Subsoiling

[Anonymous-0]

When is the best time of the year to subsoil? I know you dont want to do it when the ground is too wet, resulting in a smeer wall. How do you know when it is dry enough to subsoil?

 

[Ken-Pa]

Now that"s a a question that only one person can answer . Without knowing anything about the land & soil , it"s really hard to help you with that one . So it"s you & only you that can find that out . Do a test run at the edge of the land . If it seems dry move on out .If you start spinning & the dirt is wet , then back off & put the tractor away .God bless, Ken

 

[paul]

Fall. Dry.

Sometimes Fall & wet has to do, only conditions you get.

Spring chiseling is a make-do deal.

--->Paul

 

[Mark]

I do mine in late August...when it's hot and dry. Some folks only go deep enough to get below the hardpan..maybe 16". I run mine as deep as it will go...on the order of 22"-24". It takes some major muscle to pull one that deep....but you can watch the ground hoove up in a ridge on either side of the SS shank. That's a sign that you are fracturing the soil strata..lifting and separating it...like a good bra...hehe! I also have a 5" mole ball on my SS...it surely helps drain wet ground. Stay far enough away from your last pass to keep from re compacting the soil...for me that means each row/pass is about 5 feet apart. If you've got real problem soil..checkerboard your pattern and then run a diagonal pass. Yes, crossing you other passes will give some compaction..but by time you're done....it won't amount to much. If you're just trying to drain a wet area....just go one way...preferably towards a lower area....a ditch is ideal. The ground will naturally drain towards it and your wet area will disappear.

 

[deereron]

#1 in the fall
#2 when it's dry

 

[Bob in Oakboro]

I am new to doing this but it sounds like I could use it to drain some of my wet areas. I would like to find out what a mole ball is. Could you describe it or tell me more about it?

Thanks

Bob

 

[ET]

If you have any tile drains or old stone ditches that work you will most likly ruin them with a subsoiler.

 

[Anonymous-0]

A mole ball is a steel or cast iron ball attached to the foot of the subsoiler shank with a short chain. Creats a hole in the earth that acts like a tile for up to 7 yrs according to Michigan State. I have one and it does work.

Jerry

 

[johns48jdb]

the best way to drain wet areas is to put in drainage tile. hire a company that does it and leave the driving to them. i worked for a man who had this done and at most times of the year y9ou could see water pouring out of these tiles into a drainage ditch. if its only a few spots and close to a ditch a back hoe and some sewage drianage tiles will fix you right up. we had a spot that had a spring in it and we opened it up with a back hoe and dug a hole big enough to dump a tandum axle load of gravel in. we dumped 1/2 of it, put in the draingae tile in a spiral and covered it with tar paper and dumped the rest of the gravel on it. the top of the gravel ended up about 2 feet below ground level. that depends on where you've got to drain it to. worked perfect. similar things can be done to put in septic lines where trees and lots of rocks are a problem.

 

[Tim(nj)]

Before you go digging, check local wetlands rules. 'Here', it is illegal to drain springs or wetlands. Existing tiles can be maintained, but no new installations.

 

[Mark]

That's right...if you have deep pockets.....hire an outfit to come in to do what you can do with a SS and a mole ball and leave no tell-tale signs if the enviro whackos call the shots where you live.

I've gotten to the point that I rarely comment on half what I read here because without fail, some arm chair expert will always jump up and contradict it.

 

[johns48jdb]

mark, sorry you took exception to my comments. the poster didn't say how many acres he had, how big of a problem he had or if he had ditches to drain it into. your method will work temporarly and will be hard to do if he has to try to plow through wet, muddy areas. in that case the furrow made with the bal will fill in just right away. trying to carry the tractor from the wet spot to a ditch and then have the tractor pull its way through a ditch with the submoisture and mole would be hard to do. as you say he might need to rob a bank, but in order for people here to give better advice then the posters need to give more info on their problem. if they don't i can only give advice on what i know works for me or things i've seen done that works. you gave your piece of advice and i gave mine. its up to the poster to make up his mind about what to do. thats the way i look at any and all replies i give. i'm sure that most posters are glad to get any and all comments so they have a better feel for what decision they need to make and i encourage you and all others to say your piece. i took some classes once on brain storming and one of the points there was for every body to say thier piece. while your idea may not work it might be incorporated into a workable solutions with some body elses inputs. also things you say may trigger thoguhts in somebody elses brain that will lead to a solution. sorry if i reuffled your feathers.

 

[Leroy]

A subsoiler will not do anything to drain a wetland, they will only work to break up a hardpan so the water can soak down thru the hardpan into the subsoil and then to existing if you have them tile ditches. And only use a subsoiler if the ground is dry enough so that if you take a handfull of soil you cannot make it stick together in a ball, only if it will crumble as you try to make that ball.