Spring tooth chisel plow

[OkieKubota]

Johnny, living in an un-free state, burning is not an option. After all, it might cause smoke
CTM, I'm playing around with my disc angle (backing off till nearly straight) trying to cut the rye stalks into smaller pieces before dishing. Otherwise, the discs simply bind up and eventually drag dirt. If this doesn't work, I won't let my rye mature again..., I have the same struggle with corn stalks....I've got to figure out a better way. York rake helps but ultimately drags too much precious topsoil with it.

Yep, smoke = bad...even though it is absolutely natural...lol

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[bigbluetruck]

My butt hurts,my legs hurt, heck even my teeth hurt from spending hours bouncing around on the tractor pulling that thing. Chisel plowing is slow going. As the hours ticked by I found myself day dreaming of being in a new 100 hp tractor with an air conditioned cab and a comfortable seat that was tearing ground up in minutes. I have to confess that at least twice yesterday I was going to quit this food plotting thing and just book another hunt, but I dug deep and envisioned the end product.

One of the problems right from the start was all of the cut rye piling up in the plow. In so many of the areas the plow was jammed up with in yards of starting a run. I literally have piles of dead vegetation not only at the ends of the fields but in them when I had to lift to free up the plow.
One pile became so large I almost rolled the tractor going over it in an attempt to strip some of it to make it smaller.

Trust me, chiseling doesnt get any better with a bigger tractor, cuz then youll decide you need a bigger chisel and the process starts all over again lol. I got seasick this spring chiseling some really compacted ground (our own fault kinda) with our 175hp FWA, duals and an air seat! Itd jerk back and forth from the compacted to the less compacted and it literally felt like being in a boat. Even broke a good sized drawbar pin.

You might have to run the disk or burn the rye stubble especially if it hasnt had time to do any breakdown, cuz they will act like a dump rake in really heavy residue. Ideally, the front shanks shouldve been closer to the front, it would give more room for the trash to flow around instead of bunching up. I do have a question though, you mention plowing, if you have a plow, what was the reasoning behind buying a chisel? Is the ground that hard, or rocky? I do see some tree roots in one of your pictures, chisels are great for that. But I would think that plowing might have been easier and better. Not criticizing or anything just wondering.

"Here" no one plows anything unless they are trying to break up sod and even then its rare, thats the only time Ive ever done it and the last time was at least 10 years ago, still have a 5 bottom JD semi mount but its out back in the trees "just in case". Spraying in the fall and letting the freeze/thaw cycle break up the sod and notilling in the spring works better. But chiseling is still pretty popular to fix compaction from harvesting equipment or from cattle running on stalks in the winter.

 

[CTM1]

Trust me, chiseling doesnt get any better with a bigger tractor, cuz then youll decide you need a bigger chisel and the process starts all over again lol. I got seasick this spring chiseling some really compacted ground (our own fault kinda) with our 175hp FWA, duals and an air seat! Itd jerk back and forth from the compacted to the less compacted and it literally felt like being in a boat. Even broke a good sized drawbar pin.

You might have to run the disk or burn the rye stubble especially if it hasnt had time to do any breakdown, cuz they will act like a dump rake in really heavy residue. Ideally, the front shanks shouldve been closer to the front, it would give more room for the trash to flow around instead of bunching up. I do have a question though, you mention plowing, if you have a plow, what was the reasoning behind buying a chisel? Is the ground that hard, or rocky? I do see some tree roots in one of your pictures, chisels are great for that. But I would think that plowing might have been easier and better. Not criticizing or anything just wondering.

"Here" no one plows anything unless they are trying to break up sod and even then its rare, thats the only time Ive ever done it and the last time was at least 10 years ago, still have a 5 bottom JD semi mount but its out back in the trees "just in case". Spraying in the fall and letting the freeze/thaw cycle break up the sod and notilling in the spring works better. But chiseling is still pretty popular to fix compaction from harvesting equipment or from cattle running on stalks in the winter.

Seasick on land, that is a new one but I guess all that rocking can do it.

My bad, I was using the term "plowing" for expedience when I should have said "chisel plowing".

My fields have been fields for well over one hundred years (old dairy farm) so the ones that remain have no real roots but from the occasional hawthorne tree or sapling that crept up over the years from the previous owner not hogging the fields. We have tons of rock and that is what broke my tiller last year and is the reason I had to go with a spring tooth chisel plow.

I did have a ton of grass in one field and while the chisel plow did rip it up I was left with big clods of grass, but again hopefully the disc will cut it up..
This is my third year of doing this at this new place and I think I am starting to realize why some people commit the money and buy a notill drill.

Like Elkaddict said I too need a better plan. I am usually up against the clock and rushing to get it all done within a small window.

 

[CTM1]

Yep, smoke = bad...even though it is absolutely natural...lol

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FYI my local State Forester did say I can burn off my fields but NYS has a rule of when you can actually burn. I have to get the dates and see if this might be an option next year.

 

[bigbluetruck]

Ahh, I thought about it afterwards and wondered if thats what you ment. Chisel plows and grass sod do not usually mix well, a moldboard plow wouldve worked better in that situation.

Notilling takes alot more planning than any other system.

 

[THE LLC]

Forgot to warn you about rolling up vegetation. Sorry. LOL. Been there, done that---wait til you throw roots in there. I always tried to busshog or mow my plots and let the residue rot a few weeks before plowing with a spring-tooth. Like I say, been there, done that.

 

[OkieKubota]

Forgot to warn you about rolling up vegetation. Sorry. LOL. Been there, done that---wait til you throw roots in there. I always tried to busshog or mow my plots and let the residue rot a few weeks before plowing with a spring-tooth. Like I say, been there, done that.

Yanks those roots right out...been chisel plowing dozed woods plots and it works great!

 

[Mennoniteman]

Ahh, I thought about it afterwards and wondered if thats what you ment. Chisel plows and grass sod do not usually mix well, a moldboard plow wouldve worked better in that situation.

Notilling takes alot more planning than any other system.

I've done both, and IMO, no-tilling takes less planning than any other system because there's less components. Conventional planting involves plowing, discing, planting, rolling, spraying. Notill is just spray and drill. A lot less to plan and go wrong in two operations vs five

 

[JFH]

FYI the man typing this is an IDIOT!!!!
Made a seven + hour round trip and dropped $60 in gas for nothing because CTM1 is an idiot.

I got on the road at 1pm and got to the guys place a 4pm. Doing 85 to 90 on 476 down through PA shaved off time. It was all for nothing though as the guy could not get off work until 5pm so I just sat in his driveway for an hour. As we walked around the back of the barn I saw the plow and let out an audible OH CRAP as it was HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE. It was 8.5' long and just over 6' wide and it stood at over three feet from the bottom of the tines to the top. The guys pulls it with a 100 hp tractor and he said when he goes up a hill the front wheels get light. I seriously thought about buying it anyway and then flipping it for more money but he and I realized to load it in the back of my pickup was way to hairy.

Well it was another lesson in life and now I know to ask more questions about size. For some reason I just figured a 7T would be fine and never thought to ask anything else. I blame you guys for no posting what you did until after I left to go look at it.

The other plow I was considering turned out to be to bent. Thankfully that stop only took two minutes to see and say thanks but no thanks..

Sad part is just another half hour down the road there was a dealer that was selling the style that OkieKubota has, they had 9T and 5T types but they were closed.by the time I wrapped up looking at the big one.

Chalk it up to "lesson learned".


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[Mennoniteman]

The internet is your friend.

Well after searching chisel plow, spring tooth chisel plow, plow, and a few others as well as making some calls to the local tractor dealers and equipment dealers I came up empty. So I decided to try a new search term "tillage for sale in NYS" and low and behold I come up with a Case dealer only two towns over that I never new about. The reason I never knew this dealer existed was they burnt down and when they reopened it was under another name. That leads me to a picture of a "Bush Hog" brand spring tooth chisel plow they have listed for $1,200. So I call over and they have it in the yard and it is a 6' 7T angle iron plow. Now the one at Wengers in Myersrtown PA was a Baltic brand which I never heard of @$875.
So I tell the man I will be over in half hour. Well it is exactly what I need and I tried to haggle a bit. I figured the one at Wengers @$875 plus tax plus gas puts me at about $1,000 and of course another eight hour round trip.The man was firm at $1,100 if I did cash which is how I like to do things and we had it loaded in two minutes and I was off. Yeah it was $400 more than I wanted to part with but my window is rapidly closing on this years plotting. After picking it up I ran over the the farm and hogged until dark.

In any event guys I appreciate the information and guidance and we will see how it works tomorrow. Thanks to OkieKubota for putting this one on my list last year. Now a 3point spreader is next.

FYI Kutz Farm Equipment 72 Kutz Rd, Pine Grove, PA 17963, (570) 345-4882 is the best place to buy a three point spinner spreader. They're selling top quality new ones for $500, and that's the price the rusty used ones sell for at auctions.

 

[bigbluetruck]

I've done both, and IMO, no-tilling takes less planning than any other system because there's less components. Conventional planting involves plowing, discing, planting, rolling, spraying. Notill is just spray and drill. A lot less to plan and go wrong in two operations vs five

See to me, conventional farming is lots of steps but it's pretty much foolproof, where everything has to be right for No till to work like it's supposed to

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[Mennoniteman]

See to me, conventional farming is lots of steps but it's pretty much foolproof, where everything has to be right for No till to work like it's supposed to

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There's also a big difference in dirt from one place to the next. For me to do tillage it has to be "fit", as in, dry enough to work the dirt. No-tilling into burned down sod or mowed stubble is something that I can do when it's on the wet side and get good results. When you drive a distance to your plots and have a fulltime job otherwise this is YUGE like Trump would say.