permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Santoyo & Associates wrote:
> George,
>
> I've never seen blueprints, but I think that Guy Baldwin in California's 
> Sierra foothills might still have an actual plow... He used to hold 
> "keyline" courses at his farm.  I don't know what he's up to now... 
> Someone on this list (Keith Johnson?) is sure to know... (Guy Baldwin, 
> if you remember, was the founding editor of The Permaculture Activist, 
> he is another one of those "walking encyclopedias" among us)
>
> You might want to look at a "Wallace" plow too. I once saw a homemade 
> "shake-R-ator" on a chisel plow that worked pretty well.  The big 
> "vibrating" action is what makes those plows so powerful...

Other than the Yeomans system, a good all-around, do-everything implement, there 
are other devices to consider:

1) Howard Rotavator
2) One, two or three row hilling disks
   Nice option: mount the hilling disks on a 5-6' toolbar, instead of the 4'
   one the one row version comes with - spread the hillers out enough to 
create
   a raised bed/hill standard raised bed width (42-44" +/-); add a levelling
   bar behind to flatten the top of the bed and all you will have to do it put
   seeds or plants in the soil to get your garden going (I plan to try this
   option this coming Spring)
3) 9, 11 or 13 shank tillage tool, 3-pt hitch
4) Ford 101 3-trip-bottom plough (best bottom plow ever made, no longer
   manufactured, can be bought used for $500-$1200 used)

I have all of the above implements and eeventually will photograph them, idle 
and in action and upload the images to the Permaculture Wiki.

Yeomans Keyline Plow System
---------------------------
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/permaculture/2002-May/006009.html

This is a three point hitch implement though you could fabricate a drawbar 
version with 2 extra wheels

-
Available direct from Yeomans in Australia if you can find a way to import one
or just order the system from Market Farm Implements (see below)
-
Contact:
Yeomans Plow Co. PTY Limited
PO Box 311
Ashmore City, Qld., 4214
Telephone:  07 5571 6544
Telephone: (068) 62 1511
Fax:  07 5571 6566
yeoplow@onthenet.com.au
yeomans@onthenet.com.au

-
Or just call:
-
Market Farm Implement, in Friedens, PA, telephone 814-443-1931
Web site: http://www.marketfarm.com/

Market Farm Implement
257 Fawn Hollow Road
Friedens, Pa. 15541
Phone: (814)-443-1931

They offer a printed catalog by mail. If you request it they will include a 
brochure on
Yeomans plow and attachments - this brochure if far from complete but does 
include the
plows and points that MFI carries. I got mine in the mail yesterday. This is an 
impressive
device and well worth a market farmer or permaculture practitioner investing in. 


From the brochure:
Yeomans Plow Co. NEWSLINE
Big-Y adjustable shank expands the range - with Bridge Lock system
Point News: They Just Got Meatier
BW-4 Batswing Point
BF-B Bull Frog - tip holder
WB-3 Wombat Point

Yeomans RB-1 weld-on shank base
New AJ50 Adaptor - fit secondary cultivating points to Yeomans shanks
Tadpole TP-1 New tip for fighting wear problems
New Bridge Lock = super strong shanks

Yeomans YSH-1 Stealth Hiller - for all types of hilling and bed work
New SBL-2 Shin Guard - stop shank wear
-
 For those interested in this excellent tillage device,
 MFI offers the Yeomans plow or YeomansLG shank (subsoiler
 with sweep point, sharp-edged shank around 3+ feet long and an added
 V-shaped sweep at the opposite end of the bottom of the shank from the
 point). They are having the toolbars with three point hitch fabricated here
 in the US rather than import the Yeomans version from Oz. You buy as many
 plows as you want to mount on the toolbars. It is assumed that a
 40 HP tractor may be able to pull three Y Plows - in this arrangement you
 would attach one plow in the middle of the front toolbar and the other two
 on the toolbar behind and on either side of the front plow - this allows
 rocks and sod to escape around the three plows rather than getting caught
 if the three plows were in a straight line on one bar.

 A three plow system delivered to NC is about $4000, complete.

-
And from:
-
Date:         Sun, 19 May 2002 11:00:53 -0400
Sender:       Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group
               <SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU>
From:         David Inglis <mhcsa@BCN.NET>
Subject:      Re: Yeomans Plow System - need U.S. supplier for thisimplement

 I have been using a Yeoman Plow for 10 years with great results. The plow
 was originally described as a subsoiler but I rarely use it as such now
 having done all the 'pioneering' work. If I use it deep it is in greenmanure
 crops so that there are roots present to follow the openings created by the
 plow.
 The design of the plow point gives it a lower angle of lift so it requires
 less draft and also mixes layers less. [ because of this it will not bury
 trash ] The power requirements I remember are 12 horse for the first shank
 and 8 for each one after. The shanks can be mounted on an old 4" chisel
 frame but I do not recommend it because the shanks are stiff and any shock
 will transfer directly to the frame. I built my own frame from one stick of
 3/8" X 4" box and still tweaked the frame when I foolishly bypassed the
 safety having run out of safety bolts.
  My biggest tractor is 25HP with 4WD and in my gravel loam soil with
 permanent beds I can plow 18" deep with 3 shanks. If I am moving into a new
 area I drop shanks until I can pull without lugging and allow the biology to
 open up the ground with the help of the plow leaving time between passes.
 The adjustable sweeps on the back of the shanks are great because you can
 run them just under the surface no matter how deep the shanks are running.
 For a lot of crops it is the only tool I use for soil prep.
 Unless they have changed the design they have an 18" and 24" shank, get the
 24". I consider the depth wheels to be essential, they transfer extra power
 to the plow.
 I started off as a 'french intensive biodynamic' kind of guy and this plow
 was the key to a twenty year quest to mechanize my deep bed formation [the
 other components being a Celli spade plow and Williams weeder which Market
 Farm also carry].

 The sun is out today but yesterday it snowed.Yow.
 David Inglis
 Mahaiwe Harvest C.S.A.

-
Steve Diver offered this additional information:
-
Batswing and Wombat, names of the paraplow points that
go with Yeoman's Slipper Imp.

See picture in Mollison of cover crop roots going into the channels
created by Howard's plow; same thing for Yeoman's.

Lower horsepower per shank; biggest difference between Yeoman's
and other sub-soilers.

Paraplow points, I think Yeoman's featuerd these long before
U.S. sub-soiler manufacturers picked up on this concept.

-
And from: http://www.regional.org.au/au/roc/1984/roc198477.htm
-
BUNYIP SLIPPER IMP
by Ken Yeomans
Parkes Industries Pty Ltd, 70-82 Close Street Parkes, NSW 2870

Yeomans (Bunyip) Slipper Imp with Shakaerator is a machine of great strength 
that successfully harnesses
the amazing force of powered vibration to work the earth -r for grain crops, row 
crops, mulch forming,
soil development and pasture improvement.

Conventionally shaped shanks and digging points compact the earth tighter 
immediately prior to contacting it.

The wombat slippers and shanks penetrate readily with a narrow point and flat 
angle, then splits and shatters
the earth upwards. The vibrations from the Shakaerator greatly amplify this 
upwards split-and- shatter action.
In shallow cultivation with the wide batswing slippers the vibrations flatten 
out horizontally and the fin
dislodges the soil from the roots to greatly assist weed kill.

The draft reducing effect of the vibration from the Shakaerator is often clearly 
evidenced in deep cultivation
when wheelslip occurs and the tractor stops if the Shakaerator is turned off.

The wombat slippers can be reversed (turned upside down). This feature overcomes 
the common problem of the
undersurface of the digging point wearing to a convex shape and causing the 
point to ride up out of the ground.
The thicker the leading tip the greater the problem. The inversion of the 
slipper produces a new cutting angle
which readily penetrates the hardest of earths.

One of the primary objectives of the design of the wombats (digging points) had 
been to provide for a type of
aeration of the soil and subsoil (the A and B horizon) that would most closely 
replicate the intimate capillary
aeration that naturally occurs in deep fertile (living) soil.

It is not desirable to leave pockets of air in the soil. Plant roots will not 
readily cross an air gap. If it
is more than 10mm the root will die back and send a branch root around the air 
space. Smaller air spaces can
have a similar effect.

The Yeomans Slipper Imp has the right combination of shank and slipper designs, 
with the trembling shudder of
powered vibration to produce mechanically a unique capillary type of aeration 
which is both intimate and complete.
In many conditions there may be no apparent surface disturbance, yet the earth 
has been penetrated, split,
fractured upwards, vibrated, aerated and returned almost to its original 
place.

Walking on the cultivated soil feels like a thick pile carpet.

The conversion of subsoil into deep fertile soil with the Slipper Imp is not a 
"once over" affair. It is a logical
and progressive process, which continues for three consecutive years or more 
before the deep new soil assumes a strong
degree of permanence. Correct management of the pasture plants and especially 
the control of the growth and decay
cycle of the root systems is vital.

THE YEOMANS SLIPPER PLOW  GIVES YOU LOW HORSEPOWER SUB SOIL AERATION
- The super strong breakthrough in shank design gives you earth moving type 
ripping with super low horse-power.
- Models from 5 Shank 3-point linkage through to 31 Shank folding wing.
- The unique splitter fin on each Slipper point lifts and cracks the soil ahead 
of the shank.
- The Yeomans Slipper plow gives you deep ripping to aerate and develop deep 
soils and keeps
  your top soil on the top where it belongs.
- There is no inversion of topsoil and subsoil.
- The Yeomans Slipper plow will aerate, sweeten and deepen your soil. The 
Shakearator for smaller models
  produces powered vibration, assisting cracking of hard soils and saves on 
fuel and tyre wear.

For information on improving your soil with Yeomans deep ripping send for P.A. 
Yeoman's Farm Manual.

And from the catalog:
Yeomans Plow Co. NEWSLINE
Big-Y adjustable shank expands the range - with Bridge Lock system
Point News: They Just Got Meatier
BW-4 Batswing Point
BF-B Bull Frog - tip holder
WB-3 Wombat Point

Yeomans RB-1 weld-on shank base
New AJ50 Adaptor - fit secondary cultivating points to Yeomans shanks
Tadpole TP-1 New tip for fighting wear problems
New Bridge Lock = super strong shanks

Yeomans YSH-1 Stealth Hiller - for all types of hilling and bed work
New SBL-2 Shin Guard - stop shank wear


<><><><><><><><>

I recommend a two implement system for market farming or permaculture that 
includes:

1) Yeomans Plow system

2) a two-gang (two three-disc gangs mounted on a toolbar, one gang on each end - 
adjustable 5 different ways),
three point hitch set of 1-hill hilling discs (I can supply contact information 
for the company that made
mine if anyone is interested) $550.00 delivered.

Use the Yeomans plow in the late Fall, possibly again in the Spring; follow up 
with bed preparation
with the hilling discs (set discs to widest point to create the widest, highest 
hill possible - plant directly
into these hills or combine two hills into one for extra bed width.

<><><><><><>


A testimony on the Yeomans Plow:
-

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 16:51:05 -0500 (EST)

AUSTRALIA FELIX
LandPlanning Consultants
Project Management, Design & Planning Services & Products
for Sustainable & Productive Land-Use since 1993

Re: Yeomans Keyline Plow

Hello Dan,

I trust that this greets you well! The Yeomans Plow Co. do have an email
address which is yeoplow@onthenet.com.au .
I can highly recommend the plow, we have two: a 3 x 26" shank 3SB model,
and a 9 x 26" shank 9SU model.
The range of attachments they have available is fantastic and allows the
operator to deep rip, mound/hill,
deep fertilise, chisel plow, seed, weed and a lot more. We currently
have our 3SB set up with a single 26" shank
with a Simca 1000mm wide rotary hoe mounted on the back, with two 18"
scalloped offset discs acting as hillers/mounders behind.
Yeomans supplied a special double bearing block which bolted onto the
plow frame, which one joins the PTO from the tractor
to the bearing block, and then another PTO shaft from the block to the
rotary hoe, so there is no long shafts or compromising
angles. This set up we use for single pass ground preparation for trees,
olives and grapes. It works pretty bloody well with
a minimum of energy use and cost.

As mentioned in recent dispatches I have photos available of our working
with the Yeomans Keyline Plow and its many different applications.
I am currently working on a web page which will make available these
images from over 500 properties we have worked on over the past 5 years.
If I were to insert them into email their size would take for ever to
download. So I think its better to wait for the web page.

Please send any further queries to this news group or to us here at
Australia Felix on pcorgbgo@bendigo.net.au or to:

Australia Felix LandPlanning Consultants
14-16 Wood St, Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia, 3556
Ph. (+61)3 54 418977 Fax (+61)3 54 444483

Cheers

Yours and Growing

Darren J. Doherty

Applied Diploma of Permaculture Design, Permaculture Institute (1995)

Permaculture Design Certificate, Permaculture Institute (1993, 1995)

Whole Farm Planning Certificate (Train the Trainer), University of
Melbourne (1995)

Principal Australia Felix LandPlanning Consultants
Chairman of Directors GIFT (Investments) Pty. Ltd.
President Box Ironbark Farm Forestry Network Inc.


<><><><><><>


More on the Yeomans Keyline System:
-

Hello All,

What does the holder/owner of the Keyline and Keyline Design trademarks, Mr
Ken Yeomans (youngest son of P.A. Yeomans - the inventor of Keyline
www.keyline.com.au ) think of this course? I suspect that he would have a
fairly dim view if it wasn't first approved by him. He is quite strident in
his approval of named Keyline practitioners, whether they be teachers or
enterprises.

The words Keyline and Keyline Designs are only available for use in
Australia (at least) under licence from Ken Yeomans of Keyline Designs,
which has caused some angst amongst permaculture practitioners here for fear
of litigation.  I don't use the term (s) anymore except where referring to
the use of our two Yeomans Keyline Plows (manufactured by Allan J. Yeomans -
another son of P.A. www.yeomansplow.com.au ). We are experienced
practitioners of the concepts espoused by P.A. Yeomans and have further
developed them for our own purposes over the last 7 years on over 600
properties. When giving the concept a name we call it CENTAUR DESIGN as the
landscape/contour line resembles the shape of the horns of the centaur. This
is a term used by a few of us who do the work but don't want to cop the
legal shit.

We all have our private opinions of this state of affairs on what should be
a universally applicable concept, with many of believing that a similar
system of trademark use to that used in Permaculture (as brokered by Bill
Mollison) being applied to Keyline. However this is not our decision. To
those of compliant with the Permaculture system this sucks - as it appears
to restrict the use and application of the concept by not having the power
over the use of the name and all that brings with it. However the intent
behind this is to protect the good name of Keyline from the ills of poor and
untrained application. Which to some degree is fair enough.

Anyway people I just wanted to alight you all of the issues related there. I
would commend to you all to visit the brothers' Yeomans sites (listed
above), particularly Ken's as it directly relates to the application of
Keyline from a planning sense. Our site has some stuff as well which I would
like to develop further in the future. You can also order the book from his
site if its not available wherever you are.

Best wishes for the course - I wish I could come too.....

Yours and Growing,

Darren J. Doherty
www.australiafelix.com.au
Australia Felix LandPlanning Consultants

Project Planning, Management & Development Contractors for
Sustainable & Productive Land-Use
-----Original Message-----
From: EWerb@aol.com <EWerb@aol.com>
To: permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Date: Saturday, 20 February 1999 12:13
Subject: [permaculture] Keyline Design Workshop


>A Keyline Environmental Design Workshop In Ojai, CA, USA.
>
>A series of three all-day Saturday workshops will focus on the
Environmental
>Design System known as Keyline.  The workshop will be held at Happy Valley
>School, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Rd, in Ojai and will include an Organic
Luncheon
>Buffet.  The first Saturday, February 27, we will cover the concepts of
>Keyline in the classroom.  The second and third Saturdays, March 6 and
March
>13, we will apply our knowledge of Keyline with hands-on activities on the
>grounds of the school.
>
>The workshop presenter is Eric Kindberg, certified organic produce and
field
>crop farmer, forester and consultant for Keyline Environmental Management
>Systems  that has farmed in New Jersey, Vermont, Alaska, Arkansas and
>presently Iowa.
>
>A Brief Explanation of the Keyline Design Approach:
>The first and principal objective of Keyline, as a landscape design
>instrument, is the enrichment of Earthly Life.  Keyline is a Universal
>Instrument of Design for the land that developed, in part, from a feature
of
>topography called the keyline.  Keyline is a synthesis of principles and
>practices co-ordinated into a plan or system for the development of land.
>
>The Keyline design is unique to each parcel of land so the plan is always
>customized.  Thus Keyline reveals the potential and develops the uniqueness
of
>each land parcel.
>
>To develop a Keyline plan a system was designed to weight what initially
>appeared like contradictory or conflicting priorities.  The "Keyline Scale
of
>Permanence" is an order for planning based on the relative permanence of
the
>various items that together make up the completed landscape.  The "Scale"
can
>be successfully applied to the design of farms, towns, cityscapes or home-
>sites.  Using Keyline, the responsible land manager is able to develop a
>'Landcare' design in harmony with nature.
>
>The Scale of Permanence in order of design considerations is:
>
>1. Climate
>2. Land Shape
>3. Water
>4. Roads
>5. Trees
>6. Buildings
>7. Fencing
>8. Soil
>
>Soil treatment and management practices to develop deep living soil, for
crops
>and for livestock, can now be done in a landscape designed to become more
>stable, productive and beautiful.  A principal objective of Keyline is to
>provide consistent soil supplies of water, warmth, air and organic matter
to
>maintain and stimulate vigorous soil biotic life.
>
>
>For more information contact Eric Kindberg at 805-646-1366,
erorganic@aol.com
>The Keyline Workshop registration may be made to PO Box 1388, Ojai, CA
93024
>The charge is $200.00 for all three session including the organic luncheon
>buffets.

<><><><><>

More on the Keyline System from Andreas, of this PC list:
-

> If water converges into a single gulley, you could divert
> the water higher up. Typically a key line is identified as
> the line where the land changes from convex to concave.
> It is here that water tends to collect, therefore can be
> diverted laterally by opening the soil with a key line plow
> or subsoiler.

If you look at a contour map of a valley you will find, that in the upper
part, contour lines diverge if you follow them out to the ridge. Further
down, countour lines converge if you follow them from the valley to the
ridge.

The key line is the boundary between these two areas.

If you draw lines on the map that run parallel to this key line, you will
notice that above the key line, the distance of these lines from the next
higher contour line will increase (because of the divergence). Below the key
line, these lines are going to cross the next lower contour line (because of
the convergence). This means that theses lines are actually going _down_
from the middle of the valley. They conect points higher up on the valley
bottom with points lower down on the ridge. (see Figure 9 on page 46 in
"Water for every farm, Ken Yeomans Keyline Plan" - I think that picture is
also in Mollison's Designer's Manual, but I am not sure. I have just sent my
last copy to Cameroon, and the new one has not yet arrived. Maybe somebody
can check.) If you plow with a chisel plow along such lines, water would
flow allong the furrows from the valley to the ridge. In contrast to this,
normally water will flow down into the valley on paths perpendicular to the
contour lines.

Further down below the keyline, if you continue to plow parallel to the
keyline, the slope of the furrows will become too steep. You must then
select a new contour line as a guide line and plow parallel to it. The key
line is the highest line that can be used like this.

If you plow this way, water will spread evenly over the whole area instead
of being concentrated in the middle of the valey. Because of the furrows, it
will also penetrate much deeper into the ground. More water will be stored
in the soil instead of leaving your farm quickly. Plant roots will reach
deeper, thus bringing organic matter further down. In subsequent years, you
can repeat this and plow a bit deeper each time. According to Yeomans, this
way subsoil can be turned into top soil relatively quickly.

In any case, get a copy of that book (or CD). May be the best investment in
your lifetime. Ken Yeomans is also working as a consultant, not cheap, but
probably well invested money (see his web site).

Sesons greetings
Andreas


And more from Toby Hemenway:
-
There was a rancher who lived near me, Marvin Hegge, who bought 250
acres and converted it to a keyline system: a series of catchment terraces
feeding into numerous interlinked ponds, which then could flood-irrigate
sections of the grazing land. He'd put his cow-calves into tight moveable
electric-fence paddocks (I think about 100-200 in an acre, or was it a half
acre?) and move them once or twice a day, so they'd feed on the "cream" of
the grass/clover/alfalfa and other goodies, bust up the crowns a little so
the plants would tiller and grow, and put just a little manure on the ground
without fouling things. The cattle fattened up faster than anyone else's,
and he didn't need to pump water to the grass. Cheap. Built up soil too,
that's part of the deal. Marvin's moved to South Dakota now, and is looking
for projects.

By all means check out the keyline website
http://www.keyline.com.au/ Another one is Australia Felix, Darren Doherty's
business, http://www.australiafelix.com.au/ where there are a few photos of
keyline being done. One nice feature of keyline plowing (plowing not with
the contour but with the keyline--the infection point-- all up and down the
slope) is that it directs water out of the gullies and onto the ridges,
allowing infiltration. I think the Keyline site has a drawing showing how
that seemingly gravity-defying stunt works; study it for a while. And get
"Water for Every Farm" by Ken Yeomans.

And Darren's got a good article on earth dams in the next Permaculture
Activist, http://www.permacultureactivist.net out about Thanksgiving (I just
shipped it to the printers). There are other useful articles on earthworking
in the issue, too.

Unfortunately, I don't know a US source for tagasaste; I think the ones I
got were from NZ seed.

Toby



























> Good luck,
>
> Larry Santoyo
> San Luis Obispo, California
> www.earthflow.com
>
>
> > greetings:
> >
> > does anyone know about an online blueprint / construction drawing for a
> > yeomans cultivator? any link appreciated!
> >
> > thanx
> > georg



--
L.F.London
lfl@intrex.net
http://market-farming.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/pcwiki/index.php/london