss will help.

On an established garden I try to till once a day or two before planting. If the weeds get too much of a head start before I'm able to plant, I may till twice.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Organic matter will help in a huge way. I have three gardens two are nice one is red clay. I piled oak leaves on that garden over a foot deep and tilled them in with my kk. Tilled them in several more times during the winter and if you just walked by that garden you would have to look to see that it was red clay in it. Listen to PHPaul and add mulch, compost, Whatever you find that does not have weed seeds in it and it will be a new garden next year.

 

[bp fick]

Fine powdered tilth will compact easily into very nice concrete. It isn't the ideal soil condition.

Tilling while too wet, especially in soil that may lack the building blocks of organic materials can contribute to clod making.

 

[jeff9366]

I second above advice never to till damp soil, never to over till and to add organic matter regularly.

One way to add organic matter is to grow 1-2-3 cover crops, then turn them under in succession. I find deer food plot seed, which is relatively cheap, makes good, strong germinating, cover crops. Research the seed blends before sowing; they vary by region.

Fine powered soil is the raw material for adobe bricks.

Tractordata.com lists Ford 881 at 3,500 pounds minimum, without filled tires. Do not run your tractor over wet ground, you will wreck it.

COVER CROP LINKS:

https://www.google.com/search?clien...+crop+site:tractorbynet.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

[PHPaul]

You may have a problem with the Ford too. I say "may" because I'm not familiar with the 800 series, but I do know that even in low gear, the "N" series are way too fast for tilling unless they have a step-down transmission. You just can't get the ground speed down far enough to get the tiller to work properly.

My JD750 covers the ground at 7/10ths of a mile per hour in low gear at rated PTO speed.

A quick surf shows the Ford at around 2 MPH in first at 2000 RPM. I don't know what engine RPM equates to 540 RPM PTO.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I rototill customers gardens yearly. The best gardens are the ones that people stay out of with their large equipment and regularly add organic matter. Spread newspaper between the rows and spread lawn clippings on top. The newspaper keeps the weeds from growing through and the clippings keep the newspaper from blowing away. Just don't use clippings from a lawn that has been sprayed recently with chemicals. The next spring just rototill newspapers and clippings in and start over. In a few years you will have very mellow soil. My experience has been that you can also safely add at least 4 or more inches of well rotted manure rototilling it in. It's very hard to find weed free manure but you end up with awesome soil. Another tip: Don't let your kids play in the garden when the soil is wet. It gets well compacted. I find too it's very hard to get a nice job the first year out of fresh breaking. Every year that you add organic matter and rototill will improve your soil.

 

[Bill Hoffman]

In NE CT we have fine silt/clay loam. I've had to add tons of sand and manure, lime,
leaf mold and more sand to lighten the soil up. If tilled when wet, instant concrete.
This in a garden that's 60 years old. If your soil is clay based you have to keep adding organic
matter every year.

 

[sleuth]

Tractordata.com lists Ford 881 at 3,500 pounds minimum, without filled tires. Do not run your tractor over wet ground, you will wreck it.

Already learned that lesson, sad to say.

 

[sleuth]

You may have a problem with the Ford too. I say "may" because I'm not familiar with the 800 series, but I do know that even in low gear, the "N" series are way too fast for tilling unless they have a step-down transmission. You just can't get the ground speed down far enough to get the tiller to work properly.

My JD750 covers the ground at 7/10ths of a mile per hour in low gear at rated PTO speed.

Too fast for roto-tilling, you mean? I thought the Ford 801 series tractor was originally designed for the small farmer, which means it would have had to been designed for tilling in some capacity??