Plow pattern

[Mudball]

I have two acres I plow with my L245F and single bottom. Ive searched the web for plow patterns but still dont see anyway to avoid leaving a deep furrow that has to be filled in when Im done. Ive plowed on and off for several years but tired of filling this spot back in, especially if I dont have to. It takes too many passes with the disc to fill in so Ive been thinking grader blade and then disc. I could plow in such a way that I wouldnt have the deep furrow but I would have to travel a long ways at each end to make my next pass.
What do some of you do ?
Any tricks of the trade that I need to know ?
Thanks.

 

[D2Cat]

You say, " Ive searched the web for plow patterns but still dont see anyway to avoid leaving a deep furrow that has to be filled in when Im done."

Why are you plowing? A plow is made to turn over soil, and when you do there is a low spot where the soil came from. If you don't want a "deep furrow" you probably have the wrong tool for your task.

Usually one plows their garden spot in the fall and wants the deep furrow. The freezing and thawing breaks the soil up and prepares it for the next spring planting.

Sounds like you need a disc.

 

[GWD]

I don't know if there is a solution to your issue. It seems that you don't like the final pass leaving a ditch.

Since plowing moves the whole surface of the field 10" to 16" in one direction, then you'll get a ditch on one side. The solution is to plow in the other direction to move the surface back. Trouble is, that results in turning the weeds back to the top if it is done right away!

I've tried the back and forth method of starting on the outside of each side and piling toward the middle. That results in a mound in the middle.

Conversely, back and forth plowing from the middle to the edge leaves a trench in the middle.

The ideal solution is to plow in fall and then plow in the opposite direction pattern in spring. It still will require a disc to level the field, of course.

Not sure why it is so important to fill the final trench on the edge. Apparently you aren't concerned about the mound on the other side (if you plow in one direction only).

A blade would somewhat work to smooth the field but that just creates a wider low area (or wider mound).

Remember, the whole field surface has been moved. You'd have to set the blade at an angle to move the whole field back. It still wouldn't end up perfectly flat given the roughness of a plowed field.

 

[Mudball]

Thanks for all the great help. I understand the general concept of plowing. I do have a disc. Its hard for me to explain what Im trying to prevent. However from reading both responses Im gathering that there is no real good solution for my question. Im looking for a specific pattern that maybe somehow through the years Ive missed. If I get time then next time I plow I will try and take pictures or maybe give a drawing and then it might be possible that you can tell me something that can help me that Im just not explaining right.
I do like the idea of cross plowing as this will help offset the previous passes.
Right now Im dealing with newly cleared land and I still have several large roots and root balls. Things will get easier after these should be mostly gone after the next plowing.
I was wanting to avoid the large furrows Im creating because it makes it harder to disc and then plow if not filled in at least somewhat. Just trying to save a little time if there was something I was missing that could be corrected from a simple pattern but as I mentioned that appears to not be the case.
I have learned that measuring the distance between the sections (4 total last time) has helped a bunch. I dont try and plow the whole two acres at one time because of its shape and so I section it off because if I didnt then I would have a long travel to get to the next pass eventually. So I end up having 4 deep furrows. If I cross plow next time then I think I will only have three.
And for some further explanation Im not concerned with outer edges as much as I am where the patterned sections meet in between. Thats where the deep furrows are. Im not good at explaining things and I think Im doing it pretty close to right but thought I would ask because you never know when someone has had the exact same issue and found a solution these days.
Thanks again.

I wanted to mention that since I posted this thread Ive since searched under Google "plowing field tip pattern" and it pulled up some very interesting and useful tips. My two acres is triangular shaped and there is no doubt that I will be doing some measuring and planning next go around.
Thanks again for the help.

 

[boz1989]

I'm no where near an expert, but when plowing the dead furrow, (where the dirt is plowed away, ) or the back furrow, (where the dirt is piled on top of the opposite direction), you ideally shallow up the plow for both of those. I have seen a field where a dead furrow was plowed at full depth, it took years to smooth that out. Personally I like a chisel plow, harder to screw up.

Sent from my LGMS330 using Tapatalk

 

[GWD]

Yes, a chisel plow is a good implement. The only problem I've found with it is that the field should be fairly clean (mowed) in order for the plow to not get filled with foliage and stop working correctly.

Back to the issue from the OP.

Every pass that you make with your plow should fill in the furrow from the previous pass. In other words, there should be no deep furrow in the main field...only on the edge.

It sounds like you need to set up your plow to fill in the furrows. The end product should look like a series of short mound with pretty much no deep furrows between the mounds.

Remember that the share should be parallel to the ground and the plow frame level front-to-back and side-to-side (use a level to be sure).

The first pass creates the first furrow and then the plow needs to be readjusted to level since subsequent passes should have your right side tires running in each furrow. The tractor will cant to the right so the plow won't be level unless you stop and level it. I have a Top-N-Tilt so can do it hydraulically but manually works fine.

The plow should turn the soil into the furrow as you drive along. It fills where your tires are running.

As you mentioned, several photos would be informative. Both the field and the way the tractor is set-up should be photoed.

Hopefully, the roots and stumps you are working over are not too big. Bring along several sheer pins if you don't have a trip plow.

 

[scdeerslayer]

Use a subsoiler and chisel plow to remove the roots and stumps first.

I hate odd-shaped fields. It's tough to do any dirt work in odd-shaped fields, especially plowing. I'm doing everything I can to make mine all rectangular. Some will be arc shaped, but a consistent width. Mostly this means giving up some area, but a lot of that area isn't much good anyway. Triangular shouldn't be too bad, you just have different run lengths. Sometimes you just have to deal with long travels between runs, especially with a plow.

The only people I've know to actually use a bottom plow only use it once every several years. Usually it's just a chisel plow then disk, or in sandy soil, just a disk. Plowing seems to bring up more weed seed unless it's bee a lot of years between plows.

 

[Mudball]

This all sounds like some really great advice.
Im certainty going to be doing some more reading, planning, measuring, etc...based on all the great info you all have given.
I hope to have a better plan next time with some good pics.
Thanks again.

 

[bucktail]

They've made mounted plows that have one set of mulboards on top and one on the bottom that flips every time that you turn around so that you only end up with one dead furrow, but you'll always have at least one. They never really caught on. In large scale farming, you don't really worry about keeping the ground perfectly level generally. In the spring, you do all of your tillage diagonally to help fill it in and so that you can see where you're going with the planter better, but a little uneven surface doesn't hurt anything usually. Large scale farmers have mostly gotten away from mulboard plowing over the last couple of decades anyway.

 

[scdeerslayer]

They've made mounted plows that have one set of mulboards on top and one on the bottom that flips every time that you turn around so that you only end up with one dead furrow, but you'll always have at least one.

I've seen those before but I think they are 4 bottoms and maybe even larger, and one plow is actually outside the tire so the tractor isn't in the ditch.

 

[zload]

No way to not make the dead furrows unless you plow in one large loop which is not very efficient on larger plots. The back furrow can be reduced a bit by going a little shallow but then that area is not being turned as deep. A nice little write up on the theory of bottom plows and proper settings can be found here: http://open-furrow.soil.ncsu.edu/Documents/DHC/The%20Moldboard%20Plow.pdf

 

[sheepfarmer]

Thanks zload, that was interesting. Some day I'd like to plow up my back pasture and seed it.

 

[bucktail]

No way to not make the dead furrows unless you plow in one large loop which is not very efficient on larger plots. The back furrow can be reduced a bit by going a little shallow but then that area is not being turned as deep. A nice little write up on the theory of bottom plows and proper settings can be found here: http://open-furrow.soil.ncsu.edu/Documents/DHC/The%20Moldboard%20Plow.pdf

You'd need to start on the outside with the dead furrow towards the middle of the field and you'd still have a short dead furrow in the middle.

 

[Treckerzeug]

They've made mounted plows that have one set of mulboards on top and one on the bottom that flips every time that you turn around so that you only end up with one dead furrow, but you'll always have at least one. They never really caught on. In large scale farming, you don't really worry about keeping the ground perfectly level generally. In the spring, you do all of your tillage diagonally to help fill it in and so that you can see where you're going with the planter better, but a little uneven surface doesn't hurt anything usually. Large scale farmers have mostly gotten away from mulboard plowing over the last couple of decades anyway.

Hello,

Yes indeed a reversible plow helps a lot, it sure does exist also as a one or two furrow version for 20 hp tractors, i've learned to plow with one of these

Enjoy it plowing is fun as you see your result one second after you 've done your work


Watch this
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qL3kCOeRjP8/maxresdefault.jpg

The idea is though to start a field at its end, and a plow should always be levelled horizontally in both directions, longitudinally and transverse when it is down

https://www.kokotech.de/einschar-drehpflug-25-cm-mit-rad

Before that butterfly plows have been sold in the late fiftyies early sixties

https://pics.ricardostatic.ch/2_818576586_Big/land-und-forstgewerbe/einschar-pflug-menzi.jpg


Regards

Robert