Tilling vs Plowing...newbie.

[Farm.E.R]

I have some land that hasn't been worked in 40 years. It use to be a river bottom... and it has high salinity... that I will leach with water. I don't have a plow or a tiller... but I want to buy a tiller.

My ag - agent mentioned that I should plow before I start leaching the salt. The land is silt-sand... no rocks to speak of. When I used the PTO auger... it went 44" straight down (in many holes)... no obstructions.

So my question is: If I only get the tiller (and not the plow), will I achieve essentially the same as plowing?

Thanks,

farmER

 

[flusher]

I have some land that hasn't been worked in 40 years. It use to be a river bottom... and it has high salinity... that I will leach with water. I don't have a plow or a tiller... but I want to buy a tiller.

My ag - agent mentioned that I should plow before I start leaching the salt. The land is silt-sand... no rocks to speak of. When I used the PTO auger... it went 44" straight down (in many holes)... no obstructions.

So my question is: If I only get the tiller (and not the plow), will I achieve essentially the same as plowing?

Thanks,

farmER

What kind of tiller are you considering--rototiller, disc, other?
What kind of a plow did your ag agent recommend--moldboard, chisel, other?
How much acreage are you planning to work?

 

[bigdad]

Sure would till up easier and quicker if it were plowed.

 

[JJT]

A plow turns the soil, a tiller simply chops things up. A tiller doesn't do a good job of turning over the soil, but it does create a nice seed bed.

I think you need to plow this before you start leaching the salt.

I wish I had 40"+ of decent dirt. If I plow more than 12" deep, I'm turning up heavy subsoil that should be left alone......

 

[Jimmy Joe]

If the land hasn't been worked in 40 years you will definitely want to plow it. It will take a long time to do a decent job working it up any other way. If the soil is as rock free as you say chisel plowing would be almost fun, but you may still want to plow it to turn over the top 12'' or so.

 

[schmism]

what is your goal?
how large of an area are you trying to rehab?
how large of a tractor do you have to work with?

 

[taborekle]

A plow turns the soil, a tiller simply chops things up. A tiller doesn't do a good job of turning over the soil, but it does create a nice seed bed.
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QUOTE]

I agree that a tiller does a pretty good job of chopping things up, but I would also add that it also does a good job of mixing the top and lower levels of soil together. I own a reversing tiller, and it does a very good job of mixing the soil from it's reach depth with the topsoil. I typically use my tiller to tiller in my grass clippings from the surface and mix them into the soil.

Typically, tillers don't reach the depth that plows do. My 48 inch tiller will only reach down about 6 inches (5 inches according to the LP specs). Looking at the LP web site shows me that their largest tiller has a reach depth of 8 inches, and that's for a 75HP rated tractor.

Plows will flip the soil. What was on the bottom will now be on the top. So any top vegitation is burried. However, the soil is left in rather large slabs or chunks. Tillers chew this up (the chopping part) and leave behind a very fine mix. The soil is also very aireated. If you step on fresh tillered soil, it will depress several inches. This makes it will suited for planting, as the soil is prepared to easily accept seeds. It also makes for soil that easily erodes on slopes during rains.

Plows will typically reach deeper then tillers.

Plows are run at faster speeds then tillers. You can plow a field much faster then you can till it.

 

[sunnyside360]

I have some land that hasn't been worked in 40 years. It use to be a river bottom... and it has high salinity... that I will leach with water. I don't have a plow or a tiller... but I want to buy a tiller.

I was faced with the same dilemma. Tried plowing then discing; plowing then rototilling; and then just rototilling. All methods worked but the plowing followed by rototilling seemed to work best for the ground that hadn't been worked for 40+ yrs. Plowing followed by discing worked okay too.