Plow Question

My sister in law recently purchased a new Massey Ferguson 1739E, compact tractor. It is 4WD, 39.5 HP, with a cat 1 lift. She mostly uses it for mowing, but wants to get more use out of it.

Today she asked if I could help find her a disc plow, or something she can use to prepare a small hobby garden. You'll have to pardon my ignorance here, I've worked on a lot of tractors, but know nothing about implements!

The ground she wants to use is presently pasture land, supposedly was a cotton field 40-50 years ago. It appears to be black dirt, very hard, the kind that cracks when it dries. I assume it will need some sand turned into it, something to break it up a little?

Any suggestions as for what kind of disc, or plow, or tiller, or whatever would be needed to work this with the size tractor she has? Something universal that she can get the most use out of.

Money is a real consideration, I'll probably be searching for something rusty and needing work.

Thanks!

Most any 2 bottom 16 should work just fine behind that tractor plus a 6 foot disk. Plows any more are easy to find but disks there a tad bit harder to find

If it's a hydro it's not recommended to pull a plow,

It's not a hydro, has a mechanical transmission.

Thanks!

So, would it need to be plowed first to break it up, then disked?

"The ground she wants to use is presently pasture land, supposedly was a cotton field 40-50 years ago. It appears to be black dirt, very hard, the kind that cracks when it dries. I assume it will need some sand turned into it, something to break it up a little?"
She will have to plow the grass/weeds under with a moldboard plow. Do that next spring. Then right away disk it and seed some oats into it. Seed the oats real heavy, maybe 100 lbs/acre so weeds don't come up. If it's just a small garden she can seed it with a hand seeder. Would be good if she could get some animal manure too. Then leave the oats grow all summer and plow it under in Sept. The following spring she will have nice mellow ground to plant her garden into. No need to add sand. I bet she wants to plant garden already this year but just about impossible to get anything to grow in sod the first year. Takes to much nitrogen to rot the sod.

I would recommend a 5 ft or even 6 ft wide tiller if its gardening she wants to do. It pretty well does the job ob both plow and disk at the same time. It is more precise and you can go close to growing rows to keep weeds down all summer.

Is the 39 HP: draw bar HP, PTO HP or engine HP? What does the tractor weigh? In medium soils you want 2,000 pounds per plow bottom, even more in heavy pulling soils. Often you can get more work done with a smaller plow moving steadily at 5 mph or faster than you will get done spinning and lugging down below 4 mph with too large a plow. A 2 X 12 bottom plow (i.e. CAT 1 for an N series Ford) will still cover an acre an hour at 5 mph.

If the sod ground is really dry, hard and heavily rooted, you can always hire someone else to plow it the first time. After the sod is broken it will pull easier each year after that.

5 or 6 foot tiller will beat a plow any day. cut grass short and then till the h out of it

X 2 on the tiller. We use a 5' with a 29hp NH, works great for a garden. You can till up anything, just need to keep at it. Till in some gypsum and/or sand and she'll have a garden in no time.

Assuming you and your SIL do not want to use chemicals to burn down the existing "pasture". I would use a disk to knock down the grass and make it "shorter" to the surface. Then I would mold board plow it. to bury the residual "green Manure" of the pasture. A hobby garden if kept well does not need to be plowed every year, but weed control by hand, or by cultivators on the Massey, is necessary. If less than 2 acres are planned, purchasing a plow might be unnecessary. Having a local farmer plow it that first time might make sense. A tillage disk that can be set to be 4 inches deep would be perfect. Black soil is usually easily returned to usefulness. The black is often organic material, which will loosen and make good garden productivity. The hardness you are experiencing is from compaction for the years it has had animals on it.

Do not try to pull the same plow that an M Farmall would pull with a compact tractor. In that packed soil, I would stay with a 2-12 or 2-14 3 point plow. A pull type plow will be likely worn out or at least need shares and adjustment to make it suck into that ground.

Mixing sand into a small 50'X100' (5000 square feet) plot would take about 10 cubic yards to make a difference that could be measured. 10 cubic yards is 270 cubic feet. That is about 5/8 of an inch of sand per square foot. Spreading it to be uniform is also difficult.

Work up what you have before putting other material in it. The county Extension Agent can help with soil tests and recommendations. Jim

Plow it first, disk it after

My vote is for a rototiller also. A 5 footer.

I would plow it after spreading cow manure on it. Then till it. I use my old Wards tractor and Troy Bilt tiller. Hal

The dirt in N.Central Tx is black and shrink's to open cracks when it dry's. I've had pretty good luck letting rippers all the way down on a box blade to break apart ground that hasn't been tilled for a long time,or use a chisel plow. A MF65 will not pull 2 14" moldboards more than 3 inches deep but a disk-plow does much better,that's what farmers around here used in the 40s and 50s on black dirt. The one for her tractor would have 2 disks. If you have or can barrow a chisel or box blade w/rippers you don't need anything else other than a rear tine tiller. Sand doesn't loosen it at all but compost will,lots of compost. Mixing in lots of compost between now and spring will have her ready to plant in 2017. Ask around to see if a tree service will drop a free load of chips at her place for use as mulch around plants.Cover middles with chips to keep down weeds during growing season then plow them under as compost at end of season. If you can get chips and or manure and have a front loader,keep a big pile damp and composting year around. I find a rear tine tiller more useful than a pto driven. A pto tiller work's well to tear ground up the first time each year but you can't get between rows and around plants after that.

Hire it plowed the first time and also have them disk it until it is level. After that you can keep it worked up with a rototiller. Do not waste your time with the sand as that would take many tons and not have much affect. Instead, work in some manure or other form of organic humus. each time you till the plot.

A tiller will not work well on that hard sod ground as it will just bounce up and down with very little penetration. Space your garden rows wide enough apart that you can get the tiller between them and till it often during the garden season and your garden plot will be fine.

I just went through the same thing starting 3 years ago on about a 2 acre garden spot. Agree with the post below that the most critical thing is compost compost compost, and where compost seems to dissappear in sandy soil, in the heavy clay I've turned up things buried a year earlier that just molded. Whatever implements you use, it will take lots of time and diesel compared to sand. When you finally get it loose, it'll out produce the sand two fold. I kept planting cover and disking it in for two years, this year the disk pulls axle deep as fast I can drag it. First year went very slow over the very roughly plowed sod from many directions. I gardened some of it, put the rest in sorghum in the summer (2 times), and elbon rye and turnips and clover through the winters. I'm in east Texas. Takes a little while, but it's worth it.

I go along with a tiller at least the 1st year. Sod busting is a tough deal the 1st time but after breaking up the top 6-10 inches comes more easily. we both plow and then rototill our gardens and grow great crops

I lived near Waco for 10 years. It took a couple of years but working lots of horse manure (I had 2 and boarded 2) in made a very productive soil. I bet there are several horse farms in your area. Don't worry about oats popping up, they are easy to weed out.

If she wants to plant this year use a mold board plow as soon as possible to turn it over and let it set until planting. Get soil samples to see what if anything the soil my need. Follow those instructions. Right before planting in April or May disk/till it up. Weeds/grass will still need attention though out the season but should be manageable.

I'll second 2underage. Especially if the tractor is hydro-static.

I agree with most. Hire a neighbor to make a few passes with a moldboard plow right now. Let it mellow over winter. Have her buy a cheap County Line three point disk in the spring to level it and then spend the money on a GOOD three point tiller for it. She will use the tiller from there forward but could disk it in the fall. Work in as much trash as possible but not something that mats up like the leaves from 200 people's yards. A cover crop each fall would really help her.

A lot depends on things. Like if it has tall grass or small trees then I would brush hog it and maybe even burn it off. Then I would plow it and disk it and maybe even plow it again but the 2nd time plowing I'd go side to side of what you did the first time so as to break up the soil etc a whole lot better

Buy a cheap TSC subsoiler and subsoil the heck out of it 2 ways. Then one of those cheap discs will work it up good. That is how I get heavy clay soil ready here.
Richard in NW SC