Sub soiler

[Danl1957]

Hi all,
has anyone used a sub soiler on the 3pt hitch to create drainage? Are they effective? Thoughts anyone.
Danl

 

[Bmyers]

I have had better luck with a middle buster. The nice thing, it is easy to convert it from a middle buster to a sub soiler.

I tried the sub soiler, it worked, but not as well as I liked. I bought the middle buster blade, put it on and made me a trench and it worked the way I needed.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I use my subsoiler (2 1/2') several times, every year to breakup the 'hard pan' left from 40+ years of notill on my free acre.
On that patch it's 1st gear, low, full RPM and tractor is saying 'do I have too ?' Meanwhile in the garden veggie patch, it's 2nd gear ,high and crack above idle...... A HUGE difference !!!

 

[Mark_BX25D]

I have not had the need, but I have seen a few interesting videos on the topic.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=subsoiler+for+drainage

 

[jyoutz]

I have had better luck with a middle buster. The nice thing, it is easy to convert it from a middle buster to a sub soiler.

I tried the sub soiler, it worked, but not as well as I liked. I bought the middle buster blade, put it on and made me a trench and it worked the way I needed.

Two different uses. The subsoiler is for breaking up hard ground and allowing for better drainage and deep moisture retention, nor for soil prep for planting. The middlebuster is more for soil prep and row building. And for harvesting potatoes.

 

[Bmyers]

Two different uses. The subsoiler is for breaking up hard ground and allowing for better drainage and deep moisture retention, nor for soil prep for planting. The middlebuster is more for soil prep and row building. And for harvesting potatoes.

Fully understand, but the OP is asking about drainage. Depending on what and how you are trying to drain, the one may be better than the other. I need drainage ditches to the creek, hence the middle buster was a better use for me because I was looking for ditches to direct water away (poor man's backhoe).

 

[jyoutz]

Fully understand, but the OP is asking about drainage. Depending on what and how you are trying to drain, the one may be better than the other. I need drainage ditches to the creek, hence the middle buster was a better use for me because I was looking for ditches to direct water away (poor man's backhoe).

Yes, I can see that the middle buster is better for forming ditches. Most of the time when we are talking about soil drainage, it is about breaking up hard pan to allow for deeper moisture percolation.

 

[Tim Horton]

has anyone used a sub soiler on the 3pt hitch to create drainage?
---
Yes.... Likely the direct opposite of what you have in mind... I use a sub soil shank from Heavy Hitch to trench giant tic-tac-toe patterns around some trees and berry shrubs in our big upper pasture.. This to help collect run off rain and snow melt to help maximize moisture to these plants...

It does obviously work as the grass near the tool marks left in the ground is always greener earlier than the rest of the pasture..

 

[D2Cat]

My neighbor has a straight driveway about 600' and it slopes to the county road. He mows his 3 acre yard, that's it. He has no implements or tractor to attach them to. He's graveled his drive twice in 20 years. His lane now has two low areas where the vehicle tires keep pounding the rock and when it rains there are two streams of water going down hill directly into the county road.

After some conversation with him I convinced him to allow me to use the sub soiler on the side of his drive to allow the water another path to flow and not be on the driveway. I suppose the foot of the sub soiler was 20" deep and I was 15-20" from this edge of his gravel going the entire distance and at the county road pulled up and turned toward the county ditch.

Within one week a difference could be seen. I only did it one time and that was 5 years ago and the water doesn't surface. Worked excellent.

 

[Tx Jim]

I use my subsoiler (2 1/2') several times, every year to breakup the 'hard pan' left from 40+ years of notill on my free acre.
On that patch it's 1st gear, low, full RPM and tractor is saying 'do I have too ?' Meanwhile in the garden veggie patch, it's 2nd gear ,high and crack above idle...... A HUGE difference !!!

I'm curious why you elect to pull a heavy load such as a subsoiler(2 1/2') at a ""crack above idle"'? I guess you don't realize lugging a diesel powered engine is very detrimental to the engines longevity.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Tx...
Subsoiler is run behind my Allis-Chalmers D-14 'Troy', which is gas ,+-35HP. There's no way the BX23S could pull the 60 year old Oxnard SC Subsoiler !