Oswald No-Till Farm Cleghorn, IA | Greetings,
Though as my name obviously states, I am a Notill, strip till guy, I have some hours on a plow. As a kid I thought it great if we could be plowing second week April as my birthday is then.
I spent time on 3-16, 4-16 pull plows and a 5-16 semi-mounted all of them IHC.
“Here” we always called the opening round the backfurrow as you’d toss the soil back on the first bottom pass. The dead furrow was the finish. We’d fill those with the semi-mount as it was easier than adjusting the lever controlling the relative depth of the front furrow wheel to the land wheel on the model 70 plow.
We call the area where you drove empty to the other side of the land the headland. It would be called the endrows with planting.
Dad was always fairly particular about straight passes and level operation such the front and rear were cutting the same depth. He talked about how plowing demos in the sixties implement dealers might put 6-16” on a 90 hp tractor but you’d catch them operating the front shallow and rear deep to suggest deep plowing. It wouldn’t look level. Often times it took about 20 hp per 16” bottom with 25 better.
Though I have no intention of returning to plowing, I do have a bit of nostalgic fondness but It was a rush to get it done in the spring, it was a hassle to break down the clods. With the shift to wetter springs in the past few decades, there is no way we could do the acres we used to with a moldboard plow component. With big equipment, maybe. I don’t think it would be fun to sweat through those hours and acres. As it is, I don’t miss full width tillage work at all. With spring plowing, getting the plow to scour on the wetter soils was a problem. The clods on the headlands were terrible due to the compaction from being driven on then plowed up. I remember ribbons crawling like a snake up and on top of the plow harrow in soils plenty wet for 8” plow depth.
Having said all that, there are times I think it would be fun to operate a 7-8 bottom 16-20” semi mounted in-furrow plow on a modern MFD with modern cab and stereo and high power lights. Maybe with auto pilot. That would be recreational tillage for me without the face burns from wind, sun or muffler heat. Shivering on an open station or hunkered down behind a heat houser.was what it was.
But my recreation would not be on our 20 year Notill land. It would have to be for someone else.
The planter row openers will be the only tillage for me This spring as the strip till is done for corn and soybeans have all been notilled for nearly 20 seasons.
If you are going to moldboard plow, I hope you enjoy it. I did enjoy watching the action of the plow in good conditions, the fast tight turns, and the smell. It’s just no longer a desirable way in my mind to manage the soil.
Tom
Edited by notilltom 3/25/2018 23:46
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Moldboard plowing
