Advice on plowing

I'm new to this farming thing. So I have a 1960 John Deere 2010 tractor. I'm looking to put in a clover field for the deer. The field I have hasn't been turned over in years. I have a plow for the back of the tractors. What gear should I use to do this? After it has been plowed. I use the disker to make it more fine?

Thanks matt
 
Tall grass an weeds. I have to cut it all down still. It is probably a good 5 Acre field. But I'm not planning on doing the hole thing. Maybe a half acre
 
You can do as you please but if I had a 5 acre field I wouldn't use it for feeding deer. Darned Road Goats just get run over by cars. Plowing speed depends on plow size, depth, soil type, engine condition and other variables.
 
For what you are working with I would stay around 3 mph. Tractor data .com should have charts to show what speed each gear is on your tractor.
 
You don't necessarily have to plow it up. Most grasses will dye off when it cools off. Most feed plot mixes for the fall have cool weather grasses that will outlive the existing grass and weeds. Most of the time I just cut the existing material short, disc or use an all purpose plow to scuff up the area, spread fertilizer as needed, spread seed, then cover with a disc set shallow or a drag. Don't cover your new seed very much.
 
I'd consider cutting it, spraying any regrowth this fall with roundup, and then frost seed the clover the last days of winter. Frost seeding is spreading the seed in the first days of thawing, when the land is thawed in the afternoon and frozen in the morning. You spread the seed with whatever broadcast seeder you have.

Otherwise, you will be plowing, disking, harrowing, planting... and in the end it will be deer feed.
 
You can start slow plowing and choose a higher gear, see what the tractor can handle. In general you will be in a slow or medium gear.

Plowing is a big power user, and you should match the plow to the tractor. If you need to be in first gear you probably have too big a plow. The dirt might come out more lumpy if you are going too slow, not roll over right.

If you are in a gear you drive down the driveway normally, you are going too fast and have too small a plow. The dirt will be thrown across the furrow and into the next one if you are too fast. As well as rocks really breaking stuff.....

If a 5speed, 2nd or 3rd gear.

If you have tall weeds and grass, have fun after you now it. That mat of debris likes to plug up a plow. Might have been better to plow it still standing, the tall stuff stays attached and flows through the plow. Once mowed, you need it chopped up fine (not sure what mower you used) and spread evenly, and probably dried out well. (Although too dry and thick again will want to bunch up instead of sticking to the ground...) good big counters will help. Most old plows have worn out little nubs of a coulter, worthless.

Paul
 
Using no more than a 3 bottom plow you should be able to run in 2nd or 3rd gear. 4th would be too fast, 1st too slow. 2 bottom plow would work also, but 4 bottom way too big.
 

Matt, I too have just cleared 5 acres and have started planting Berseem clover with the intent of tilling it under in spring (the legume clover cover crop will deposit lots of nitrogen into the soil and help improve the soil when tilled back in), I used a disk to break up the ground. Many said not to plow deep. Let the crop do the soil improvement. I agree because my land is rolling and erosion is a concern.

I'm putting in a modest orchard (about a dozen trees), a vegetable plot and the rest in premium Bermuda.

Where are you located?

You tractor has adequate power to operate a good sized disk. Is your tractor gas or diesel powered?

I have a M-F 231S diesel, 3 cylinder, 45 HP that has as much power as I need for my land and plans. Your Deere is about the same power, weighs a bit more at ~5000 lbs.

Just use you intuition regarding which gear to use and engine speed. It took me about 10 hours to disk my 5 acres, some of it in 4th gear low range, some in 1st gear high range. Most at about 1700 RPM, the sweet spot for the 3 cylinder Perkins diesel engine.

Which clover have you chosen to plant? Give Berseem a look...it does a good job of translocating nitrogen into your soil...better than most. The Egyptians have used it for thousands of years along the Nile to enrich their soils.
 

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