I think you are on the right track thinking of spring strip till for HEL ground in areas where pure notill is not a viable option.

There are a couple points to be aware of however:

1) CULTIVATORS are designed to operate ON the tractor tire spacing = between the rows, where you would be cultivating.  STRIPTILL on the other hand is done OFF of the tractor tires as a planter bar is. The pivot points and about everything else you can think of on a cultivator bar is usually welded in exactly the wrong place on the bar when trying to mount any type of strip till units. Planter toolbars are much better places to start a strip till machine than a cultivator bar.

2) For SPRING strip till, especially farther north, in many soils you are better off using a coulter-type rather than a shank-type strip till machine. I think it is interesting that Orthman, long the "deep shank" strip till people, now offer a conversion kit to convert their shank type strip till unit to coulter type units. Be aware of the risks of spring planting directly over a spring made shank-type strip with a real hot band of concentrated fertilizer right at the bottom of that often still open (below the surface) slot.

Best of luck,

Jim at Dawn

Ryan,

Thanks for your detailed post. It is especially interesting considering it is your first post. We have been working on various forms of strip till since at least 1993, beginning with adding row cleaners to a DMI-type mole knife anhydrous bars.

Over the years it became clear that this type setup, as originally invented by Jim Kinsella, is basically a fall strip system.  Some years you can get away with it in the spring, some years you will have significant fertilizer burn or delayed plant development because of an open drying slot made in wet soils directly under the seed. 

As Bruce mentions this becomes more of a concern the farther north you are and the wetter heavy soils tend to be in the spring. Soils dry from the top down - the fittest soil you have in the spring is near the surface, not down deep.

Strip till in the south is a whole different process altogether. Folks there have been basically deep ripping just ahead of the planter for years. This is also done in many of the drier areas of the southern plains. This spring ripping/planting directly over it type strip till is not generally done from about the central cornbelt on north - the mud belt.

Take a look at some of the mud pictures on the Stock Talk page right now. Picture pulling a deep ripper through that stuff any time in the near future. When it does start to dry, from the top down, doing a bit or row cleaning and light working/aeration of the soil followed by planting as it grays off can work very well. Fertilizer can also be precisely placed at the same time either mixed in or a safe distance away depending on the product and amount being used.

Many agronomists are saying the most efficient use of fertilizer is about 1/3 of your N and maybe all of a reduced rate of P & K in the strip just ahead of planting followed by side dressing about 2/3 of your N, maybe even on 60" centers.  There are a wide range of fertilizer placement systems which will "work" and that is a much longer discussion.

I applaud manufacturers such as Orthman that build quality products in the US and are flexible enough to provide adaptations, such as their new all coulter system, to meet some of their customers needs.

As far as the logic of trying to turn a larger cultivator bar into a strip till bar, many folks that try it soon find they would have been time and money ahead just to purchase a planter-style bar, such as a Moore-Built or any one of a number of other bar manufacturers we have worked with, from the start. 

Even a used planter bar such as the JD 1780, with wheels on the front, makes a good strip till bar. There is one in the video here. Bauer makes large planter type bars that are ideal for wide strip till. Cultivator bars just never seem to work out.

I am on this board, often at all hours, for the same reasons most of us are here - we love ag equipment and farming. I am not on here at 3 am to take shots at any other manufacturer. I am a believer in what we are doing but it is not the only way - never said that and never will.

Regards,

Jim at Dawn

a "7-11 inch" deep slot directly under the seed in the spring may not be "deep ripping" but in heavy wet northern soils in the spring just ahead of planting there are many soils and conditions where that will still be a smeared open slot down under the seed regardless of what rolling baskets etc are used.

We were working with a mole knife in the spring at just 5-6" deep and in some conditions there was crop damage from fertilizer burn or drying from and open smeared slot below the surface.

It may work in some times and some places but there is a risk to spring planting directly over a spring made knife slot of about any normal depth.  Shank type strip till, in the north, is usually best done in the fall.

For building your own strip till machine, depending on the width and fold vs rigid, I would start with a good sturdy, heavy duty often "ridge till" type planter toolbar.

A point to keep in mind is that the success or lack of  in strip till by many of our customers is largely determined by the toolbar they mount our row units to.  I think this also applies to many other manufacturer's  strip till units also.

Jim at Dawn

PS - I have been on this board and its predecessor since about 1995 or maybe 1994 - I didn't write it down. I'm glad you approve. 

Ryan, an idea of a way to address your family issues:

"...In my situation it has been very hard to persuade my grandfather and uncles 80 + years of experience in conventional tillage practices to take a look at strip tillage..."

Rather than trying to change their deep seated feelings about the necessity of full tillage and also for economic reasons, I suggest you ask them to let you try strip till on maybe 20 or 40 acres somewhere.  This is a time for you to experiment with different types of strip till and learn about it without trying to convince them to risk turning the whole farm over. They feel there is too much risk and they are probably right.

Maybe try a couple different systems - coulter, deep shank, fall, spring, fall and spring, etc. Make up a 4, 6 or 8 row mounted bar from an old mounted planter frame and give strip till a try. You will learn a lot and be in a much better place to make a decision on which way to go before risking an entire crop. And you will have their support when you do it.

By the way even on a small mounted bar we find it is very important to have gage wheels on the front of the toolbar and put the three point in the slots to float - let the bar line itself up to the ground and you MUST have a top link.

Best of luck.

Jim at Dawn