Furrowing plow

[CasualObserver 3,406]

This ties in with the thread in the for sale section about the 753 w/hydraulic lift. It's also listed on ebay. I like that furrowing plow he's got on it. There's a better picture in the ebay listing. Anybody know what model that is or anything about it? I'm unfamiliar with there being a Wheel Horse Furrowing plow. I'm guessing it's homemade.. but though I'd ask.

Ebay link

Craigslist link

[catman81056 3]

I've seen them on ebay, I'm pretty sure they are potatoe plows, for unearthing hills of potatoes. Although they could be used for other stuff.

[CasualObserver 3,406]

I know brinly had one... so that's probably what this is, just fancifully decorated with WH stuff.

[bluetuna08 0]

sorry guys...but that is not a furrowing plow or a potatoe hiller. I know because I have both.

this particular contraption is a middle buster. I doubt that it is a wheel horse though.

[mailman 1]

Ok, now I am really confused. Is anyone up to the challenge to distinguish the difference between a middle buster, a furrower and a potato hiller?

pics would be really helpful. By the way, I want one! :banghead:

[Rideawaysenior 25]

You can get middlebusters from Sears that fit the clevis hitch for less then $100.00. Just my opinion but if you look at a potato hiller and a middlebuster, there really isn't much of a difference. They both do the same thing, furrow into the ground and move the debris, crop out of the trench. The potato hillers I have seen sometimes have longer frogs off the point to move the material further away from the trench to prevent it from being backfilled easily.

[bluetuna08 0]

my potato hiller is shaped like my furrow (sort of) but much much smaller...say 6 inches to the plows 10 inches.

a middle buster is like a furrow expcept with two sides and no wheel.

and to make this really good...a sub soiler is like a middle buster without a blade, but those are pretty easy to spot.

I will try and take picutures later.

[wh500special 2,053]

Let me try to confuse this a little further...hopefully the farmers/exfarmers will chip in...

When plowing a field with a regular plow you can choose many patterns to cover the whole area, but generally you will run parallel to the long edges of the field and will work from the outside in along one edge and then on the return direction you will work from the opposite side again outside in.

When you reach the middle of the field the chances that the two furrows will line up exactly allowing a final cleanup pass are pretty slim. usually you will either have a gap of unplowed soil between adjacent final furrows or they will end up overlapping. In either case, you will end up with a gap or a hump created from the two opposite direction furrows throwing soil on top of each other.

Instead, you can hook up a "middle buster" on the final pass and create a furrow that tills up the gap between the two furrows yet doesn't leave that gap or hump.

On a garden you can avoid this by only plowing in one direction and then circling back to start the next pass. On a big field though, you'd waste a lot of time circling around.

Two-way plows - as offered for the D250 - have one plow designed to throw soil to the right and a second that is designed to throw to the left. At the end of each pass the tractor is swung around to follow back along the line just plowed and the other plow is selected. This means the field can be plowed back and forth from the same side working your way along the whole width of the field. the net result is a faster job with no gap or hump in the middle.

Subsoilers are meant to penetrate deeper than a normal plow to break up the hard pan that results from the bottom of the conventional plow compacting the soil at its max depth year after year. Breaking up that pan allows for better drainage/aeration/etc. The whole area is not usually ripped open though, instead the passes are spaced pretty wide and a second set of passes might even be made 90 degrees to the first.

I always thought a potato plow had a taller, wider, slotted moldboard that is supposed to work in looser soil. Seems like the ideal potato soil would then be kind of sandy..or at least not heavy clay that holds too much moisture and invites rotting of the potatoes in the ground. The slots allow some soil to pass through and decrease the surface area (and friction) generated by pulling a wider plow. They are made to bring the potatoes to the surface and leave them on top of the turned soil. I'd imagine a middle buster might do a good job here too but I think it's not it's primary use.

Regional jargon and nomenclature call different implements different things. And I think plowing of all kinds is mostly a lost art in both the farm and the garden. In a garden I find it fun to dink around with a plow/disc/harrow but really don't think it matches the efficiency of a tiller. Likewise, conventional plowing has all but been abandoned in favor of no till or minimum tillage farming. Too time consuming and not enough regular benefits to keep up the practice on a yearly scale. Plus you have to fight off soil losses from erosion if the field is opened up like that.

I am betting Dale and Jim M both have experience here with all this stuff. Hopefully they will chime in.

Steve

[bluetuna08 0]

my particular potatoe hiller only rolls potatoes in one direction so that I have a path to drive down on the way back through the garden.

maine is potatoe country...probably second to idaho though :banghead:

[bitten 133]

When I plow my garden in the fall I start in the middle then the second pass is right next to the first and work my way out. I plow in the fall and till in the spring. I like the idea with plowing in the fall to help catch the snow. By the time spring comes the ground is nice and level and the tiller goes through it real easy. I also add compost to the garden befor I plow and it works the compost in to the ground. I am no expert on how to work the ground but have found that this work for me.

P.J.

[Brian1045 28]

So this is a furrowing plow?

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