Plowing down cornstalks

[maxwell99]

I disk down the cornstalks in my truck patches today.
I disk them down in the same direction that i am going to plow them under, however, my plow MF62 (3-12's) chokes up very easy,
In years past i have tried bush hogging the stalks, then disking them down, but this causes the plow to choke up bad.

any ideas on plowing down cornstalks other than disking them down in the same direction you are going to be plowing?

(other than buying a good plow that will not choke up, this old plow has new points and new coulter disk) so its the best its ever going to be.
Thanks,

 

[jon f mn]

Probly won't help much, but your coulters are not deep enough. When plowing they should be almost hub deep, or as deep as you can get them. What kind of soil do you have? If it's heavy try without the discing. Heavy soil will pull the stalks through but if you disc it you loose that.

 

[maxwell99]

thanks Jon,
have already disk the ground.

but if i do not disk the stalks down then they will not be covered with dirt for sure. at least a portion of the stalk will still be left standing up not covered. These plows just will not turn the dirt over good, may be what was called in the old days, high speed plows wings and for my little fergy i guess i need low speed plow wings that really flip the dirt over.

I do have an old team stalk cutter,

if this plowing experience goes as bad as last year, i may have to weld a three point hitch to that old stalk cutter and chop up the stalks before i try to disk them in or maybe try turning them under after the stalk cutter.

the old stalk cutter will chop up the stalks, but leaves them in small pieces and not all bunched up as the bush hog can do.

since i did not bush hog the stalks, i may have better luck this year. The ground is very dry, but the grass was starting to grow tall and i wanted to get it turned under so it would not seed out.

 

[JDseller]

Well the biggest mistake you are making is disking them anytime before plowing. All you are doing is making the dirt loose so the coulters on the plow can't slice the corn stalks up. The coulter will push the stalks down but the ground will be loose and so it will not cut the stalk into. Since you have already disk them you will need to wait until you get a rain to make the ground more solid to help the coulters cut the stalks. Even then it will not work the best.

Like Jon posted your coulters are way too high also. Lowering them will help some. In the future just run the stalks down with your tractor tire in the direction you are going to plow the ground. This way the stalks are down but the ground is still hard enough the coulters will cut through the stalks better. You still may plug up but the coulters will work much better in solid ground.

 

[Mike Aylward]

The coulter depth should be set to correlate with the depth of plowing. If this plow is set for, say, an 8" depth the coulters are set pretty close. They don't have to run hub deep, either. Set them so they just cut the trash and leave a nice furrow wall. Three inches deep is plenty. Stalks plow under best when they are still attached to the ground so the coulter can cut them. Stalks don't necessarily have to be cut up but if they are just knocked down they wil go through a plow pretty well. If you are trying to pick after a picker or hand picking you will not get along as well. A 12" plow will not be very good in trash, either, due to it's closeness of the bottoms. But it should still plow them if they are kept down. If you are doing a small plot drag something over the stalks to knock them over and they should plow just fine. Also remember this: most plow coulters are set TOO DEEP which causes people to think coulters are bad. Set them at 2-3" and plow. Been plowing stalks for 48 years and not always with a high clearance plow. Mike

 

[jon f mn]

Get trash boards for your plow and it will turn under the stalks well. They should be available for your plow or can easily be adapted from another. They are the little curved boards on top of the molboard that tips the top of the dirt and stalks down so it gets covered.

 

[jon f mn]

here is a pic of what I'm talking about. The top piece will turn under the stalks.

 

[JDseller]

Maxwell just run them flat with your tractor tire in the direction you are going to plow them. The weight of the tractor will break them off right at the root ball. If you have too large of a patch to do that then drag them down in the direct you are going to plow. I have seen an old telephone pole made into a drag to do this with.

If you loosed the dirt (disk) the coulters WILL NOT WORK!!!! They will just push the stalks down into the loose ground an not cut them or just push them along in front of the coulter.

The old horse draw stalk cutter will not cut modern hybrids very well the stalks are much harder/tougher then the old open pollinated corn they where made to cut. They also kind of loosen the ground too. Which adds to the problems just like disking.

The best thing to do with them is shred them with a flail mower/stalk shredder. They suck the stalks up off the ground and cut them into short pieces that will plow down easy. A flail type shredder will spread the cuttings out much better than a rotary cutter.

If you want to disk them then wait until after you have some good rain on the ground to make it solid up some. Plus the stalks will rot/decompose some and will cut easier. When we used too disk stalks down we would do it right after harvest and then not plow them for 30-60 days.

Also with a 12 inch plow you should only be plowing 6-8 inchs deep. If you are going deeper that is why your plow will not turn the soil over very well. You usually plow as deep as half the width of the plow shear. 12"= 6" deep, 14" = 7" deep and so on.

 

[RodinNS]

It's never ever occured to me that one should disc corn stocks down unless you've got an offset and just keep on discing...
Anytime I had to plow them under it was done in standing stalks with a modern Kverneland long beam plow. Just about any modern european or equivelant plow will do the job. Older plows don't have the interbody clearance to pass a lot of trash through...

Rod

 

[BushogPapa]

1st, a 12" plow is going to be troublesome because it is so small...
Anything less than 14" in corn stalks will get you off the tractor a lot..
I agree, your Coulters are not deep enough..
Cover-boards are a nice accessory that turn more under..
Some say that attaching a Chain or #9 Wire that drags and directs the trash through the plow opening is a real good device..!!
Always plow when the corn stalks are as DRY as possible, so the Coulters will cut it cleanly..
A 12" plow is only meant to plow a Maximum of 6" deep..plow 6" Deep..!!!
'Course, a Scoured plow ALWAYS works better than one in any other condion...
Ron..

 

[maxwell99]

well, you guys were right.

I tried to plow under my cornstalks today,
what a mess, could only go about 50ft then the plow was choked.

so i just plowed some other garden spots that had other than corn on them, plow worked good on those areas.

guess i will just wait awhile and try disking the corn patches again after we get some rain, then maybe i can cut the stalks up better.

I would like to get them rolled under ground before winter if possible.

note to file: next year (do not disk corn stalks) just turn them under while they are still standing.

thanks for your help and replys.

 

[Art Massing]

Maxwell,
One trick you might try is tying an 8 ft. length of No. 9 wire to the coulter and let it run past the moldboard and into the furrow. As taller trash is turned, the wire holds it down so the turned soil can cover it. You won’t get 100% coverage but you should see a great improvement. I"ve attached some pictues of my 2-14 Ford with the #9 wire. I use it on all of my plows.

A couple more things to think about:
The depth of the coulter is determined by how deep you are set up to plow. The coulter is only used to cut the trash so if you are plowing 12” deep, the coulter will be 4” to 5” away from the moldboard. If you’re like me and plow about 5” – 6” deep, the coulter will need to be about 1.5” to 2” away from the moldboard.

Disking or chopping the stalks is fine if the stalks are dry and not rotten. Sometimes (e.g. plowing in the spring) you’ll get better coverage if you just start plowing. It all depends on the condition your particular field on that particular day. There is no “One Size Fits All” solution in field work. Sometimes just raising or lowering the plow depth an inch can make a big difference in the quality of the work.

Hope this helps. Have fun with it!

Art

 

[Art Massing]

Lets try these pictures again! Plow with #9 wire for trash coverage.

 

[jon f mn]

That wire thing is a good idea. Soon as you mentioned it I remembered an old guy I talked to once telling me about this. He used it on his 2-14s behind his B jd. It does the same as the trash boards but for a whole lot less $. Still won't solve his plugging problem I think, but will fix the trash problem for next year.

 

[sflem849]

(quoted from post at 10:10:37 08/10/12) It's never ever occured to me that one should disc corn stocks down unless you've got an offset and just keep on discing...
Anytime I had to plow them under it was done in standing stalks with a modern Kverneland long beam plow. Just about any modern european or equivelant plow will do the job. Older plows don't have the interbody clearance to pass a lot of trash through...

Rod

It was standard practice here in WI when you talk to the old timers.

 

[sflem849]

(quoted from post at 18:13:16 08/10/12) well, you guys were right.

I tried to plow under my cornstalks today,
what a mess, could only go about 50ft then the plow was choked.

so i just plowed some other garden spots that had other than corn on them, plow worked good on those areas.

guess i will just wait awhile and try disking the corn patches again after we get some rain, then maybe i can cut the stalks up better.

I would like to get them rolled under ground before winter if possible.

note to file: next year (do not disk corn stalks) just turn them under while they are still standing.

thanks for your help and replys.

Why don't you disc or double disc the first time to kill the grass and then plow it in a couple months? Its August...you'll have time!

 

[Iowa Jim]

Did we cover this topic last month?

http://ytforums.ytmag.com/viewtopic.php?t=924133&highlight=

 

[Earl-IL]

Art, It looks like you fixed those plow share points!!! I am amazed when people post to help people solve a problem & they don't even try to see if it will work for them.

 

[maxwell99]

did learn something new.

(do not disk down the corn stalks)
tie wires to plow coulters to get them to cover the taller grass and stalks.

sometimes, a few of us just have to be told twice before we learn.

will give the old plows one more year, if they do not do anybetter next year plowing under my cornstalks.

may look for some other brand plows. some old guy said the best plows he ever used was international plows, but i do not know if they made a 3 pt hitch 2-14" or 2-16" international plow, may start looking this winter.

again, thanks for all help and suggestions on plowing under cornstalks.

 

[Craig Tenhoff]

Don't mean to hyjack the question on plowing cornstalks, but the picture of the complete moldboard/shin/share. could it be adapted to a IHC Little Genius or IH Model 70 plow? If so how do I get a hold of you?

Great info being shared!