How much plow for a 4440 with singles?

KYpatriot

Member
Gonna try my hand at some baleage, wrapped pearl millet. It will be on some ground that hasnt been worked in a long time, been pasture many years. Was gonna plow it then disc, fertilize, disc again then drill it.

Would a four bottom 16 to 18 be about right? Maybe a four bottom white 588 or IH720? I dont have duals.

Also, my rear tires are set out slightly wider than the front. Is it really gonna mess things up with an in furrow plow like that?

Should I be looking for a chisel plow instead? If so which?

I am not fond of no till though I know it has advantages.

Thanks, help me plan this please Im a tillage noob.
 
My rear wheels are a lot wider than my front and it
works fine . A four bottom 16 or 18 would be fine or
even a 5 bottom . A chisel works good tearing out
sod I?ve done lt both ways I actually prefer the
chisel from breaking out sod the first year if it?s old
alfalfa the moldboard works fine . If you disk it at
least once before you plow it it will help
 
A healthy 4440 should handle a 5 X 18 in most conditions and quite a number on loamy ground pull 6 bottoms. Tire condition is as important as having duals so if the tires have 50 percent or more wear remaining that will go a long ways for good footing although the extra dual would be nice. If time is not an issue then of course you could run smaller and allow you to take advantage of what is locally available. Both the White and IH are good plows. I would chisel if you have at least a few weeks to get the lumps worked out. I know some guys will run a dozen and a half times with a tillage tool but sometimes it is easier and less fuel required to let nature run its course in terms of decay of old plant material. If the axles and hubs are not frozen it is best to line everything up in terms of wheels to plow. It will make for an easier time to plow.
 
Depending on what you have for a plow it is best to have your furrow wheels set the same.The on land don't have to be but is better also.Best to have a little less plow and go a little faster as you will get the same amount done.Both plows you listed are good plows and a 4/18 would be fine or 5/16.On ground that has been pasture for many years you might consider sraying with RoundUp to kill the sod .A good smooth seed bed is the key to establishing a good stand.Discing will be fine but before planting a field cultivator with harrow will leave it smother and it would hurt to roll it to firm it up. Chisel plows don't work the best in sod .
 
A 4440 will handle a 5 bottom plow well in most any conditions,,setting the wheels properly is very important, the job will be much better and the plow will pull better,,,, when the wheels are not set correctly every round will show a gap where the front bottom did not lay the furrow over against the last round,,that will show up in the field for a long time. As for using a 16" or an 18" plow keep in mind that you should be plowing at least half the depth as the width of the bottom so when using an 18" plow you will need to plow at least 9-10 inches deep,,so be sure that will work out with the type soil you will be working... Plowing is an art that is not being pasted down like it use to be,, shaping water ways, keeping the ends even and setting the plow correctly was a challenge that we always prided in doing the best possible in every field,,a bad job of plowing will show up in the crop stand and yield..
 
Great advice from all below. This is probably not a good time of year to be telling you this but...for what you intend to do and assuming you live in a climate where the ground freezes in winter , fall plowing is the way to go and especially if you have some heavy soil. Plowing in the fall allows the turned up lumps etc to freeze in winter and when it thaws in spring , mother nature does most of the "fitting down" for you. Melts all the clods/lumps right down so once over with a disc and then your choice of final fitting/leveling tools and yur good to go. If you spring plow, you will spend a lot of time/fuel fitting out the lunks and ALSO, depending on climate again, it will dry out down as deep as you plowed and you better hope you have a wet summer then or nothing will grow. My suggestion ,if you have frozen winters , and if you spring plow, just continue to summer fallow it (work it down periodcally all summer) and plant in spring. Where we live in MI, I've never seen anything do very well on spring plowed ground unless it's irrigated.
 
Thanks to everyone for your replies. I dont have to do this this spring, I could wait until fall and just continue with our normal hay production this summer. A friend plants tritical in the fall, gets an early spring cutting then cuts it up and plants the millet in that field. I could start this fall and try that rotation. Or just plow this fall and plant next spring.

I hadnt considered about the drying out Randy. A lot of people around here in central Ky spring plow, so we probably have a little more rain than yall. If I cut down more than twenty acres of hay at a time it is guaranteed to rain around here.

Tim Im trying to picture what you are saying about the gap. I inow what you mean about the older knowledge I am trying to learn as I go on some of this. Seems as less and less people farm around here a lot of what was known has been forgotten. Ill look at setting the right rear in some to line up with the front a little better. Not sure if I will be able to move it.

As for the plow depth this has been in pasture for at least twenty years I have no idea what it is like.

Im thinking a four bottom would be safe with the lack of duals, and a 15-18' disc. I dont do this for my main living so I dont have to be the fastest. Im just trying to optimize our smaller farm. Figure if I can get more forage production on one field through the triticale and millet like my buddy, then I could add a few more cows. The number of I have cows arent keeping up with the summer grazing available, but if I had more I will probably run short of hay in the winter. Thought this might solve that and provide better nutrition as well.
 
The "gap" I'm referring to is what happens when the tire is too wide and the front bottom will not tuck the furrow up against the last round,,the distance from the inside of the furrow wheel needs to match up with the cut of the front bottom...this will leave a "Gap" on each round,,when all is set correctly you should not be able to look over the plowed land and tell how many rounds were made or how many bottoms were used...
 
Randy I am in MA and I learned this one the hard way the first year I started farming on my own. No choice, plowed in the spring. Had a heck of a time getting that field leveled out enough to plant. And at that I was fighting back grass all season as it did not all break down and never having plowed with that tractor before I did not do the best job either. Any new ground now I try to plow by Columbus Day and I take one light pass with the disc. I have found old sod ground breaks down better after 1 light pass then no pass, or a couple passes... just enough to cover any signs of green from plowing. The sod ground I have never plows perfectly!
 
As far as wheel tread setting for plowing most operator manuals for the tractor have this info in them. Now on a tractor that "new" ( lol ) maybe they don't ? or maybe it can be found in the manual for the plow.
 

A plow never is used to plow more than 1/2 the width deep as the cut..

You can plow shallower, anytime ya like..the problem with plowing more than 1/2 the width deep is the furrow slice cannot lay over as far as it should and many times will fall back over in the furrow..
 
He means the front bottom doesn't take a full cut and that means it doesn't quite cover the last furrow you
can remove the left sway block and turn the right one to its widest position and that will make the Front
Bottom take a full cut I've done that before with my semi mount plow
 
I have a 5-16 deere trailer plow that the
4430 plays with. Has 20.8-38 and for the
most part it doesn't know it's back there.
The 4320 handles it well, but traction can
be an issue in real hard stuff. With a semi
mount plow, I'd think 5-18 would be a good
match.
 
Back home, you will pull 8 bottoms with a 4255 MFWD. Not everywhere, and sometimes 5 would be enough.
In most parts of EU, deep plowing is a thing of the past because there is too much organic matter dilution too deep. Now people are trying to only plow 8 inch deep.

Back when people had common sense, Henry Ferguson said: if soils is hard, lift the plow >> He was right indeed. Lifting up poor clay soil and putting it over your good thin crust is not good nor smart.
But non-sense farmers likes to lug down trough that hard spot of the field with their TA, MW turbo kit, now CVT transmission and would just think they are too proud to lift the plow a little...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDBtxk94kYU
 
It all depends on soil conditions. I used an IH 4-16 plow with
my 4430. It's the same plow grandpa bought new for his Oliver
1850.
I read several replies about pulling 6 or 8 bottoms with 4255's.
Not where I live. My four bottom would be all 4230-4255 could
handle here.
 
I am baling hay from a neighbor's small field that he used to hold his own antique tractor plow days. That field has dead furrows running in about six different directions, high spots better than a foot higher than the adjacent low spots, tire ruts, you name it. Worst hay field EVER! I won't even let the kids stack the wagons, since I only want to blame myself when the field bounces the stack right off the side. He says I shouldn't plow under all those weeds he paid so much for the seeds. If he wasn't such a good friend of Grandpas...


So, IF KYP chooses to go the chisel route, what would be a good size for his 4440 (or my 4430). I picked up an eleven shank Landoll three-point chisel from a neighbor for scrap value. It needs some work and could be narrowed up to seven shanks just fine.
 
Not sure what type of vegetation is currently growing on your ground, but if it is a grass that you don't want in your hay, you might want to start with a herbicide while it is still short but not one that has carry over. Let that do its job and then start with your tillage program. Obviously, you want a nice level seed bed and depending on soil conditions, that may take some work.
 

I know spraying would probably work best but I was trying to avoid it. I dont care for it. Yes I have sprayed before, but I always have some reservation about it. I dont want to use round up. Not religious about it, but Im willing to sacrifice a little yield to avoid using it.

So it sounds like a four or five bottom plow would work and up to around an 18'disc. After years of being pasture Im thinking it would likely be smarter to plow in the fall as was suggested and cut it up again in the spring to help with killing the existing sod since Im not spraying it.

No, there is no tile and I dont have a ripper. It is gently rolling where I am at, rarely have drainage problems here except at the creek/river bottoms which this is not. Sinkholes take care of our drainage all too well. Whats the ripper do for you? I thought that was used to break up ground with pan from repeated plowing, or am I wrong about that. This is pretty virgin ground, no plowing in 20 years plus.

K i heard once 15-20hp per shank but I dont know anything about it.
 

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