Planker for secondary tillage?

[bendube]

Has anyone tried building and using a “planker” for seedbed prep?
The historical texts seem to speak highly of it, and it should be very cheap and easy to make, but I’ve never actually spoken with someone who has used one.
If no one knows about it, I might have to make one myself.

If you don’t know about plankers, see this Link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=3ldEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=planker+tillage+tool&source=bl&ots=0oDCPmotFi&sig=ecn0MR-iNxclKZT5UvqTOvCAtXA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fyY-UZz6Oofv0QGfpYGwDA&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=planker%20tillage%20tool&f=false%5D

[grey]

I’ve made and used one. I didn’t have any kind of a shed to store it in and it rotted away after a couple years so I didn’t make another one. The planker did a good job breaking up clods but now I’ve come up in the world – 😀 – got a disk harrow and a mat harrow that, in combination and used successively a couple of times, does a good job in preparing a seed bed. I made the planker before I had the disk harrow and before I had amended my soil. Now there’s a great deal more organic material in my soil and not so much clay, so the clods aren’t as big a problem as they were before.

[Ronnie Tucker]

in my neck of the woods we call this a drag.we use right after plowing to smooth the ground and help prevent clods.at the end of the day you drag it down.in the spring after it warms up it really helps.

[Kevin Cunningham]

In my area, Redwood country, they are still common, but we call it a “scrub” not sure why, but I have used one behind a tractor. In a logging area like this one you can usually find the required 2-4 inch thick by 12 inch wide planks to make one. Another benefit of redwood is that is is not so prone to rot. I know of several farmers that swear by them and continue to use it even when other tools are available. It is usually used as an important component of dry farming, without any irrigation or rain. I say go for it, cheap and easy, if you got the wood.

[Ronnie Tucker]

most of ours are made of oak.inch planks are used mostly.when they rot you build another.

[Kevin Cunningham]

I bet one inch of oak would give the required weight for the tool to work properly, part of the reason redwood has to be thicker is that it is such a light wood.

[Kevin Cunningham]

Here is a “planker” aka “scrub” that I just built as an add on the to chain harrow I am pulling with my steers.  I had some 2×6 (true) boards of funky redwood which made a nice little scrub.  It is about 3’6″ wide and 32″ deep, six planks joined by some 2×2  bolts and screws.  It took me about 30 minutes to make.

 

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[Paulk]

I use hardwood pallets with a chain attached to drag my pasture every few weeks to bust up the piles of manure from my equine and my goats and knock down the rough ground around the hay feeder.  I hook the pallet behind my mule with a single tree and stand on the pallet for weight.  I do like the idea of a planker better, looks like I have another project to add to my list!

[Eli]

We put a plank behind the disk opener on our grain drill and added the grass seed after the plank but before the roller and got the same number of plants per acre with 2 less lbs of seed per acre. Eli

[Eli]

I seeded over 100 acres with that 10 foot drill the last time I used it, that’s a lot of circles. I should have kept that drill set up. Eli

[Mac]

We’ve used a crosstie for the same purpose. I have found it works well, especially if you can get two and chain them together in tandem. Or, chain one behind a harrow. Saves a little time and not so much work in building.

Mac

 

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