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Will I be able to plow field that has tree roots?

S

siegmund25

New User
I live on 10 acres. I mowed about 6 acres with a finish mower for the first 15 years then stopped mowing about 3 acres in the back. I was working then and got tired of mowing so much. That was about 15 years ago. No trees or weeds for the first several years, just tall grass. Last fall I mowed it with a rented tractor and bush hog. It was full of saplings 1" and smaller, about 20 2" saplings and six trees 5" oak being the largest. I only mowed over the 1" and smaller saplings and mowed around the 2" saplings and trees.

I removed the 2" saplings by hand. I burned off the dead grass after it dried enough. I marked all the stobs I could find (about 500) with flags and cut them close with a chainsaw. After I remove the six larger tree stumps and roots when it dries up in the spring I would like to plow it.

I have a JD 5103 (about 50hp) and an Iternational 420 plow (2 bottom 14"). Will I be able to pllow this or will the roots mess me up? The tractor has good ag tires (fluid filled) and 800 lbs of weight on the front.

We are over run with deer here and I will put it in food plots after I get it tillable. Sorry for the long post.
 
You'll dig up the roots, which I assume is what you want, won't look pretty but you should be able to get through everything except the 5"
stumps, maybe even those if you have a head of steam and hit them head on.
 
Thank you for the reply. Removing the roots is what I want to do. I plan to take a one shank ripper and cut around the 5" stumps and pull them out before I plow. I have never used this plow. I hope it does not trip every time it hits a root. It looks to be heavy built. I don't think I can hurt it with this tractor.
 

To plow root infested ground you'll have less headaches if you utilize a disk breaking plow similar to photo in lieu of a moldboard plow. Disk breaking plows were built in either pull & 3 pt types

mvphoto29414.png
 
Thanks for the reply Tx Jim. I have only seen disk plows online in videos never for sale in my area (Illinois). If I can pick one up in my area before things dry up this spring I will give it a try. I read a little online and a disk plow would be great for rocky areas and removing roots. I don't have rocks but I have plenty of roots. If I can't find one I will have to use the plow I have.
 
I believe the IH 420 plow has shear bolts in each bottom
which are supposed to snap when you hit rocks and roots so
you don?t destroy the plow. You need to make sure that these
are in functioning order and have the correct bolts. Get the
plow?s operator manual and it will tell you what to do.
 
The 5 inch stumps will give trouble.

The rest will be a little bit of debris now and then, but will work.

Paul
 
I use a Hay King Pasture Renovator to slice through roots besides aerating the subsoil. Run about 10 hp per shank. They have a shear bolt on each shank for the stubborn ones.
 

I have plowed 3 fields after the stumps were "removed"...!!

Plugging is not the worst problem...having to deal with all of the Poison Ivy vines that are all over in the sod is the Real Mess..!!

Seemed every 25 to 50 ft we were unplugging that 4x16" Oliver plow..
 
We have plowed several fields that had tree roots and never used our good plow to plow it. We bought a old one bottom 18" plow to plow them. You do a lot of stomping around field picking up roots. Helps a lot if you have some young people to do that.
 
My plow looks like it has springs that can be tensioned tighter or looser with a bolt that comes out the top. I have no idea how to reset it if it trips. I will try to find a manual. The guy I bought it from buys implements at auctions and sells them on craigslist. Someone put all new wear parts on it and it has never been in the ground with the new parts. It looked like the new parts were painted (they were not rusty). I sanded them smooth and painted them again with high gloss enamel to make them slicker. They should be good and shiny by the time I get through plowing three acres of roots. I expect the roots and vines to give me plenty of problems but I am retired and like the challenge. I will not give up until I have it all cleaned up and ready to plant food for the deer.
 
The conservation commission will have a root plow that you can rent by the acre. If you pull it shallow and make several passes it will make short work of your stumps.
 
I put in a lot of deer plots under in similar places,the first year I like to start disking early in the year and see if I can kill off the trees and bushes.Then before I plant anything I run a sub soiler around the outer edge of the plot cut off any roots coming in the plot from surrounding trees.This can be quite a chore and will sometimes pull up some big roots.Then I'll try to
subsoil in the plot but mostly just disk it with a heavy off set disk.Usually I have put on lime early on and when I plant I mix the seed with fertilizer and broadcast then disk lightly and
culitpack.Most times I get a very good stand, the 2nd year I subsoil or chisel plow the whole plot the stumps and roots break down pretty fast.Letting the roots stay in the ground and rot is better than digging them out and having to deal with them in my opinion.
 
I know its not as much fun! But I would
just spray with Round up 2 4 D and Brush
killer. Then rent a no-till drill from
your local USDA office. Ours has a 7' one
plus other tools. If you go slow, plowing
will go ok.
 
Find an old clunker of a ONE WAY DISK plow, pull type or 3 pt. I have a 3 pt and worked over 2 acres of fresh cleared land with a dozer.A disk plow will roll over roots and rock.
When rolling , it will slice and cut the roots. In one or two yrs they will be rotted away.
Drive slow as to not break the blades. Never plugged up once. clint
 
I typically just disc up food plots and dont plow them. Cut it short, disc it, drag with a toothed harrow, spread seed/fertilizer, do a final drag to cover, and call it good.
 
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