High cut ploughing

[Devil's advocate]

Sorry I'm not a match plougher.

But high cut ploughing looks great to get a good frost mould.

How is it acheived. I presume 12 inch (even 10 inch) setting , shallow depth of work , long mouldboards & slow speed. Or is there more to it than that?. Can it be done with a modern plough?

Sorry for novice questions.

 

[wuddy]

@Pennine Ploughing
Has been doing it for a little while. I believe they only plough at 8 or nine inches wide. Have not been involved in it myself so hopefully John will be along shortly. I do know the idea in it was so that seed would be broadcast with a fiddle and fall into the troughs between the furrs, the ploughing would then be harrowed knocking the tops off the furrs and covering the seed.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

well it ploughed at about 6" deep and about 8" wide, a long slow turn on the board, although a 3/4 board will do the job, it is cut out with a special share that has a bit of lift on the wing, there is press wheels at the end of the board to steady the furrow, then boats follow the press wheels to polish the sides of the furrow wall, and seamers to polish and seal the furrow bottom,
its a bit of a juggling act keeping an eye on all the stuff needed to do High Cut ploughing

this is some of my work at the Welsh National in 2017,

this is the outfit I plough with

 

[Devil's advocate]

Thank you Pennine ploughing, that work is wonderful to see.

 

[Tractor jack]

We also don’t use skimmers we use chains to pull the stubble under rather then cutting the corner of the furrow this also helps to keep the shape of the furrow

 

[Ley253]

Sorry I'm not a match plougher.

But high cut ploughing looks great to get a good frost mould.

How is it acheived. I presume 12 inch (even 10 inch) setting , shallow depth of work , long mouldboards & slow speed. Or is there more to it than that?. Can it be done with a modern plough?

Sorry for novice questions.

The reason for it goes back a long way. In the days before seed drills, the only method of weeding was to hand pull, seed having been broadcast on the land by hand. By ploughing High cut ( or to give it its proper name oat seed furrow) the narrow polished crested furrows made the still broadcast seed fall the the bottom, and so come up in rows. Then you could go weeding with your horse hoe. After seeding all that was done was a harrowing to break the high crusts down to bury the seed, sometimes a large thorn bush behind one horse was used.