What is a chisel plow and what is it's primary use? In pictures, they look like a cultivator with wheels?? I seem to recall reading that they are used for primary deep tillage but is this now an outdated piece of equipment? I will be primarily using a tiller and occaisionlly a subsoiler to open up compacted soil for a small market garden. If a chisel plow is a good piece of equipment to have...How many tractor hp per shank? Who makes a good one? Cost? Thanks
what is a chisel plow
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A chisel plow will look a lot like a heavy duty cultivator. If you look at the chisel plow, the shanks and points and frame are much heavier. Here in Wheat country, chisel plows and discs are routinely used in what's called "trash farming", where the ground is not plowed under cleanly, but the residue is left on top to help hold moisture in.
This is mostly prior to no-till farming.
I think it takes maybe 8-10HP per shank to pull one.
The teeth on a chisel shank can be a "point", which is maybe twice the width of a ripper shank point, or a "sweep" which is maybe 12" wide.
Many manufacturers made/make chisel plows. The older ones were from 8-12' (shanks are a foot apart on multiple rows) and were pull type.
At one point, I needed a 6' chisel plow, so I bought a 10' pull type at an auction for $40. Cut it apart, hauled it home, welded it together as a 3PT chisel, and sold what was left for $20 as scrap.
If you have a box blade with scarifiers, you can drop them all the way down and use it as a poor man's chisel (like I do now).
I don't have any pics of it as it was years ago..........
Hope this helps.
This is mostly prior to no-till farming.
I think it takes maybe 8-10HP per shank to pull one.
The teeth on a chisel shank can be a "point", which is maybe twice the width of a ripper shank point, or a "sweep" which is maybe 12" wide.
Many manufacturers made/make chisel plows. The older ones were from 8-12' (shanks are a foot apart on multiple rows) and were pull type.
At one point, I needed a 6' chisel plow, so I bought a 10' pull type at an auction for $40. Cut it apart, hauled it home, welded it together as a 3PT chisel, and sold what was left for $20 as scrap.
If you have a box blade with scarifiers, you can drop them all the way down and use it as a poor man's chisel (like I do now).
I don't have any pics of it as it was years ago..........
Hope this helps.
Taylortractornut
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We had an oliver chisel plow i picked up at an auction with some big curved tines andmade a 3 pointbrush and grubber rake/ culivator and plow out of. It fit a tool bar then I took a trailed cisel plow with a hydraulic lift and used it behind the D5B at work to grub roots out of part of the Park area of the landfill.
rdln
Veteran Member
There is a good chance you can replace your subsoiler point with a "twisted chisel plow" holes will line up but you wont find a plow bolt long enough so use carriage bolts, you can grind the outside of the carriage bolt head off if the squares dont mesh.
Worked on my leinbach potato plow shank anyway.
I heard 10hp per chisel plow.
Worked on my leinbach potato plow shank anyway.
I heard 10hp per chisel plow.
RalphVa
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They use chisel plows to go down near 3' deep for preparing soil for commercial grape vines. This is the recommendaiton of the local grape expert here in Va who came here from Italy. Think it takes a tracked vehicle to pull more than 1 of those chisels through the ground. They're like very heavy, thick shanks with a perpendicular point on the end of them.
Here's what I have that worked on an 18 hp JD M. I now have it on my 18.5 hp JD 4010. It has 7 shanks with little plows that are about 1" wide by about 6 or 8" high. The 4010 can pull it plow depth. The wheels will start to spin, with turf tires, if I try to sink it deeper than the plow depth.
Ralph
Here's what I have that worked on an 18 hp JD M. I now have it on my 18.5 hp JD 4010. It has 7 shanks with little plows that are about 1" wide by about 6 or 8" high. The 4010 can pull it plow depth. The wheels will start to spin, with turf tires, if I try to sink it deeper than the plow depth.
Ralph
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Indydirtfarmer
Platinum Member
Chisel plows have been around for a while. They were developed in the early 1930's as as alternative method of tillage to prevent erosion.
Conventional "moldboard plows" left a flat surface, with little crop residue to hold soil in place. In addition, the level surface allowed heavy rains to wash across the surface, carrying valuable topsoil away. Add to that, the fact that moldboard plows would compact the soil BELOW their working depth. That is known as "plow pan".
Chisel plows leave "grooves" or furrows on the surface. That limits the flow of water across the surface, preventing erosion. As well, the furrows allow water to soak in to the soil, helping the land retain soil moisture. The furrows will help to catch blowing snow, and to help prevent wind erosion as well.
Normally, chisel plows are operated at a depth greater than a normal plow. Usually from 10" to around 15". Deeper than that, usually requires a "deep ripper" or a "Vee Ripper". Nowdays, those are being combined with other tillage tools, and are called "disc rippers", "Mulch rippers" , and a host of other names.
Field cultivators are normally used at a shallower depth. They are more of a "secondary tillage" tool, used to achieve a "finished seedbed".
Due to the heavy load on a chisel plow shank, they are MUCH heavier built than your typical field cultivator. That wieght, combined with the heavy load generated by the operating depth, means a chisel plow will make for a heavy drawbar load on a tractor. One must also consider the soil type when sizing a tractor/chisel plow combination. Up until We went to exclusively No-Till farming, we chiseled our ground every fall. We have gumbo clay in this area. We pulled a 12' Will-Rich chisel plow behind a 130 HO Deere 4440. Later, we bought a 200HP 4955 (MFWD) Deere. We used a 16' DMI disc/chisel behind that tractor. (The 4955 would pull that plow about 1-1/2 MPH faster than the 12'er behind the 4440)
As we started using chisel plows, and eliminated the "plow pan", our fields would start draining better. Not nearly the trouble with standing water in the spring time. Yields went up too. (That being the main objective)
Years later, when we switched to no-till, our first worry was soil compaction without doing tillage. We quickly found out that nature would do our "tillage" for us. Earthworms and soil heaving (freeze/thaw) would improve soil conditions on their own. Now, after 15 years of no-till, we achieve higher yields than ever before, without all the trips over the field, burning fuel, and turning the soil .
As important as HP, the tractor needs to be ballasted properly to drag a chizel plow. You won't find too many loads that require the power and traction that a typical chisel plow will put on your tractor.
Conventional "moldboard plows" left a flat surface, with little crop residue to hold soil in place. In addition, the level surface allowed heavy rains to wash across the surface, carrying valuable topsoil away. Add to that, the fact that moldboard plows would compact the soil BELOW their working depth. That is known as "plow pan".
Chisel plows leave "grooves" or furrows on the surface. That limits the flow of water across the surface, preventing erosion. As well, the furrows allow water to soak in to the soil, helping the land retain soil moisture. The furrows will help to catch blowing snow, and to help prevent wind erosion as well.
Normally, chisel plows are operated at a depth greater than a normal plow. Usually from 10" to around 15". Deeper than that, usually requires a "deep ripper" or a "Vee Ripper". Nowdays, those are being combined with other tillage tools, and are called "disc rippers", "Mulch rippers" , and a host of other names.
Field cultivators are normally used at a shallower depth. They are more of a "secondary tillage" tool, used to achieve a "finished seedbed".
Due to the heavy load on a chisel plow shank, they are MUCH heavier built than your typical field cultivator. That wieght, combined with the heavy load generated by the operating depth, means a chisel plow will make for a heavy drawbar load on a tractor. One must also consider the soil type when sizing a tractor/chisel plow combination. Up until We went to exclusively No-Till farming, we chiseled our ground every fall. We have gumbo clay in this area. We pulled a 12' Will-Rich chisel plow behind a 130 HO Deere 4440. Later, we bought a 200HP 4955 (MFWD) Deere. We used a 16' DMI disc/chisel behind that tractor. (The 4955 would pull that plow about 1-1/2 MPH faster than the 12'er behind the 4440)
As we started using chisel plows, and eliminated the "plow pan", our fields would start draining better. Not nearly the trouble with standing water in the spring time. Yields went up too. (That being the main objective)
Years later, when we switched to no-till, our first worry was soil compaction without doing tillage. We quickly found out that nature would do our "tillage" for us. Earthworms and soil heaving (freeze/thaw) would improve soil conditions on their own. Now, after 15 years of no-till, we achieve higher yields than ever before, without all the trips over the field, burning fuel, and turning the soil .
As important as HP, the tractor needs to be ballasted properly to drag a chizel plow. You won't find too many loads that require the power and traction that a typical chisel plow will put on your tractor.
Holzster
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Indydirtfarmer
How long did it take to get rid of the "Plow Pan" when you started to the Chisel plow? Just courious
thanks
How long did it take to get rid of the "Plow Pan" when you started to the Chisel plow? Just courious
thanks
Indydirtfarmer
Platinum Member
One trip over the field usually broke up the compacted layer that the moldboard plow created. Repeated use over several years completely eliminated it. Today, the use of "deep rippers" or "zone builders" are furthering what the chisel plow started. We can't use deep rippers around here. At 2-1/2' and deeper, you hit shale, then slate, then limestone below that. About 14" to 16" is as deep as we can go...
