Flatlifts and grassland.

Giles1

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Central Scotland
We have panning and need to subsoil/ flatlift. mainly loam, which has panned, over gravel/sand. Need to go down below 12" to break it. Looking at something like a Spaldings Flatlift to buy (not new!) or hire. All our ground is grazing and silage, can you mow after flatlifting assuming its done the year before you are cutting? I'd thought that the idea of a flatlift was that you could,hence its name, however I've heard stories........ We did use a subsoiler on a trial area which worked brilliantly drainage/grazing wise but left a somewhat rugged landscape not exactly mower friendly! I have no doubt a lot is down to the operator and conditions so I'm asking in general terms if a flatlift is better suited to cut and graze ground than a subsoiler.
 

john432

Member
Location
Carmarthenshire
It really depends on the soil. Peat over clay ,or if you've plenty of depth of soil it does a nice job. Needs the discs in front of the legs, and a packer roller on the back to hold the depth and close it back. Start ripping up shale or stoney ground and you'll have a very rough field.
 

beltbreaker

Member
Location
Ross-shire
We use a flatlift here in dry weather on similar soil. We reverse a foot before lifting it out to avoid making a (more) mess. It leaves small ridges and if there is rapid growth you can annihilate the grass 6" either side of slit as roots get broken especially if goes dry.. Not that that will be a problem for now
 

Giles1

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Central Scotland
Panning here is caused by silaging, and livestock outside all year round, coupled with high rainfall , and regular flooding, with a high water table a lot of the time.
So beltbreaker best done in the late summer/ autumn, and moisture loss definitely not a problem just now...........
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Should be just the ticket.

Down here the popular ones are made by James Engineering, these have a small ballast roller on the back to leave it flat-flat - you can still get the ^^ burnt-strips effect if it dries out, no problem otherwise.
Got to get air in somehow
 

milkloss

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Always been a bit wary of them myself having tried one years ago only to see very little benefit. Different soil and maybe the possible compaction wasn't as bad as I thought it was at the time.

Anyhow...... why not plant a pan busting seed mix in rotation? I've found red clover to be pretty good at loosening soil lower down.
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Weaving Grassland Subsoiler does a nice job, you can get a Sumo Trio on grassland legs but it could be too heavy for basic work?
 

Giles1

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Central Scotland
When we reseed, red clover is in there, it just doesn't like getting wet or our acid soils, though we do lime , or the way we treat the ground. Part of the problem is the same fields get cut nearly every year, so they get hammered by machinery. We do try and limit running over them by 3 into 1 rowing up before round baling, no tedding (unless for the once every 5 years chance at hay), no Fusions plus 1000 hp tractors, and our self loading bale trailers make a big difference to tractor footprint on the fields. We roll fields pre cutting now only if they are rough after winter or the moles have been overactive, or some idiot (me) took a machine where he shouldn't have when he shouldn't have collecting firewood or something.
Yes Weaving looks interesting, I'll check for dealers/hirers up here
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Flatlift is an arable subsoiller.

is Erth not interesting ?


or is 'interesting ' Scottish for cheaper?:ROFLMAO::oops:
My interpretation would be a sumo trio/flat lift are designed for 200+ Hp, the Erth and weaving GLS more designed for 130-150hp which is more popular on livestock farms, saying that I’d also argue that the dairy farmer spec should be twice as strong as arable build 😂
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
My interpretation would be a sumo trio/flat lift are designed for 200+ Hp, the Erth and weaving GLS more designed for 130-150hp which is more popular on livestock farms, saying that I’d also argue that the dairy farmer spec should be twice as strong as arable build 😂
lol.

but yes , the tractor needs to be as light as poss. as well for obvious reasons.
 
lol.

but yes , the tractor needs to be as light as poss. as well for obvious reasons.
Not necessarily, tractor needs to be weighted/heavy enough, and tyre pressures set correctly so that the tractor grips rather than wheel-slips. Good idea to do in the autumn so the ground settles naturally - avoid stock or machinery until next spring if possible. Erth is, in my opinion, the best machine - only other I would consider is the Sumo
 

jackstor

Member
Location
Carlisle
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We did this last week with a flatlift. Usually do 50-100 acre each year, transforms the fields over winter.
 

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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