Need to Plow Land for Planting

HillStreet · Jul 17, 2016

Hey Everybody,

I recently bought a box blade with 6 rippers for plowing my pumpkin patch. I worked about 1.5 acres and planted pumpkins and they are growing pretty good. Next spring I wish to increase the size by one half acre, as well as plant about 40 blueberry bushes.

The blueberry bushes are spaced 6 feet and rows are 10 feet apart. The advice I got was to plow the rows where the bushes will be planted, with strips of lawn in between the rows.

I am thinking to plow in the spring when the ground is soft, or maybe even late fall. The box blade will be more effective in soft ground. Should I do this, or would a farmer with an actual plow or harrow do a better job?

jeff9366 · Jul 17, 2016

HillStreet said:
I recently bought a box blade with 6 rippers for plowing my pumpkin patch.

Why?

I volunteer my time and equipment in an organic Blueberry plot with 240 producing Southern Rabbiteye plants. We propagate our own plants and expand about twenty plants, one row, per year.

Mr. Natural still says: GET THE RIGHT TOOL. Plows invert the soil. Box Blade rippers just shallow groove the soil. Big difference.

Pumpkins are annuals. Blueberries are perennials. Big difference. Buy a moldboard plow specifically designed for small tractors, for $750, then sell it when you are finished. The bushes will grow better and yield better, every year. If money is a major factor, or if your B2650 is equipped with turf tires, SECOND best would be a Middle-Buster.

((If your B2650 has turf tires, the 16" wide turfs will not fit in the furrow of a 1 X 12" plow. Ag tires/R1 or industrial tires/R4 are fine.))

Moldboard plow in the early winter. Freeze/thaw cycles will breakdown organic matter and clay. If your plot is not too large, you can use the Box Blade for furrow smoothing in the Spring.

~~A B2650 will be considerably more effective operating a PTO powered roto-tiller, rather than a too light Disc Harrow. Hard for tractor neophytes to understand, but Roto-tillers and Disc Harrows are both soil mixing tillers. The lightest Disc Harrow which is effective has 18" diameter pans. A B2650 will have neither the power nor traction to pull a Disc Harrow with 18" diameter pans at the speed required to mix soil.~~

We plant our Blueberries on 22" hills, which deflate to 18". Sure makes the harvest easier, not having to stoop that final 18" for the low fruit.

In case you do not know: You need two different varieties of Blueberries in order to get pollination. The two varieties need to flower at the same time. So, early/early, mid/mid, or late/late varieties. You can have more than two varieties if you wish: early/earyly/early, mid/mid/mid, late/late/late.

PLOW LINK: Everything Attachments | Single bottom compact tractor plow made by one of the longest running families in the plowing business.
NOTE: This plow has shear-bolt protection. Shear-bolt protection is crucial for tractors not having Draft Control, to keep tractor operator safe.

MIDDLEBUSTER LINK: Everything Attachments | Skid Steer Attachments, Tractor Attachments, 3 Point Hitch Attachments, and Farm Tractor Implements.

Good luck.

HillStreet · Jul 17, 2016

Jeff, thanks for the reply. Is the moldboard plow the same as a bottom plow that I see advertised. I looked at YouTube videos of these plows and they sure lay the grass/sod over. Should I cross plow the areas to really grind up the earth? Yes, pumpkins are annuals, blueberries are perennials. I have a source in Maine for the high bush berries, two different kinds that are popular be testimony of other farmers online.

Thanks again.

jeff9366 · Jul 17, 2016

Moldboard and bottom plow are used interchangeably.

Do not cross plow. Just plow one way, one time. In corn and wheat fields farmers plow a second time after eight to ten years to refresh soil nutrients in the grain root zone.

If your Maine soil is not too rocky, you could consider a PTO powered roto-tiller and forget the moldboard plow. Roto-tiller will likely improve your pumpkin yield too. If you research used roto-tillers when there is snow on the ground you may find a bargain.

There is one used roto-tiller on eBay: Heavy Equipment Tillers Attachments | eBay

Here are some completed eBay tiller transactions: Heavy Equipment Tillers Attachments | eBay

Do not overwork soil. Soil needs 'crumb' which holds oxygen. It you overwork or work wet, you will have anaerobic soil which will neither nourish crops nor hold rain water.

Egon · Jul 18, 2016

Go with a roto tiller. It will do you a quicker faster job.

Plough requires another implement to break up the turned sod.

HillStreet · Jul 18, 2016

Great information Jeff, thanks again.

HillStreet · Jul 18, 2016

Thanks Egon, that could be the way I'm leaning. I will shop for one online.

EverythingAttachments · Jul 18, 2016

jeff9366 said:
Why?

I volunteer my time and equipment in an organic Blueberry plot with 240 producing Southern Rabbiteye plants. We propagate our own plants and expand about twenty plants, one row, per year.

Mr. Natural still says: GET THE RIGHT TOOL. Plows invert the soil. Box Blade rippers just shallow groove the soil. Big difference.

Pumpkins are annuals. Blueberries are perennials. Big difference. Buy a moldboard plow specifically designed for small tractors, for $750, then sell it when you are finished. The bushes will grow better and yield better, every year. If money is a major factor, or if your B2650 is equipped with turf tires, SECOND best would be a Middle-Buster.

((If your B2650 has turf tires, the 16" wide turfs will not fit in the furrow of a 1 X 12" plow. Ag tires/R1 or industrial tires/R4 are fine.))

Moldboard plow in the early winter. Freeze/thaw cycles will breakdown organic matter and clay. If your plot is not too large, you can use the Box Blade for furrow smoothing in the Spring.

~~A B2650 will be considerably more effective operating a PTO powered roto-tiller, rather than a too light Disc Harrow. Hard for tractor neophytes to understand, but Roto-tillers and Disc Harrows are both soil mixing tillers. The lightest Disc Harrow which is effective has 18" diameter pans. A B2650 will have neither the power nor traction to pull a Disc Harrow with 18" diameter pans at the speed required to mix soil.~~

We plant our Blueberries on 22" hills, which deflate to 18". Sure makes the harvest easier, not having to stoop that final 18" for the low fruit.

In case you do not know: You need two different varieties of Blueberries in order to get pollination. The two varieties need to flower at the same time. So, early/early, mid/mid, or late/late varieties. You can have more than two varieties if you wish: early/earyly/early, mid/mid/mid, late/late/late.

PLOW LINK: Everything Attachments | Single bottom compact tractor plow made by one of the longest running families in the plowing business.
NOTE: This plow has shear-bolt protection. Shear-bolt protection is crucial for tractors not having Draft Control, to keep tractor operator safe.

MIDDLEBUSTER LINK: Everything Attachments | Skid Steer Attachments, Tractor Attachments, 3 Point Hitch Attachments, and Farm Tractor Implements.

Good luck.

Nice words Jeff!
Our Land Shark Compact tractor plow is the same as the EA, only it's orange!

Check out the video of it in use with our B series Kubota:
Travis

flusher · Jul 18, 2016

HillStreet said:
Hey Everybody,

I recently bought a box blade with 6 rippers for plowing my pumpkin patch. I worked about 1.5 acres and planted pumpkins and they are growing pretty good. Next spring I wish to increase the size by one half acre, as well as plant about 40 blueberry bushes.

The blueberry bushes are spaced 6 feet and rows are 10 feet apart. The advice I got was to plow the rows where the bushes will be planted, with strips of lawn in between the rows.

I am thinking to plow in the spring when the ground is soft, or maybe even late fall. The box blade will be more effective in soft ground. Should I do this, or would a farmer with an actual plow or harrow do a better job?

Rototill strips with grass or other ground cover between the plowed strips.

Fortunately you have the correct tractor for rototilling, namely a tractor with a hydrostatic transmission. This setup is ideal for the low ground speed you need when rototilling. Also since you only have to rototill once, there's little danger of overdoing the tilling and ruining the soil microstructure. You probably want to incorporate soil enhancers such as worm casings while rototilling to improve soil drainage.

Forget about moldboard plows and/or harrows.

Get a decent mower to keep the strips between the bushes tidy. For a small plot like yours, you could do it with a cheap riding mower with a 42" wide deck. Mine was a Huskee brand mower from Tractor Supply with an 18 hp Briggs and Stratton engine ($900 new).

When I had my ranch up North, I had a dozen blueberry bushes that I planted by hand. Used a drip line for irrigation and mulched around each plant to keep the weeds under control.

Good luck