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  • From: deberryemail-website AT yahoo.com
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] small scale chisel questions
  • Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:43:47 -0800 (PST)

An 80 hp tractor should be able to pull a 7 shank chisel.    Unless you have very narrow tires or no weight. 
 
Example:  
I pull a 7 shank with a 68 hp Kubota using two wheel drive with 16.9 x 30 rear tires that are filled with fluid.  I  use the same tractor to cultivate using 12.4x 38 rears  with no fluid.  I can still pull the 7 shank with the narrow tires but I do get more slippage especially in drive paths in the field we have farily heavy soil.  If its not already it should be easy to weight an 80 hp  with wheel wieght to pull a 7shank.  If it has fluid in the tires it should need any additional  weight.  Then if you none of that works you can still drop two shanks. 
 
I prefer to till behind the chisel rather than the moldboard.  I usually disk before tilling when i moldboard just to level up some.
 
From what I have see a used 7 shank would be easier to find than a 5.  Too small for the big guys to big for little tractors. Also if you can pull the 7 shank it will speed up tillage 3 passes with the 7 shank would require 4 passes with the 5 shank. 
 
Charles DeBerry


From: Jason Jones <JJones AT thehomestead.org>
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 1:05:19 PM
Subject: [Market-farming] small scale chisel questions

Here is my dilemma.  I am looking to replace a 2-bottom moldboard plow for use on a 6 acre mixed vegetable CSA farm.  I am looking to replace the moldboard with a chisel plow, but am not familiar with these types of plows and this is making the process harder.  In the past my tillage system involved either fall or spring plowing with the moldboard followed by a rototiller to create a better seedbed.  Once the soil is worked over with the tiller, I then come and hill the soil into beds and cover the beds with a mulch layer. 

 

I have been looking at the Yoemans plow, or at least the Yoemans shanks mounted on a fabricated toolbar, but these types of plows are the more expensive of this type of equipment.  My tractor is an 80hp 2wd model which should allow me to pull a 5 shank chisel with no problem.  My questions are these:

 

Is it best to purchase a cheaper model of chisel that has 7 shanks and remove two of the shanks, or does it make more sense to purchase a five shank model that is set up with just those five shanks?

 

Would the Yoemans necessarily be better than other types of chisels in small scale production systems? 

 

Is there anyone out there who has recently stopped using the moldboard and switched to chiseling? 

 

Any advice would be much appreciated.  Thanks,

 

Jason Jones

Farm Manager




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