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NW Iowa | Anyone have lots of experience with Great Plains Vertical Tillage tools? I am somewhat new to Vertical Tillage but the area I work in is very no till or VT driven. This to me seems to be the best system if done correctly when compared to conventional till. My family's farm is in NW Iowa where we have very thick well-drained soil so very few growers do anything but conventional. To me, there is too much recreational tillage passes going on that may be creating compaction layers in the soil profile (but I may be wrong, too). My plan is to use a compaction probe to check this when I get the opportunity.
The reason I ask about Great Plains is they make a true Vertical tillage tool with no angle that could produce a compaction zone, but there are a lot of VT brands out there that may be worth noting. If teamed with a Subsoiler I feel this would be a good option that could boost yields, sustain soil and require fewer passes every year. If anyone has any success stories for vertical tillage compared to conventional in high yielding ground I would love to hear about it. Thanks! |
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Central IL | I've had a turbo till since they were introduced. Great tool but as with any of the disk type VT tools they leave residue loose and prone to blowing or moving with water. Personally I like an Aerway or Genesis tillage tool, they fracture the soil deeper and leave most residue intact.
Edited by str8strips 10/23/2015 13:27
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Ohio | I do not have a vertical tillage tool but a good friend of mine has had a turbo max now for 3 years and I have never been impressed with it. They go over or once in the fall and then in the spring you can't even tell that it was tilled. It did no filling in on the wheel tracks of the combine and put am hardly any dirt on top. And the only thing it did for corn stalks was chop them up and matt them over which allowed them to blow and put a ton of them in the ditch. Which slowed the flow of water. I feel a Krause or a case vertical till would be much better but again I have no experience. |
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East Central Iowa | Don't have direct experience with Great Plains, but we run a McFarlane Reel Disk which is real similar to a Great Plains Turbo-Chopper. We can adjust the angle of the disc gangs in front (on-the-go) to accomplish different things. In the spring we only run as deep as we are planting to slice up some of the residue and smooth out and warm up the soil. We run the disc gang more or less straight in bean ground going to corn; and with a slight angle in chiseled corn-stalks going back to corn, and corn-stalks going to beans. In the fall where we want to fill in ruts or chop-up residue ahead of the chisel or subsoiler we go a bit deeper and more of an angle on the blades. We usually don't do much with it in the fall, more a spring tool for us. In the fall we just in-line rip/subsoil (or conventional till / chisel corn going back to corn). The in-line ripper does a good of removing compaction while leaving the top of the soil more or less undisturbed.
My opinion....the glorified disc-style VT machines and things like the Great Plains Turbo-Till are more seedbed preparation only and when they are used in the fall just fluff up the residue to be blown away. Tools like the McFarlane, and Great Plains Turbo-Chopper or Turbo-Max or the Krause Excelerator seem a bit more flexible and do a better job pinning the residue down so it doesn't blow as much.
For corn-bean rotation a subsoiler teamed with a VT machine is a good match. For corn-on-corn we have found conventional tillage works better for us in our soils. My advice, if getting a VT machine, is get one that is more than just a fancy disc, and one you can adjust the angle of the disc gangs to accommodate different situations. And remember.....subsoilers and VT machines love lots of HP.
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Hutchinson Kansas | There are a few Krause Excellerators around here. Those guys seem to end up with a heck of a lot of dirt and all their residue in the ditch. Even more so than the conventional till guys. |
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West Central, WI | That is what I have in my shed. Sub soiler and a TurboMax. Works well for me. Call your GreatPlains dealer and ask to demo one. |
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SC Kansas | Karl-we have had a turbo chopper for about 5 years now. We really like it in corn and beans, and does pretty good in wheat stubble as well. We have 2 main issues:1 is for our operation it doesn't bury enough residue to drill wheat into. And 2, it is pretty small (15') for us since upgrading tractors. We are in the process of buying a sunflower 6631 and are going to get rid of the GP. |
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Great Plains Vertical Tillage
