correct plow for newly cleared heavy clay

GreenAcre

Member
I know this is an implement question but I think this page gets more traffic. I've been clearing off about 25 acres to make a new hay patch. Uprooted and dozed the trees into piles. It's heavy clay and rough with plenty of roots. A heavy drag has helped but I think it really needs a plow and disk, and then do the dragging. Moldboard plow is tough going in it. Only disk plow I ever used just pulled to the side in hard ground. What do you guys recommend, and what do you think about something like this: https://easttexas.craigslist.org/grd/d/lindale-jd-4-disk-plow/7161586648.html
Thanks, -Matt
 
I would vote for a moldboard plow.A disk plow would just bounce over or go around any brush. A moldboard would acctually shear off any roots,ets. and leave them on top to be gathered up as needed.Make darnsure your plow has trip bottoms(spring;shear bolt;auto reset...),as a solid stump can destroy a non trip plow.
 
Around here they use a heavy offset disc to cut the roots and get deep. A molboard plow will plug on the roots. A cultivator will be an issue as well. Heavy disc then light disc the drag to level.
 
A Regular disc. At least two passes in different directions. A drag of some kind depending on amount of root debris. Sow it down. Plow in four or five years to get it really smooth like you want. Trying to plow now will only destroy your plow, bring more roots to surface and leave more holes to deal with. Sowing and waiting will give time for the roots and hidden stumps to decay. Have you soil tested? I would recommend Lime and fertilize for sure.
 
I’ve never seen a disk plow in operation, very rare here. Modern Whishek disks are around.....

One person will consider a 4 inch stump huge; another doesn’t think a 10 inch stump is very big..... then there are shallow rooted or deep tap rooted trees, they work up different.

So it depends on what type of brush and trees you were clearing.

A moldboard plow or a chisel plow will lift and pull up a lot of those roots so you can get them out of the field. But they won’t work for a real tree stump, rooted mess. Just constantly trip or break. But this will allow you to clean up and clear up the ground the best.

For lots of big roots types of deals a heavy disk, or the disk plow you showed, that will work the ground and push down some of the roots and mess. It will roll over the worst, stubborn stumps. This doesn’t make the field perfect, but it will make it useable while the remaining trash is mostly buried and can rot. You would not want to work the ground very deep at all for a couple years, allow the junk below the surface to rot.

Paul
 
Unless you want to spend mega buck$,you'd be ahead to hit it with an offset disk as big and heavy as your tractor will pull then lime and plant a legume cover crop to give the roots and whatever time to rot some.Keep repeating and in about 2 years think about planting it for a hay field.
 
Most or The later model 3 point disk plows weren’t much. The one in the Craigslist add is a beast. I have a 3 disk oh trip plow like it. Been settin so long trees growed up in it. Athens made one starting back during the depression that would make most disk plows look like a toy. My opinion of a moldboard in your conditions would be a headache and a potential disaster. What size timber did you take off it?
Andy
 
What you really need is a ROME disc. They will CUT roots , BUT the down side to a true Rome DISC is it takes LOTS of power and traction . I have cleared land for highways and the two the company had would make a D 8 H snort and slice thru and 8 inch root and spit out one foot chunks from the ft gang and the back gang split that in half and cut into the ground over a foot deep and take a fourteen foot swipe . A Standard off set like a 10 footer even in hard ground on first pass with the notched blade on both gangs will get down four or five inches on first pass and chop up small roots . tryen to run a moldboard thru stuff like that can become really dangerous , I have snagged roots with a moldboard plow more then once along tree lines and flat up and stood the tractor in the air and it happens REAL fast , Looking down the exhaust pipe inspecting the inside of the muffler or looking only at stars at night can bring on racing strips in your shorts FAST . Next best way is a three shank ripper on the back of a dozer getting down to around 18 inches , or the tillage tool we now use over the moldboard , this is a barnyard creation that someone else did up . Who ever built it took a 9 shank disk chisel and removed the 9 shanks and replaced them with FIVE D M I parabolic shanks with the 7.5 inch tiger points , now here again this takes LOTS of power and traction , even at 14 inches it taken over 200 Hp and all the weight we have and we are still lacking pony power and traction As we can NOT Go up the hills on the flat we are fine and on slight grades Ok . What we need is a true bend in the middle 250 Hp tractor that weighs in at around 30 K . Thrust me this will find roots and ROCK , i have found rocks that have not seen the light of day in 10 million years .
 
There is no good way to moldboard ploe 2" roots. If they are there, using a single point ripper at 10 to 12 inches every foot or so would work, or light disking and cover hay crop, then wait for 4 years for the roots to rot. Jim
 

Having experience operating a JD 4 disk breaking plow over many acres in rocky soil my vote is for this type plow. Disk breaking plow will out perform a moldboard plow.
 
a breaking plow is what opened up the country and no stump will stop it. but you need a crawler or big 4x4 tractor. yes standard mold board plow is useless for opening up land. hard to say as cant see what your land condition is .
 
The plow in your Craigslist link will do a good job in clay and not as prone to being damaged by stumps as moldboard and chisel plows. I've found those type plows don't require near as much horsepower as moldboard.
I very much dis-agree with what most everyone said about waiting a few yeras before planting. Quick as it's plowed up and level,I'd plant it then graze it while getting it in condition to bale hay on. If it's plowed up between now and November,I'd plant a winter pasture seed mix,Arrowhead clover,rye or such that can be grazed in a few months. If it isn't plowed up until after January,I'd sod Coastal or native Bermuda then graze it as you continue getting ground in top condition. In either case,pull soil samples and amend as reccomended. Also be ready to spray broadleaf tree sprouts as soon as they appear. If fences will hold goats and sheep,rotating them would be better than cattle the first year but cattle will be fine if not alowed to over graze. All that is assuming you don't plan to have Alfalfa in which case the program will be much different.
 
Here is a one bottom plow that would work good. It is not a trip plow so you would need good hydraulic to run it. You will have to copy and paste link. does not have an acceptable video file.

https://youtu.be/lIN2R1iksog
 
I use the Hay King (brand) Pasture Renovator for my initial pass...spikes can dig down 10-12", husky enough to power through roots, has breakaway bolt if all else fails. It is a root cutting and aeration implement. Surface disturbance is minimum. If really bad, make an X pattern.

Then come back with a rolling disc. If you use a weighted (you add the weights) disc harrow, either 3 pt or drag type, which is common around here in Houston Black Clay, it will pull true and will roll the top soil. History here has taught us that you want to keep your top soil in the top. On oneways and other side plowing devices a weighted offset wheel and proper setup are required to keep the plow tracking true and they have been used around here, popular back in the days of the Lettered tractors when Cotton was King!.
 

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