How Many Shanks

oliverkid

Member
So ive been thinking of getting a ripper/sub-soiler to improve the drainage and break up the hard pan in some of my fields since most of them are heavy clay. Right now my big horse is my 1955 which after the engine rebuild and pump work should be cranking right around 120 HP. My question is how many shanks could I handle with that and still pull at a decent speed to fracture the ground effectively? I was thinking mabey 3 or 4. What are your experiences?
 
You need to go wider to cover your wheel tracks. Traction may be a problem as well. We used to rend our neighbors Deere and behind an 8300 Deere (200 Horse Power)It covered about 12 feet. On the ends at times I could make all the wheels spin all 8 of them! They do work good and they are a dry weather tool.
 
If you're talking about a true ripper/subsoiler and not a chisel plow,then 2. Weight and traction are going to be the problem.
In a chisel plow,I pull a 9 with my 2-135 with 18.4 38 duals. I don't lack for power,but I can spin it out with it in deep if I get in to too much of a hard pan.
 
Yea should have said tractor is 2WD with duals. Im not to concerned with covering the wheel tracks because I will still run behind it with the chisel plow. I just want something that I can get down 16-20 inches or so underneath the plow layer before hand.
 
another factor is the width of the point itself I have seen them from 2.5 inches wide up to 9 inches and the wider will pull harder but break up hardpan more too. back in the late 80's dad pulled a 5 shank narrow point with a ih 5088 (135 hp) 2wd with duals and it handled it ok but maybe not as deep as you need to go so my vote for you would be 3 -4 shanks unless you opt for the wide points.
 
Is it true hard pan, or just the nature of your clay soil? If you are in clay and are running points which truely do what you want which is to lift the ground, two shanks will be about all you can pull with any speed. You might be able to pull 3 if you run shallow.

Depending upon how deep you think the hard pan is, you might be able to achieve the same objective with a chisel plow running a few inches below your hard pan.

As J. said, rippers are dry weather tools that can only be run when conditions are right. The dryer the better. If you try to run when too wet, you just make one hell of a mess. The best is to pick a nice dry fall and rip after the crops are off.
 
2 if you truly want to go deep, and you better have the weight on. Loaded tires, wheel weights, front end weights, the whole 9 yards. I have a single shank sub soiler and when it hits a hard spot it puts an 1850 on its knees.
 
Beleive it or not, we pulled our neighbors v-ripper behind our 1855 with 5 shanks on it, and it did pretty well. Dad drove along side while I was pulling it and he said the ground was heaving under the front wheels. It was a heck of a load, and 4 would probably be better, but it was a 7 shank that we dropped the outside 2 off of and it worked for us. Folded our cheap top link and then borrowed theirs that they used with it.

Pulled it all the way to the guide wheels.




Donovan from Wisconsin
 
We tried a 4 shank on a deere 4640. 200hp on the dyno, 42in dueled up rubber, full set of front and rear weights. Was too much in heavy soil. Ended up putting it on the 8650, which was a little overkill, but did know it was back there.
 

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