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  • From: "Chris O'Brien" <scattleberry AT gmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Tractor for subsoiler/chisel plow
  • Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:56:50 -0700

Folks,

Thanks to everyone that responded to my question.  We have decided to buy a small, old, 30 horse tractor with a couple of implements that is in great shape for its age and within our price-range.  We're hoping that we can pull a one-bottomed chisel or buy a larger chisel and borrow a more powerful tractor for the times we need to subsoil.

Willie: You mentioned that you used a 1-shank subsoiler for many years with a 25 horse tractor.  How large of an area were you working up?  Also, I imagine that it depends upon soil type and conditions, but how close did you have to make successive passes to get good loosening action down deep?

cheers,
chris


On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 2:57 PM, Willie McKemie <mf AT austinfarm.org> wrote:
On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 10:43:01AM -0700, Chris O'Brien wrote:
> Hi Folks,
> I'm a new member of the list.  I'm a small-scale market gardener (~1 acre)
> looking to upgrade to a tractor from my current small walk-behind tiller.
> I'm looking at finding a tractor that would allow me to cultivate
> (subsoil/chisel plow and till) 1-2 acres at a time.

Welcome!

> My question for folks on the list is this: Would a 30 hp 2 wheel tractor
> without front weight be adequate to this task, specifically for the
> subsoiling part of the cultivation?  I'm farming on nice loam that is evenly
> split between sand, silt and clay without any rocks to speak of.
>
>  I've read that the rough guide for subsoiling is 10-15 hp per shank, but
> I'm not sure how 2/4wd and tractor weight plays into this.

I've used a one bottom subsoiler on a 25hp 2WD for many years.  Light
soil is easy, clay is much more difficult.  On a 50hp, I can break the
plow in clay or on stumps.

The 10-15 hp per shank is probably for 6"-12" depth; I try to get down
about 24" with my subsoiler.  For that depth, I would say 25-40hp per
shank.

I personally have no need for 4WD though I understand it is good for
frontend loaders.

Here is a photo of my Ford subsoiler on my 50hp JD3010:
http://austinfarm.org/homegrown/images/2-18-1/img19.jpg
Well, the top half of the plow, anyway.  It is in transit position with
the point under the tractor just below the PTO.  When plowing, the wide
bar is vertical and the 3 point lift points are near the ground.  Not
seen is the point and about 24" of the heavy vertical bar.

In the background is my 25hp Mitsubishi R2500.

--
Willie, ONWARD!  Through the fog!
http://counter.li.org Linux registered user #228836 since 1995
Debian3.1/GNU/Linux system uptime  588 days 10 hours 33 minutes
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