smoothing a 25 year fallow field?

[OldMcDonald]

leveled, 60 acres with a two furrow plough is going to take a while. Especially with trees to work around, and even more so if it is a one way plough and not reversible. It will make a good job though if finished off with the disc harrows and then the cultipacker. Depends a lot on what you intend to sow. If it is all like the photo then it would make good pasture/hay ground. Seems a shame to plant trees on such good land, alhough widely spaced trees in pasture always look very nice.

By choice I would use a tined cultivator for primary cultivation then follow with the discs and cultipacker as necessary. However, since you have the plough, you might think it is worthwhile spending the time rather than money on a tined cultivator. The words chisel plough, scarifier, etc mean different things to different people, so I use "tined cultivator". Like RH says, enjoy doing it - there is no finer sight than well ploughed ground.

 

[jix]

I cleared about two acres of land that had mature red pine trees with 16' butts. Hired an excavator and bulldozer with a root blade to deal with the stumps. There were lots of pine root remnants under the surface. I did not own a tractor then, but had a 4x4 ATV. I purchased a set of old spike tooth drag harrows and dragged the field over. About six passes and then followe up with a small trailer and a helper to pick out the roots, then seeded it to broadcast oats, which I mowed with a ride-on mower. Now the field looks good and has been over seeded with pasture mix. It is a lawn now. The deer and partridge liked the oats after the fall came....and they went into the pot.

The old harrows , an eight gang set cost me 100,, the seed cost me 100 bucks. 600 lbs of venison and 36 partridge cost me a few shells for the gun. I figger I broke even. I still have the antique harrows, for a sale opportunity.

Now I have a B7100D tractor too, with a grading blade and a blower, but no agricultural implements. I bought a zero turn mower and mow three acres with that, in about two hours. I use my tractor for snow clearance and for removing brush roots, spreading crushed stone, dragging tree trunks out of the bush..and for making my neighbors happy with favors that only a tractor can do. Life is good on a tractor.