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What size plow would you use?

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Dan

10-05-2001 08:57:54




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I grew up on a ranch in the mountains of Colorado and we put up alot of grass hay but didn't do any farming. We bought 160acres in western Nebraska and it is in alfalfa. Our plan is to farm mostly alfalfa but some of the fields are in need of being plowed down and planted to something else for a year or two and then planted back to alfalfa.

This mountain boys problem is I don't know what implements (or size) I need or how big of a tractor I need.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

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Leroy

10-10-2001 05:56:05




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 Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Dan, 10-05-2001 08:57:54  
What do you have at present? Heavy ground needs a minimum of 13 HP for 12" bottom; 15 HP for 14" bottom; 20 HP for 16" bottom. 40Hp tractor with 2-16" would be maximum.



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PatM

10-09-2001 06:18:05




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 Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Dan, 10-05-2001 08:57:54  
Don't forget other free resources for planning and a a lot of good info for free. Here's a link to the offices of the Nebraska Extension Services. I know this doesn't answer your problem directly, but they could be of great assistance in soil testing and information about which alfalfa has done well in your area.

BTW, I'm in Elizabeth, Colorado, what's hay going for around you? I'm needing 20 tons or so of cow hay to get through the winter. Most of the hay dealers around here cater to the "horsey set" and want $150+ per ton, and don't have cow hay.

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PatM

10-09-2001 06:24:36




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 Re: Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to PatM, 10-09-2001 06:18:05  
And I remembered after my post. There's a couple dealers in Bridgeport who generally have a good inventory of older used equipment. Pete's, Bridgeport Tractor Parts, and Gary's Implement. Gary's probably has the most and best selection, they also have a big consigment auction very year. Pete's leans heavy toward Farmall tractors only, don't know about Bridgeport Traactor Parts



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Jerry S

10-05-2001 14:55:58




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 Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Dan, 10-05-2001 08:57:54  
I am curious why you would want to rotate crops only to get back to alfalfa. I thought alfalfa would kind of fertilize your soil being a legume. Would it make any sense to get soil samples ran to see what your soil needs or do you have some weeds or whatever that is a problem?
I haven't farmed any ground crops before obviously. I just want to learn.



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paul

10-05-2001 18:18:35




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 Re: Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Jerry S, 10-05-2001 14:55:58  
Alfalfa ends up storing a bit more nitrogen than it uses, if you get the microbes working for you on the roots. :) However, alfalfa pulls out P & K from the soil, and some trace minerals.

Alfalfa is kind of a finiky crop, it dies out over time. The elements can increase this, smothering ice, flooding, extreme drought. It will not grow back on it's own like grasses do, and in most areas adult alfalfa plants are toxic to new alfalfa seedlings, so you can't just plant more seed into an old alfalfa patch.

Since the N is there, might as well plow it up, put in some corn or wheat, and make use of it. Also a good time to add the P & K you need, and mix into the soil. It's not a good idea to plow up alfalfa & seed it right back to alfalfa, the toxic stuff lasts 3 months of good weather or so. (Toxic to new alfalfa plants, nothing else. :)

Breaks up the weed patterns too as you thought, to mix in a different crop now & then. Alfalfa stands aren't usually productive after 7 years or so (it depends tho), here in the midwest some of us plow up every 3 years or so just because of our crop rotations.

--->Paul

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Jerry D in NC

10-05-2001 14:49:29




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 Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Dan, 10-05-2001 08:57:54  
What Paul has told you is good info. The Alfalfa tap root can be a monster to cut with a plow and heavy soils make it even harder. I have been plowed around before by a small tractor pulling less plows because he could go twice as fast as I could and I was pulling 3-16's and he was pulling 2-16's. The speed you plow at can make up for one less plow esp. in hard soils. Check around with a neighbor or two and borrow a plow and try it. I will not take long for you to figure out what goes best behind your tractor. I know I have loaned a plow to a neighbor so they could try it for just that reason.

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Charlie

10-05-2001 13:25:51




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 Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Dan, 10-05-2001 08:57:54  
I think it depends most on what you have for a tractor. A bigger treactor means you can have bigger plows which means you get done faster but obviously there is more cost. A 40 horse power tractor can pull a 3 bottom 16" plow in most ground although it can be tough going in heavy sod. Sounds like for the amount of ground you have a 50 - 60 horsepower tactor with 4 bottom plows might be a good start.

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paul

10-05-2001 11:47:59




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 Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Dan, 10-05-2001 08:57:54  
As I live in Minnesota, I don't have any hard numbers for you as our soils & climate are so very different my numbers wouldn't apply.

In general tho, alfalfa ground plows about the hardest of all. It is undisturbed for 3-7 years, gets driven over several times a year with heavy loads, and has long tough roots in it that need to be sheared off. So, I would want to be conservative on the size of the plow from the other answers you get..... But then, I am on hard, clay soils that get too wet & pack hard into concrete. Since you must have sandy soils, might not be as big a factor.

On 160 acres, do you plan on a 5 year stand? Then you would be plowing about 30 acres a year. You probably wouldn't need more than 2-16 or 3-14 or so, bigger gets you done quicker if the tractor can handle it. Guess it depends how fast you need to get done?

--->Paul

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Dan

10-05-2001 13:32:21




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 Re: Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to paul, 10-05-2001 11:47:59  
Paul,

Thanks for the comments. My fields are set up so that I should be plowing about 20-25 acres per year. I actually have about 110 acres farmable and the rest pasture. I want to use the tractor as a loader tractor also. I have a JD 2280 swather that I cut with and my neighbor bales for me, he has a Hesston 4755 (3'x3'x8' bales). I want to pick up two bales at a time which would be about 2200 lbs.

What I'm looking for is the best economical setup to get me done in a reasonable amount of time, I don't need the biggest and fastest.

We live on the Wyoming border near the center of the panhandle of NE. Our soil is a heavy soil compared to east of here where it is sandy. I don't think our soil is quite as hard as yours sounds.

Thanks again,
Dan

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john2510-3020

10-06-2001 08:37:35




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 Re: Re: Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Dan, 10-05-2001 13:32:21  
dan, everything paul has told you about alfalfa is true. we farm around 2400 acers here in missourah and about 150 to 200 of it is alfalfa then another 200 or so is corn soybeans and such. we used to use a 3020 and 4-16's but now we either use a 4440 and chisle plow(only in corn stubble) or hook the 6-16's to the beast and head to teh alfalfa field. sounds like if your wanting to move 2 bales at 1200lbs a piece tehn you will need about a 130 or 140hp tractor with a strong front end on it. you also need one with good hyds.until we bought our new round baler we chopped our for the dairy cattle. so you plan on selling this hay ot keep it for you own? if you were going to keep it i would say a round baler would be better but if selling it then a big sq. baler would be best. what other crops are you going to put in where you plow up the alfalfa? this is something that is going to cost a lot of money if you dont already ahve the equipment. we got a deal on our 4440 with 5000hrs. on it for only 15.000$ but you probly dont need anything that big. you might want to look in to an ih tractor something around the 966(95hp) or 1066 size(115hp). if you would tell me more on what your wanting to do then i could help little better. it really all depends on how fast you want to get it done and what you want to pull. hope this helps.
john

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john2510-3020

10-06-2001 08:36:43




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 Re: Re: Re: What size plow would you use? in reply to Dan, 10-05-2001 13:32:21  
dan, everything paul has told you about alfalfa is true. we farm around 2400 acers here in missourah and about 150 to 200 of it is alfalfa then another 200 or so is corn soybeans and such. we used to use a 3020 and 4-16's but now we either use a 4440 and chisle plow(only in corn stubble) or hook the 6-156's to the beast and head to teh alfalfa field. sounds like if your wanting to move 2 bales at 1200lbs a piece tehn you will need about a 130 or 140hp tractor with a strong front end on it. you also need one with good hyds.until we bought our new round baler we chopped our for the dairy cattle. so you plan on selling this hay ot keep it for you own? if you were going to keep it i would say a round baler would be better but if selling it then a big sq. baler would be best. what other crops are you going to put in where you plow up the alfalfa? this is something that is going to cost a lot of money if you dont already ahve the equipment. we got a deal on our 4440 with 5000hrs. on it for only 15.000$ but you probly dont need anything that big. you might want to look in to an ih tractor something around the 966(95hp) or 1066 size(115hp). if you would tell me more on what your wanting to do then i could help little better. it really all depends on how fast you want to get it done and what you want to pull. hope this helps.
john

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