Mould Board or Chisel plow?

I’ve been following these posts for a while and see some very good feedback on novice questions. I have a 40 acre field on the Idaho-Washington border and would like make into a hay field. The question is whether to get a mould board or a chisel plow. Noticed that especially for big acreages, the chisel plow is the way to go these days – I haven’t done any field work since the 60’s on my parent’s farm.

So what would you farm experts suggest for a small field like mine? I have a 60 hp tractor, 3 pt, dual hyd, power steering. Thanks, Ray

Go with the chisel plow.

Hardly any one uses moldboard plows any more except for plow days.

My brother in law and his friends get together for plow days and use small or old field cultivators cut down for the older tractors that and they use subsoilers.

This way everyone is going the same depth and there are no furrows to worry about or plows popping up out of the ground and leaving an uneven field to level out later.

To give good advice, we need to know what is on it now. If it is old weed based sod, wheat stubble, or just what the soil conditions are.
JimN

The deal with makeing a hay field is not so much weather you chisle or mb plow it so much as fitting it smooth afterward. If you have a lot of trash to bury then mbplow. Either way you want to fit it very smooth, roll it after it is seeded and pick the stones if you have them there. You have to drive on it for years making hay. If you leave it rough you'll regret it for years.

I'd go with the chisel plow. When I was raising wheat, I finally got away from a moldboard plow and went with a chisel plow, then disced it a couple of times.

It went a lot faster, plus there were no back furrows or dead furrows to bounce over.

Opinions are like rectums....everybody has one and well...you know the rest.

Folks from out West have a disdain for the moldboard plow....as if it harbors some latent form of E-vil....due to the fact that it is dry in most of that region and their dirt blows away easily. So, they prefer the chisel which just stirs the crap on top and more or less breaks the crust so they can either no-till plant or disc. I have a chisel and it takes some major horsepower to pull one....like 15 horses per shank and 20 is better.

Back here in the East......where it rains and is mostly green, the moldboard still reigns supreme. It covers last years residue (trash) and reincorporates it into the soil where it rots and adds nutrients. Your field doesn't look like a place where a teradactyl has scratched for beetles and worms. Followed by a disc harrow, your field is ready for planting. It looks good and is a proper seedbed for your proposed crop.

Now, whether moldboard plowing is appropriate for your region...you'll have to decide. A 60 horse tractor can pull a three 16" bottom plow under most conditions, but it will never pull a chisel plow.....most of which are 10 shanks....or more.

my opinion,moldboard if your really going to plant a hay field from scratch ,if you are just going to overssed some grass in then I'd use a chisel to break it up a little.60 hp is not going to pull a very big chisel too deep or to fast,those things can make a tractor work about as hard as anything you can do.most fields that are chisel plowed around us have been in continuous cultivation for years,for new ground you probably will want to turn the old weeds grass and all under to start with would be my guess.

Thanks for the tips - looks like either one would work and maybe a chisel is too much for my tractor. Field is just weeds now and soil is actually not hard. They seem to get plenty of rain. I haven't moved there yet - Still in Colorado. Next year.

Like has been said below, it depends what the field is now. If it is established sod/weeds, I'd say mouldboard, in order to get that material turned under. If it is only intermittenly covered, I'd say chisel.
OR- Chisel then turn with an offset disc.
60 ponnies won't pull much of a chisel, or an offset.
Both methods will need to be followed by a tandem disc, and then, ideally, a land plane and culti-packer.
Good luck.

Ben

You're generalizing an awfull lot there Mark. Yes, much of the west is arid. BUT, also, nearly all hay/ intensive crop land in the west is irrigated. One of the advantages of having mountains around is runnoff is able to be stored, and dolled out throughout the summer.

Ben

Ben,

Of course, you are right. Turn off the water and it's all arid. I had an uncle that lived at John Day, Or. High desert....or low desert...it's all desert.

That country gives a true definition to Crop Circles.

Ok, I will stick my neck out here and say it. Unless it is really washed out, or just plain rough, and it just has a few weeds on it, I would go the cheap route here and spray it with round up now and again in the fall. Then no till or broadcast and lightly disk a winter annual (here we use wheat or annual rye grass) and what ever you want your hay field to be (fescue, orchardgrass, a few legumes). The winter annual will choke out the weeds in the spring and when it is cut early, the hay will come on good.

Where you are is a long way from west KY and this might might not work there. If you can get by with out turning ground you are money and time ahead. I have 75 hp tractor and a 3X16 plow, I can figure on just a little over an acre an hour if I have a long staright stretch.

Good luck.

Dave

If it is soft then I would use a chisel, remember you don't have to go deep, 60 nags limit what you can do. "no till" seems to be catching on.

The last time I seeded a hayfield (alfalfa and grass mix) I plowed in some ditches and plowed out some terraces. I had a way better stand and growth on the plowed ground versus just disced. I don't know why it was this way, but it was really noticeable. I was seeding into cornstalks. Lee