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SW Manitoba. | I am sure this topic has been covered a few times. But we are in small grains territory (Wheat, Barley, Oats, Canola, Peas, Flax, and some sunflowers).
We are wanting dry our soil. We are very wet right now, but are still no-till as most years we are drier than we are wet. In 2008, we couldn't hardly seed a crop becuase it was so dry. Also we want to cut up pea vines. We are looking at a Salford RTS or Summers Super Coulter. We can't decide which machine is right for us. We like that we can change blades on the Salford very easily, but we are questioning the pivot action of the Salford coulter and whether they cause hard pan issues.
We tried the RTS in tall weeds and wild oat patches on a field we didn't get seeded. It didn't do much on the thick wild oats patches, but did a great job on the other weeds (some were 2 feet ot taller). We had it sunk in so the main frame tires we off the ground and we had the machine running level (Even depth between front and back of machine) and it had 8 wave blades on front and 13 wave on the back with harrows and rolling baskets.
Can a vertical tillage machine actually dry soil (Keep in mind we are so wet right now we are getting stuck with combines with nothing in the grain tank!!), and allow us to seed comfortably next spring?? Should we be doing vertical tillage in the fall, or is spring the better time?
What long term affects does vertical tillage have on you soil? (One fellow, who is a NAT'er) tells me his soil has more water holding capacity and handles heavy rains much better after 9-10 years of vertical tillage.
Thoughts and advice are appreciated. |
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AB, Canada | I can't speak for the machines you mention but we have used others and they work great for drying out soil, We use ours mostly in the spring since we usually get good spring rains and get a little bit of early weed control.
The other thing you may consider is if the RTS won't do anything to your wild oats what hope does it have against your wheat stubble? |
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N.E. North Dakota | One advantage with verticle tillage is you can get the ground drying and still leave some stubble in case you need to catch snow for next years moisture. Working in the fall doesn't seam to be a problem. If you want to destroy more stubble you can work the second pass at different angle. Both machines you mentioned are good but where the salford is better is if you have solid rocks below the surface. The supercoulter has to lift whole section where the salford has each blade spring loaded. Also makes it easier if you need to replace a broken blade. |
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| Good friend runs a Great Plains Turbo Till ahead of his field cultivator to get the ground to dry out quicker. |
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franksville wi | if it is that wet i think you will be disappointed. It will help dry out but does little to no leveling if there are ruts and the rolling basket will probably plug up if you are getting stuck that easy. Vertical tillage tools are good for getting you one to two days faster drying and incorporating residue into the soil. just my 2 cents. |
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| If its that wet a match works much better. |
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| We tried the RTS in tall weeds and wild oat patches on a field we didn't get seeded. It didn't do much on the thick wild oats patches, but did a great job on the other weeds (some were 2 feet ot taller). We had it sunk in so the main frame tires we off the ground and we had the machine running level (Even depth between front and back of machine) and it had 8 wave blades on front and 13 wave on the back with harrows and rolling baskets.
there is something wrong here. Either you are wrong or the machine is assembled wrong. The 13 wave blades should be on the front and not on the rear of the machine. The RTS should have some pressure on the tires to controll the depth properly. The soil will not level very well if there are deep ruts. As far as drying the soils in the spring it will dry the soils to get you in the field earlier with a planter. The RTS can also be fitted with an air cart to sow the small grains that you grow. This may have an influence on your decision in the end.
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Salford RTS vs. Summer Super Coulter
