Chisel Plow versus Offset Disc

[Dan in North Houston]

Here?s the problem, I need a plow. I have hay fields, but here in Texas, we have a big problem with feral hogs. It?s common to go out and find patches of ground tore up, sometimes small areas of maybe 100 sq. feet up to a half acre. Currently I have a 8? tandem 3 pt. disc, and I disc it up multiple times, reseed with Bahia grass, then roll it with a cultipacker. This usually does a good job, but sometimes it is so tore up that it needs a little more cultivation than what the tandem disc can provide. If I don?t get it smoothed out, my custom hay cutter just by-passes the area, and I don?t blame him a bit. I?ve had years where I?ve lost 5% of my potential hay crop due to the hog damage.
Soil is slightly sandy loam in Grimes County, Texas. There is a rock ledge that traverses the whole place, where there are large rocks just under the surface that can catch and shear the pins on the shanks of my pasture renovator. The rock ledge goes across the whole place, but is relatively narrow and is not really a problem for the other 95% of the acreage. Fortunately, the rock ledge is not under the main pasture area. I grew up around a moldboard plow, but I?m not interested in one for this situation.
I?m looking at a 5? 3 pt. offset disc (not sure if it is a category 1 or 2, and not sure of the size of the discs) and a 7 shank chisel trailer plow. I?m leaning towards the chisel plow, as I can easily control the depth, and I assume that if I encounter a rock, it won?t be a problem. Since I?m just working small areas, I won?t be going fast, and the trailer plow will be easy to hitch up.
On the other hands, I know that the rocks won?t be a problem for the disc, and it is a little cheaper. But if it is not compatible with my quick hitch, it?s more of a pain to hook up. At certain times of the year, I may have some remediation to do every weekend.
I have a JD 4020, so I have enough tractor for either. Would welcome any advice or comments.

 

[Janicholson]

If it is already "tilled" by the hogs, why not use a Box blade to contour the surface, and then reseed. A land leveler is the idea, but way too much. Jim

 

[r.w.b.]

Avoid chisel plow,if you got rock just under ground they will be above ground quickly.
Sounds like we need to show up with rifles like my 45/70 and try thinning herd down like we did here.young gilt pigs are good eating

 

[Traditional Farmer]

All ground is different but in my area with Red Clay and a tough sub soil nothing beat a chisel plow to tear things up,I run one way then then go 90 degrees across what I first chiseled then I can disk it up easy.Picking rock is just part of the process in my area.

 

[Goose]

I'd lean towards the chisel plow.

When I was farming and raising wheat, I finally quit using a moldboard plow on the wheat ground.

I just went over it with a chisel plow and disced it down a couple of times with a harrow attachment on the disc. Went a lot faster and didn't have dead furrows and back furrows to contend with.

Sounds like you're OK on power. A rule of thumb for chisel plows is 10hp per shank.

 

[GreenAcre]

I'm north of Houston about 100 miles and deal with the same thing. I second the box blade. A lot of work can be done with a box blade.

 

[Dan in North Houston]

I have a box blade, a straight blade, and a front end loader. Any type of blade work just makes a mess because of the clumps of grass.

 

[Dan in North Houston]

I don't have enough rocks to worry about bring them to the surface, and since I'm working small areas, it wouldn't be much trouble to pick them up.
As for thinning the herd, my neighbor has 3 remote controlled traps with automatic feeders, infrared lights, etc. Motion sensors trigger an alarm to his cell phone, and he can then activate the camera to view the trap and trigger it when most of the pigs are in it. He has taken over 300 hogs so far, and while that helps a little, it doesn't really make much of a dent in the population. Unless you are hunting from a helicopter, hunting them is just a waste of time. You rarely see them in daylight. We have put out game cameras, and found that there is no best time at night to see them. They may come every night for a while, or not show up for months. Their favorite spot is between me and the neighbor's house, where I don't have safe field of fire. On average, they will show up a couple of times a week for a month or so, then nothing for a while. They reproduce so fast (3 litters a year on average), you could shoot several a week and have virtually no impact on the local population.

 

[4520BW]

I would love to shot something with my .45-70 but it's not legal for deer around here.

 

[K Effective]

I use a rototiller. This year it was to follow up after first cutting and smooth out the ruts left by the mower/rake and baler. Or in places I tried to use my lawn mower a bit too soon.

For an area 10'X10' as you say, no sense getting too big. And the rototiller can leave it ready to plant, or till the seed right in, no need to swap tools.

 

[tomNE]

i'd second the box blade idea.

 

[marloweg]

45-70 not legal for deer ? one of them dumb states with shot gun only ?

 

[4520BW]

Was till a few years ago. The problem is the case length, too short. My .300 weatherby mag is legal tho!

 

[MikeinKy]

4520, you need to move a few miles south.In Ky, I think any center fire rifle is legal. Aren't you near Rushville.

 

[Eldon (WA)]

(quoted from post at 14:46:58 08/21/19) I use a rototiller. This year it was to follow up after first cutting and smooth out the ruts left by the mower/rake and baler. Or in places I tried to use my lawn mower a bit too soon.

For an area 10'X10' as you say, no sense getting too big. And the rototiller can leave it ready to plant, or till the seed right in, no need to swap tools.

I would go that route also, but pull a drag behind it to help smooth it out. A tiller with a roller would be ideal....my 8' is for sale (hint,hint)

 

[r.w.b.]

Who in gods name dreamed that up? 45/70 can do some severe damage and not affected by small limbs and grass blades.if in proper newer rifles can be reloaded pretty darn hot.
Oldest cartridge on market i think 45 colt is next.that says a lot

 

[4520BW]

It's weird for sure! Up until about 10 years ago it was shotgun slugs and large handguns, the rifles that used pistol type cartridges. That's when I bought my .458 socom AR upper to hunt with. Now rifles are legal for the most part. With all the houses around I stick with my .30-30. I have an 1895g marlin in .45_70.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Around here no matter what you use, you kick up rocks.

Disc harrows in my experience do not do much to level the ground. They are good for chopping up sod clods to a certain extent but that's about it.

Pound for pound the best type of tillage tool for smoothing land is a spring tooth harrow, what we call a drag around here, but nobody makes them anymore. All you can get are field cultivators which don't work nearly a well due to the frame being so high above the ground. Chisel plow is basically a coarser version of the field cultivator. Unfortunately none of them work well in green sod.

By far the best land leveling device is a simple beam or pipe dragged along behind the the disk or drag or even by itself. The heavier the better. Our fields were never smoother than after being over them twice with a disc-drag-pipe combination.

The best way to deal with sod is to moldboard plow it, but unless you're doing the entire field, that's probably not an option.