Preparing fields for seeds and transplants

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Like my intro said, I worked on a farm 27 yrs ago and now I知 getting back into that line of work. I知 no expert and certainly don稚 think I know it all. And that痴 why I知 here, to gain some insight. It痴 one thing to work on a farm, it痴 another thing to be a decision maker and the 澱oss man.

I live on 18 acres. It痴 all hay. I don稚 want the hay anymore. Hay is a dime a dozen here. So I知 going to grow crops just like the farm I worked on. I知 just starting out. I have an old Allis Chalmers 6060 MFWD. It痴 in the shop at the moment. I have no implements/attachments. The hay has been bush hogged. What implements should I buy? I will need to break up the hay and the subsoil a bit. So I知 thinking a disc. But what else? I致e seen much debate about whether a disc is enough. I was going to disc my field a few times to properly prepare the seed/transplant beds. Obviously I want good air flow and I don稚 want the moisture to evaporate too quickly from the soil. As for type of soil it痴 a mix of clay and topsoil. In fact I have very little clay on my property. Had to bring in shale in order to build my driveway, that痴 how little clay I have.

I knkw I知 starting a bit late but the weather here has been too wet and cold for anything. I知 lucky at this point to just get Bushhogging done. And most people痴 tomatoes are dead already because of a cold snap we致e just had. Soil isn稚 warm enough yet for squash and eggplant. So I知 behind but that痴 Mother Nature sometimes. I値l be complaining in July when it誕 hot and dry.

I壇 be curious to hear from the experts about the best way to prepare my fields for seeds and transplants as far as implements, steps to take, etc. Oh and I should probably note that I致e done my soil samples and ph and N and P are good. I値l need some K later in the growing season and that痴 fine.

Should I plow then disc? Can I get away with just discing? Should I skip both and use a pto driven rototiller? What痴 the best way to take hay and make it ready to seed? I知 open to this year being for practice/experimenting!

Thanks in advance!

 

[oldnslo]

With heavy sod it will take a real heavy disc to work it up. I am old school and believe in mold board plows for turning sod and then following up with a disc. Chisel plow followed by disc will also work but chisels will pull up lots of rocks. Bigger concern is working the ground wet and getting clods.

If small area for garden tiller would also work but for a larger area tiller takes lots of time.

 

[jeff9366]

For secondary tillage UNVERFERTH PERFECTA.

VIDEO: Cultivating with a Perfecta - YouTube

LINK: https://media.unverferth.com/unverferth/tillage/um-tillage-perfecta-field-cultivator-18-11.pdf



Others make Perfecta style implements:
BUCKEYE TRACTOR: Buckeye Tractor Online Catalog Page 11-01 Toolbar Cultivators



You will receive replies better tailored to your land and climate if you enter your LOCATION in your T-B-N PROFILE.

 

[kthompson]

I was farming about same acreage you have. Went to hay four years ago for row crops have real problem, getting them harvested. As to leaving hay for being cheap, depends on where you are and they type of hay you have and also the quality of YOUR hay.

Depending on the type of soil you have agree moldboard plow could be best to begin with. Depending on the type of hay you should burn when dry to get rid of any trash or brush before anything else. You will need a disk and you mentioned a subsoiler. You still don't have planter or sprayer and depending on crop cultivators. Your best would be to find a farmer who is either retiring or selling the size of equipment you want for they are moving up or down in size. One you another option, see if you can find a farmer who has the equipment you need and swap helping him for use of the equipment on your land. He should be a source of knowledge also.

 

[Egon]

For your tractor a plow would be best for the first cultivation followed by a disk for the secondary stages.

For Long term cultivation A disk or cultivator should work as long as it is sized to the tractor.

 

[skipperbrown]

I just disked a 6 ac field on my property that hasn't been touched in about 20 years except to run horses and cattle. The field is about 1/2 fescue and 1/2 thin weeds. The topsoil is about 6" deep. I mowed it first to 4" and then started disking. I was pulling a fairly heavy 10' disk with 12 20" pans (about 50# per pan) in moist soil. I ran 4 passes and in the thin areas cut about 4" to 6". I couldn't turn the fescue but did cut 2" ribbons through it. I either should have burned it first with fire or grass killer. I will wait a week and see how much of the fescue dies and then decide what to do. Lesson learned is that hay grasses generally have heavy root systems and trying to cut and turn it with a disk is hard going especially with freshly cut grass laying on top. I don't have any kind of plow but I a considering looking for one.

The biggest problem I see with a moldboard plow is cutting deeper than your topsoil and putting the rich soil out of reach of your new crop. Perhaps a Fred Cain plow is more in order. Good luck with your project. I'd break your 18 ac into several smaller projects and work one at a time.

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Thank for this info. The moldboard is a bit more than I want really in terms of aiE and spending. I think I値l try a 2 bottom plow and then disc. That seems to be what everyone is saying, plow then disc. I just haven稚 seen any small moldboard plows. And yes, I don稚 plan to farm all 18 acres, at least not this year. Much of it is hilly, and this year I am sticking to the flat spots. If I decide to do hemp or tobacco in the future I might farm more of my acreage. I知 gonna start of real small and just have fun doing it, learn along the way and teach some things to my daughter. Thanks again!

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Thank you for the reply. Do you have any recommendations regarding the cultivator?

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Thank you! Something to think about. The sod is heavy. It痴 a mixture of different hays. I was thinking of trying a 2 bottom plow and then discing with a 800 lb pickup disc. Just haven稚 found any smaller moldboard type plows. Thanks again!

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Thank you! Most farmers in my area are doing cattle which means hay. I知 just bored with hay plus the capital investment is high. In addition, with no one doing produce in my area and with this COVId stuff going on my idea was to offer fresh produce that people can get from me directly/. Not gong to get rich from it but worth a try in my book. Thanks for the advice, I知 going to ask around to see if I can find someone to help. Might be in a different county but would be worth it.

 

[DJ54]

A 3 bottom plow will probably be less expensive than a 2 bottom. Sort of an odd size in more modern times. Either in 3 pt. or pull type. With the horsepower you have, even a 4 bottom. Too big for someone just doing a garden, to small for someone doing some serious farming. Around here,moldboard plowing is nearly a thing of the past, with most going no-till. A chisel plow, or V-ripper, then finish with a Perfecta/crumbler type tool. I've seen more than several 3-5 bottom 3 pt. plows in good shape as far as shares, and moldboards go for pretty much scrap metal price.

It probably would have been a good idea to kill that grass last Fall with Glyphosate. Even with moldboard plowing, you'll have some sod to deal with. Probably not that big of a problem with planting, depending on what you put out, but when it comes time to cultivate, you'll be bringing up clumps of sod, and it will be frustrating that first year. Once planted, that's when the real work starts, keeping up with the weeds & grass. Then keeping up with pests, until harvest.

Cultivating/hoeing will take up most of your time through the summer, so don't put out more than you can take care of, or weed pressure can take over, before you know it. It has taken me 10 years to convincea buddy of mine doing the market garden thing, that he could get more produce off of smaller well taken care of plots, than two poorly maintained large plots of the same crop. Green Beans are a prme example. Hissecond year, he planted 2, 1/4 acre plots of Green Beans, a couple weeks apart. He works a full time job, and said he didn't have time to cultivate & hoe, as much as he should have. He'd let grass & weeds get to 3"-4" tall before doing anything. By then, it was too late. By late June, he had 2 giant weed patches, and you couldn't even see the beans.

You may want to consider a smaller cultivating tractor, even an older 2-wheeler. You may laugh, but there are folks tending 5 acres of produce plots with small 2-wheel tractors, all over the U.S. The hot items right now seem to be the Planet Jr. tractors, and David Bradley's. I prefer the David Bradley's because of taller tires, and you can cultivate until plants are nearly tall enough to shade in between rows, to slow weed growth. And, you don't need to cultivate deep. I prefer to cultivate at maximum, 2-1/2" deep. Just fight the seed bank in that top layer, any deeper, and you're just pulling up more weed seeds to sprout. And, more than likley, depending on the rain, you'll need to do that every 3-5 days. It's much easier to killweeds in the, what I call "button stage", when weeds first emerge. Normally, you'll see 2 tiny leaves coming up first. They will have thread like roots on them, and be in that 2-1/2" top layer of soil. Cultivate in the morning, after the dew dries off, and let the hot afternoon sun kill them. Or later in the evening when it cools off, IF they aren't calling for rain the next day, and let the sun kill them. The first place you'll notice weeds coming up after cultivating, will be in compacted soil of your foot prints, if you're hoeing, or just walking through checking your crops. It may sound strange, but here, Ant's let me know when it's nearly dry enough to cultivate. When I see them making hills in the soil again, it's time to cultivate.

Just plant your rows in spacing, so as to cultivate, with whatever you use. I don't see the location where you live, so hard to say what is in your locale to do that with. I saw you mention tobacco, or hemp, so I'll assume in the South. There should bequite a few small tractors that were used to cultivate tobacco, like Farmall Cubs, or Super A Farmall's, up through a Farmall 140, with 1 row cultivator set ups. Allis-Chalmers G's are becoing a hot item once again for produce growers, but are pretty pricey.

Check local auctions, Craigslist, or if you are a fan of FaceBook, their Marketplace ads have a lot of items like that. There are also some groups on FaceBook that are strictly for Market Garderers. "Gardening for Market" is one of my favorites. A good place for a lot of growers to ask questions, and other growers share their answers/experience's. If you have problem's along the way with soil, or pests of any kind, a good picture of your problem is quickly identified, and answered by experienced growers.

 

[Egon]

Your tractor might be able to pull four bottoms but definitely three. There are different mould boards used for breaking sod than for regular ploughing.

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Thank you! This is all great info. I live in Greeneville, TN. Not doing hemp and tobacco this year but next year maybe, if the hemp prices return. I知 doing a produce stand at the end of my driveway. So tomatoes, squash both summer and winter, peppers, salad type stuff and Pumpkins and mums. I can稚 figure out yet how to up date my profile or else I would致e corrected the location.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I am not a professional farmer but will pass on my experience with a large vegetable garden I had (1/4 Ac). It was flat, 6" of good top soil but covered with weeds and grasses plus a lot of 1-4" rocks. I was able to rototill 6" deep after several passes to break up the sod. There are tillers that are larger than mine and designed for your type dream gardening. Had to just keep raking and picking up rocks. I had a landscape rake I removed every other tine out of for the rocks and angled to windrow them. The previous grasses were a real problem, never got rid of them entirely in my 6 years there. I found that for large plants like tomatoes, beans, squashes, and cucumbers that a 2 " layer of compost after plants got well up pretty much stopped them or made easy to pull. Row crops , compost helped some nut weeding was constant. With 2 Ac of finished lawn and 4 Ac of grassland plus all the woody plants to ship/shred I had no end of compost after the 2nd year. As a garden crop grower that is an idea. I used the rototiller to keep turning over the compost as I had plenty of space to spread it out and re-pile. People who bought the place remarked after their first garden year about the fertility of garden site. My good top soils turned into nice dark brown loam after the 6 years about 10" deep and the rocks stopped coming to the top.

Ron, Seabees love our Marine shipmates, made some good friends with ones I served with and retired as W4.

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Thank you so much for sharing the information. Very helpful. I知 going to look into a rototiller. Not the first then I致e heard this. Might be a one implement selection. And thanks for your service!

Semper Fi!

Bill

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

I知 thinking of switching tractors. My AC which is around 83hp on the dyno is quite a project and may never get there and if it does, I値l likely spend quite a bit. So I found a Zetor, cab, good shape. It痴 only 59hp. Will that pull a 3 bottom you think?

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Hey thanks again for this info. You gave me a lot to think about. It痴 funny you mention a cultivator because I致e been looking at an AC B cultivating tractor. It痴 about 3.5 hrs from me in E Tennessee. Great price and Is top shelf as far as operability. So in planning my fields should I plant so that I can drive that tractor through the fields. What would be my number the wheel base or space between tines?

A 3 bottom plow will probably be less expensive than a 2 bottom. Sort of an odd size in more modern times. Either in 3 pt. or pull type. With the horsepower you have, even a 4 bottom. Too big for someone just doing a garden, to small for someone doing some serious farming. Around here,moldboard plowing is nearly a thing of the past, with most going no-till. A chisel plow, or V-ripper, then finish with a Perfecta/crumbler type tool. I've seen more than several 3-5 bottom 3 pt. plows in good shape as far as shares, and moldboards go for pretty much scrap metal price.

It probably would have been a good idea to kill that grass last Fall with Glyphosate. Even with moldboard plowing, you'll have some sod to deal with. Probably not that big of a problem with planting, depending on what you put out, but when it comes time to cultivate, you'll be bringing up clumps of sod, and it will be frustrating that first year. Once planted, that's when the real work starts, keeping up with the weeds & grass. Then keeping up with pests, until harvest.

Cultivating/hoeing will take up most of your time through the summer, so don't put out more than you can take care of, or weed pressure can take over, before you know it. It has taken me 10 years to convincea buddy of mine doing the market garden thing, that he could get more produce off of smaller well taken care of plots, than two poorly maintained large plots of the same crop. Green Beans are a prme example. Hissecond year, he planted 2, 1/4 acre plots of Green Beans, a couple weeks apart. He works a full time job, and said he didn't have time to cultivate & hoe, as much as he should have. He'd let grass & weeds get to 3"-4" tall before doing anything. By then, it was too late. By late June, he had 2 giant weed patches, and you couldn't even see the beans.

You may want to consider a smaller cultivating tractor, even an older 2-wheeler. You may laugh, but there are folks tending 5 acres of produce plots with small 2-wheel tractors, all over the U.S. The hot items right now seem to be the Planet Jr. tractors, and David Bradley's. I prefer the David Bradley's because of taller tires, and you can cultivate until plants are nearly tall enough to shade in between rows, to slow weed growth. And, you don't need to cultivate deep. I prefer to cultivate at maximum, 2-1/2" deep. Just fight the seed bank in that top layer, any deeper, and you're just pulling up more weed seeds to sprout. And, more than likley, depending on the rain, you'll need to do that every 3-5 days. It's much easier to killweeds in the, what I call "button stage", when weeds first emerge. Normally, you'll see 2 tiny leaves coming up first. They will have thread like roots on them, and be in that 2-1/2" top layer of soil. Cultivate in the morning, after the dew dries off, and let the hot afternoon sun kill them. Or later in the evening when it cools off, IF they aren't calling for rain the next day, and let the sun kill them. The first place you'll notice weeds coming up after cultivating, will be in compacted soil of your foot prints, if you're hoeing, or just walking through checking your crops. It may sound strange, but here, Ant's let me know when it's nearly dry enough to cultivate. When I see them making hills in the soil again, it's time to cultivate.

Just plant your rows in spacing, so as to cultivate, with whatever you use. I don't see the location where you live, so hard to say what is in your locale to do that with. I saw you mention tobacco, or hemp, so I'll assume in the South. There should bequite a few small tractors that were used to cultivate tobacco, like Farmall Cubs, or Super A Farmall's, up through a Farmall 140, with 1 row cultivator set ups. Allis-Chalmers G's are becoing a hot item once again for produce growers, but are pretty pricey.

Check local auctions, Craigslist, or if you are a fan of FaceBook, their Marketplace ads have a lot of items like that. There are also some groups on FaceBook that are strictly for Market Garderers. "Gardening for Market" is one of my favorites. A good place for a lot of growers to ask questions, and other growers share their answers/experience's. If you have problem's along the way with soil, or pests of any kind, a good picture of your problem is quickly identified, and answered by experienced growers.

 

[jeff9366]

I found a Zetor, cab, good shape, 59hp. Will that pull a 3 bottom you think?

Yes. Easily.


If you are going to start with one or two acres consider a roto-tiller. One implement and done.

If starting with five acres or more, a plow + disc harrow + chain harrow (or "Perfecta") begins to make sense.

Roto-Tillers and Disc Harrows are two forms of soil mixers / soil levelers.

 

[CaptainBillUSMC]

Thank you so much for the info. I知 in the 5-7 acre range this year.

 

[DJ54]

I'd imagine the A-C B is set up with a 1 row cultivator. And I imagine the foot print would be rows no less than 5' on center. Yes, you could go narrower when plants are small, but as they grow, you'll more than likely run over them when they bush out. Evenwith something like a C, or CA with 2 row cults., it'spretty much like my old BN Farmall, and 42" was as narrow was one could go. Here, that would be a lot of open wasted space. That's why I use the 2-wheeler's. A lot of plants like the peppers & onions, even cabbage can be set 30" on center, growing more, in less space, and less weeds to deal with. If weeds mature, that will only create a larger seed bank in the future. There is going to be a lot of hand work involved, no matter what you use, to get up close to plants.

It's a little more work, but I mark out rows with the cultivator on the Bradley. Trickle some fertilizer in the row, then run through again to stir it in the soil. But, when it comes time to cultivate, I'm dead on, on row spacing to cultivate. Below are acouplepics of my David Bradley 5 hp Special, with hillers on the cultivator. These are 30" rows,and as you can see, does a decent job of keeping the weeds at bay, IF the weather cooperates. The important thing with these is, like my Dad alwaysused to say, " Let them do the work, don't let them work you." I've seen video's of guy's wrestling these tractors doing variousjobs. No need to do that, it's not that tough. Just go at a speed you can handle them, and just steer them along. One with a 3 hp engine will do the job just as easy, and use little gas. I've got 5 I have set up with different cultivators, for different stages of growth, or what I want to do. The cultivator with hillers is normaly the last pass, maybe even going over it 2-3 times ina couple weeks. Beyond that stage,plants will bushout, and shade in between rows to keep weed pressure down. Beyond that, I've got this spiffy little 1-wheeler I can get inas narrow as 10". Sure beats using a hoe..!!

Tillers are a great tool, if you don't over do it. Too many trips over making it fine can ruin the soil structure. And, if in the case like mybuddy who made his as fine as flour, after a good heavy rain, it got avery hard crust on top. He has a cherry CAAllis with 2-row cultivators. That crust was so hard, brand new 6" sweeps barley left a mark in the dirt. I bought a new bush hog brand reverse direction tiller last year to try a biofumigation experiment, and made 3 passes with it. With all of the rain we had, when I dug sweet potatoes, there was a 6" slab of dirt come with it, and literally plugged the potato digger, see picture attached.

This year where I tilled in 4 years worth of top composting to plant potatoes in, I just made 1 pass, leaving it a little more coarse. The ground is a lot more friable, and easy to work.

Some items you'll learn to plant in stages, such as sweet corn. Most you can plant 7-10 days between plantings. When one patch is done, a new one should be coming on. Years ago, Dad planted 6 different patches. We usually had sweet corn from late July, well through Sept.

The biggest point I'm trying to make is you don't need a large plot, to grow a lot of produce. Up until the last 2 years, when I convinced my market garden buddy to down size, and take good care of what he has, I was getting more produce from my little 1/4 acre patch, than he was from several acres. In the end, what matters is, the amount you actually harvest, not how many acres you put out. Start with a smaller plot, take good care of it, and see what you can handle. Then, grow in baby steps.

This year, I'm seeing a lot of people putting out gardens that never have. Many online seed suppliers show many items "out of stock". I've also seen in past years, many inexperienced newbie gardeners are really in to it, until it gets hot, and caring for a garden becomes more of a chore, than it's worth. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.