What is the best type of plough for general use?

5 posts
Wed, 10/03/2012 - 20:10 #1

Member for

13 years 3 months
jolls
Last seen: 01/12/2020 - 21:19
Joined: 09/23/2011 - 16:27

What is the best type of plough for general use?

G'day All,

I have just purchased an old B250 tractor and would like to improve the pasture for sheep on five of seven acres and prepare beds for barley, hops and grapes on the rest (home consumption of course). The property is located in Murrumbateman; located between Yass and Canberra in Southern Tablelands of NSW.

I am unsure of the best approach when it comes to what type of plough is best for my purpose. Is there a "general use" plough or do I need to use a mouldbaord to turn the soil followed by harrows to break it up? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Cheers and Beers

Craig

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Mon, 10/08/2012 - 17:41 #2
charlie
Last seen: 12/26/2018 - 09:21
Joined: 05/31/2011 - 09:44

Hi Jolls,

Good to hear from you. Keep clear of buying a one way plough, they are a terrible implement. If you haven't seen one, they consist of a single set of rounded discs on an angle. When they are not dragged in a straight line they throw the soil leaving a gutter that can wash.

We sold the one way plough and purchased a set of offset discs and they do an excellent job. The offset discs consist of two rows of scalloped discs which are offset (angle is adjustable) to each other. Essentially one row cuts and throws the soil whilst the other row chops and evens the soil out. We drag a heavy set off leaf harrows behind the discs which helps to level the soil.

One could argue the pros and cons of ploughing but whenever we are returning a paddock from pasture to crop we would firstly spray it out with Roundup and then after rain run the offset discs over it. This helped to incorporate organic matter, aerate the soil and remove compaction after grazing. The point to note is that we would only use the discs once and then direct drill ther after.

Have any other member had experience with using different ploughs?

Charlie

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Mon, 10/08/2012 - 19:57 #3
jolls
Last seen: 01/12/2020 - 21:19
Joined: 09/23/2011 - 16:27

Charlie,

thanks for the advice - I'll keep my eye out for some offset discs.

Cheers and Beers

Craig

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Mon, 10/29/2012 - 09:44 #4
rmcpb
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 10/22/2012 - 11:13

Another way to look at this is, how much plowing are you going to be doing? Having a plow sitting there doing nothing is an expensive option. On a small farm I would consider getting all the disc plowing done by someone else, you really don't need to plow all the time. This would leave money for a sod seeder that would be very useful for pasture improvement and even limited cropping, especially as your farm is small.

Cheers

Rob.

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Mon, 10/29/2012 - 20:45 #5
jolls
Last seen: 01/12/2020 - 21:19
Joined: 09/23/2011 - 16:27

Rob,

Thanks, good idea. I am not looking at spending big $ and have had no luck in borrowing one so far. I will keep the idea of getting someone to do it for me in my mind.

Cheers and Beers

Craig

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