Drought
- Thread starter Ley253
- Start date
Sprayer
Member
- Location
- South Derbyshire
not trying to be pessimistic but it's not looking good without rain before the matches start in September. If you get the plough in the ground it will be difficult to get a, decent furrow as the soil will not flow well but break off in slabs, discs will wear badly if they don't carry the plough and have to be removed, shares will melt like butter in the sun skimmer arms bend, and tractors struggle for traction as the plough will take more pulling. Rape stubble maybe the best ground but it is too early to say. Very dry here, no rain of any consequence since April.
Whilst a week might well be a long time in politics, similarly a month is a long time in Ploughing. A lot can happen. September now seems to be the ‘back end ploughing month’ but for me it always seemed a tad too early and in most times always before some moisture got back into the ground.
The last bad dry spell around here was I believe around the late 90’s - 2000. Saw a good few discs popped off the rivets, disc and skimmer arms broken, serious damage to points, legs and frogs in our hard baked limestone soil especially where a lot of stone is present.
Just been reliably informed 76 was the bad one around here with 61 before that. Can remember lifting taties in 76. Took us all morning to get a 3 tonne trailer load. Price got into the high 300’s, crashing just before it got to £400. A lotta-lotta money in 1976.
Due East of here and down into Lincolnshire there is a lot of sand. Hard packed it might well get, but without the malice contained in had baked clay and limestone.
As a footnote then just be prepared to lift your discs and skimmers as high as you can. Either that or sort a few Rain Dancing Morris men out, probably hedge your bets and set em’ on no win no fee!
The last bad dry spell around here was I believe around the late 90’s - 2000. Saw a good few discs popped off the rivets, disc and skimmer arms broken, serious damage to points, legs and frogs in our hard baked limestone soil especially where a lot of stone is present.
Just been reliably informed 76 was the bad one around here with 61 before that. Can remember lifting taties in 76. Took us all morning to get a 3 tonne trailer load. Price got into the high 300’s, crashing just before it got to £400. A lotta-lotta money in 1976.
Due East of here and down into Lincolnshire there is a lot of sand. Hard packed it might well get, but without the malice contained in had baked clay and limestone.
As a footnote then just be prepared to lift your discs and skimmers as high as you can. Either that or sort a few Rain Dancing Morris men out, probably hedge your bets and set em’ on no win no fee!
tomlad
Member
- Location
- nr. preston
Serious cracks in some of my fields atm
But been damp last week or so . Only warm yesterday here . Hottest day ever ??
We desilted on of my ponds in feb . All slob into 2 big lagoons 8 ft + deep cracks in them now 12 - 18 " deep put ur hand in. Slob went in as wet porridge .
Very odd
I wasn't alive in 76 . Alot of fisheries struggling with water quality due to weather.
But been damp last week or so . Only warm yesterday here . Hottest day ever ??
We desilted on of my ponds in feb . All slob into 2 big lagoons 8 ft + deep cracks in them now 12 - 18 " deep put ur hand in. Slob went in as wet porridge .
Very odd
I wasn't alive in 76 . Alot of fisheries struggling with water quality due to weather.
- Location
- Cirencester
Dire here, I have cracks 6" wide, would loose the front wheel of my Fergie in them, mind I can't plough straight so not an issue. I have cultivated some OSR stubbles, brash has come down very nicely indeed but anything with any body or clay is coming up in very large lumps, so will wait for rain before doing those fields. Our first match is scheduled for Aug 12th but suspect it will be cancelled unless it's sand ground.
Chap up the road has been ploughing with a Quad track and 12 furrow reversible and by all accounts some of it is very interesting to look at, with the shares not cutting through the ground but instead just hooking huge lumps up out of the ground, seems to be the talk of the area of late but not had time to see it yet myself.
But with the shortage of forage most stubbles will be baled and should be very short so a slight bonus, I just need to find my stash of 45kg front weights for the plough, get some water put into the tyres and get some tungsten Carbide welded onto my shares!!!!
Chap up the road has been ploughing with a Quad track and 12 furrow reversible and by all accounts some of it is very interesting to look at, with the shares not cutting through the ground but instead just hooking huge lumps up out of the ground, seems to be the talk of the area of late but not had time to see it yet myself.
But with the shortage of forage most stubbles will be baled and should be very short so a slight bonus, I just need to find my stash of 45kg front weights for the plough, get some water put into the tyres and get some tungsten Carbide welded onto my shares!!!!
.....and after that all you need to do is find somebody to straighten the frame an legs!
- Location
- Dorset/Wiltshire
I really hope you get to help him at some stage, I had a real keen interest in ploughing when I was younger and I think I would of enjoyed matches but didn’t have anyone to show me the ropes [emoji53]
Tonym
Member
- Location
- Shropshire
What is match standard Harry.
Surely it is to make the best job in the conditions encountered in the match you are ploughing in? Hopefully the same for all plots and judged as normal. Scores will be lower and ploughing not so pleasing to the eye but you will still have winners.
Made myself some hard groung shares but not tried them yet.
Surely it is to make the best job in the conditions encountered in the match you are ploughing in? Hopefully the same for all plots and judged as normal. Scores will be lower and ploughing not so pleasing to the eye but you will still have winners.
Made myself some hard groung shares but not tried them yet.
Ploughing which is an example of how it should be done!That wont be poss with rock hard fields cracked like that, lumps will break off in front of the share, and turn round and look at you, while others will pull up from well below the point, stand on end and wave to the judges! Thats if, of course you can get the plough in, and if you do, there is a very good chance of wrecking it. There is a photo on another thread of a KV leg with an artistic , non standard curve in it! Stones will be a great danger, they wont move so the plough will try to go around them, furrow wall wont give either, so around goes the leg.
Comes a time when reality check required. Pick the venue. Sand an very light land there is not a problem. Hard baked clay soils then different ball game. OK you can lift the discs up - even take the skimmers off, but what’s the point - especially on 59’s where the legs and frogs are almost sacrificial, disc stems and skimmer arms that snap like carrots.
Might just as well pick the plough up in the loader bucket, lift it to just above head height, then tip it out onto the floor. Get the same end result without the cost, trouble an embarrassment of doing it at a match.
12 bore
Member
Got a friend's of ferguson plough day on September 2nd to go to but with the ground so dry will either be unworkable or called off. Desperately in need of some rain here in Suffolk, passed an 8r series Deere pulling a plough today soil looked to just be coming off in great slabs engine barking fairly too
I agree with most of the sbove, but I think there’s plenty of time yet for things to soften up. Take ‘76 for example, it started raining on August bank holiday Monday, and three weeks later farmers were praying for it to stop. Needless to say it didn’t, and autumn sowing was a very difficult job, but the ground ploughed easily!!!
Ah yes, I remember it well! I was at Honiton Hill steam rally, sleeping in the back of an austin gypsy I was using at the time, rain started after midnight on the Sunday and blew in over me, had to shut the tailgate!
Horror of all horrors - at one of the local golf courses cracks have appeared in the fairways big enough to lose your ball down.
First ploughing match to cancel locally - Ryedale vintage tractor and engine club have cancelled the ploughing part of their annual show. The rest of the show will go ahead.
First ploughing match to cancel locally - Ryedale vintage tractor and engine club have cancelled the ploughing part of their annual show. The rest of the show will go ahead.
