secondary tillage: tools and concepts

[Tim Harrigan]

That is great. Like to see a video of it in action.

[Andy Carson]

I’ll see about a video. I have to convince my videographer… It would be nice to show a video of the steers too.

[Andy Carson]

Still have to get my videographer out… Somehow, due to the magic of soil dynamics, I clogged alot today. The soil was definately drier today, and kinda fluffy. When it was wetter, I had no clogs. Funny, i would have suspected the opposite due to clods. Clod fall off, though, and fluffy soil mixed with grass clumps stick. Soil dynamics is fascinating… It is pretty easy to unclog though, as i can just tilt the implement from the side and shake it a bit. I will take it out a couple more time before I fix this problem, as in the right conditions the action is perfect. I’ll have to see.

[Andy Carson]

I increased the spacing between the tines on the cultivator, and went out again. Penetration was poorer, because each tine had to dig more of it’s own path rather than having it half dug by the previous tine. So, I added weight. This increased penetration, but then it got back to plugging. It clogged alot over the weekend. It seems that with the current set-up, I have a choice of poor penetration with no clogging, or good penetration with some clogging. The more I go over this field, the fluffier and drier the soil gets and this increases plugging quite a bit, esp where poorly chopped trash is mixed with soil. I actually think I might switch to a spike tooth harrow at this point, but I think I will redesign the cultivator to have two gangs for next time I use it. I think I have taken the vee concept as far as it can go. It seems good in some situations, but I expect the gang arrangement will be more flexible and less sensitive to soil/trash conditions. I’ll report back.

[mitchmaine]

andy,
you could try a diamond pattern. where your wider spacing was followed by another gang. i only say it because that seemed to be the common shape of most of the handmade cultivators i ran into. also is the deeper penetration bringing up the sod you plowed down? on new ground and a fairly good job of plowing, i try and leave the sod down. a spike tooth is a good idea and might be the ticket.

mitch

[Andy Carson]

Mitch, I think that’s a good thought about the diamond shape. Having the wood at an angle sovles alot of problems and strengthens the design considerably. I will draw it out and see what it looks like.

I am digging up grass clumps/soil mix when the cultivator digs deep. This ground was not plowed, though, it was disced. because some of the grass clumps landed “tips up” and some landed “tips down,” I think I am bestBoff undercutting all of it, esp when it’s dry like it has been. I think if it’s done well, the roots will dessicate and the . That’s the theory, at least. Despite the plugs, the field isn’t bad, so I think it’s working. I will know how well it works better when I quit tilling and see what springs back to life…

[Andy Carson]

I have had several rainy days so I broke down and made a cultivator design with two gangs. I kept the angled design feature for several structural reasons and because I like some of the “rolling” action I was getting with a the vee design. I had to amke the angles alot shallower (22.5 degrees rather than 45 degrees), though, because otherwise the cultivator gets really long with two rows and clearance for the tines. I was really attracted to Mitchs diamond design, but having runners makes this shape more difficult to apply. I will likely be able to test it tomorrow if the weather cooperates. I’ll report back.

[Andy Carson]

I finally made a video of this tool to share. It needed a bit more weight than the “vee” design, but it doesn’t clog so it’s worth it. It’s got a full 2 inchs of overlap, but somehow some grass still sneaks through if it’s thick. A second pass takes care of it though. A lot better than a traditional springtooth.

[video=youtube_share;BzcdL3wS4_I]http://youtu.be/BzcdL3wS4_I[/video]

[near horse]

Andy – brother, you have got to be the hit of the neighborhood! Nice.

[Michel Boulay]

Looks like its doing a good job. Where did you get your hardware shanks and sweeps? Certainly you’ll have to go at it more then once. You seem to be getting on top of that grass pretty well. Cool vid, keep up the good job.

Mike

[Tim Harrigan]

Looks good. Team looks like they are settling in nice as well. Great job.

[Andy Carson]

Thanks for the comments. I got the shanks and sweeps from agrisupply. Even with the shipping, its a little cheaper than a local TSC. Plus, if ordering online, they are always open. I get most of my implement hardware/metal parts from there.

[Kevin Cunningham]

Andy,

Looks good, I like the way that cultivator seems to be working for you. I bet if you stay on top of that field next year will be better. You might struggle with the grass this year but if you get a cover on it this winter next year will be much easier to control the grass. Are you going to grow something there this summer or fallow it all summer? Your team seems to be dong great as well, very well behaved.

[Author]

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