How to mole & keep fields level in no-till?

[Feldspar]

We are in a system now where we crop every other year with a fallow in between. The idea has been to no-till wheat into the fallowed fields because the surface will be completely free of black-grass (having had a spray before viable seed set). This year we started no-till wheat on 16th September. Supposedly madness on black-grass land, but due to the prior management these fields are actually far cleaner for black-grass than the stuff we drilled a month later. This was because of much higher soil movement (Claydon vs 750a) and the inability to get sprays timed perfectly and no Avadex.

I really like being able to start drilling this early, but the problem is mole drainage. We have a contractor who comes in to do the mole drainage with a single leg mole and a rubber tracked CAT. The problem is that once they have moled the fields are pretty bumpy, and where we've tried to shallow cultivate / direct drill after moling it slows the sprayer down a LOT, which makes a big difference to output through the spring. My father always says he like to see a cultivator over the moles fairly soon afterwards to stop fine stuff washing down into the moles.

I am wondering if there are moling set-ups or other moling strategies that can enable us to mole and then no-till wheat in with the 750a without suffering all this bumpiness? Obviously where the moles go with the tramlines it's easier, but on the headlands you are driving across the moles whatever.

Help / thoughts much appreciated.

@yellow belly @Simon C @ajd132

 

[Badshot]

I mole every field every year.
But I do every third run so I have a fresh mole every year. It requires rtk, and a will to make a good job, and some extra management because you need to know where to mole each time.

 

[Feldspar]

I mole every field every year.
But I do every third run so I have a fresh mole every year. It requires rtk, and a will to make a good job, and some extra management because you need to know where to mole each time.

When you come back to re-mole a run, do you run *exactly* where you ran the time before? How do you find driving across the moles round the headland? What about fields that are moled across the tramlines?

 

[Badshot]

I go in between everytime.
So start at 7.5m spacing, then move over 2.5m each year until done.
Then shift to the side 1.25m and carry on at 2.5m spacing until the fields done, then shift in between again etc, etc .
I have a few fields now with moles every 62.5cm.
Having new moles at 7.5m isn't too bad for traveling.

 

[Feldspar]

I go in between everytime.
So start at 7.5m spacing, then move over 2.5m each year until done.
Then shift to the side 1.25m and carry on at 2.5m spacing until the fields done, then shift in between again etc, etc .
I have a few fields now with moles every 62.5cm.
Having new moles at 7.5m isn't too bad for traveling.

Yup, that makes sense. At the frequency we mole at at the moment it seems to the worst and is sort of a resonant frequency. The tractor starts bumping worse and worse and worse. Not good for my expensive spray booms.

 

[Badshot]

I do try to avoid 90 degree to the tramlines though.

We don't have much drainage which is backfilled with beach so am reliant on getting into ditches or crossing the few which do have beach fill.

 

[AF Salers]

@all_arable moles regularly in a no till system with a 750a,I am sure he would share his methods

 

[Simon C]

Not sure why you're having this problem James. I too use a contractor with a rubber track crawler and single beam mole. I think the maximum lift above the mole would be 2 inches, often less. I have a few fields where I spray at tight angles to the moles and don't feel them at all.

I always make sure that the beam is pulling tight against the soil so that it can't blow out, the point of the mole needs to be angled down enough to hold the beam down. This does make it harder to pull so worth checking your guy isn't skimping on the job and saving a bit of fuel.

I go round after with my 5 ton digger and put the soil from the liftouts back where it came from, then push the whole field down with heavy flat balast rolls.

This is where we moled through lucerne in August, no lift at all and you can hardly see where they are now.

I do wonder if the longer you are in no-till, the lower the bulk density becomes, allowing more squeeze room.

 

[Feldspar]

Not sure why you're having this problem James. I too use a contractor with a rubber track crawler and single beam mole. I think the maximum lift above the mole would be 2 inches, often less. I have a few fields where I spray at tight angles to the moles and don't feel them at all.

I always make sure that the beam is pulling tight against the soil so that it can't blow out, the point of the mole needs to be angled down enough to hold the beam down. This does make it harder to pull so worth checking your guy isn't skimping on the job and saving a bit of fuel.

I go round after with my 5 ton digger and put the soil from the liftouts back where it came from, then push the whole field down with heavy flat balast rolls.

This is where we moled through lucerne in August, no lift at all and you can hardly see where they are now.

I do wonder if the longer you are in no-till, the lower the bulk density becomes, allowing more squeeze room.

Thanks for all these points, Simon.

I wonder whether it is because our fields have a history mostly of cultivation. Yes, the moling done this year will have been into fields that haven't been moved for 24 months, but I think still there will be a difference.

I'm a bit unsure about how much soil heave you want to see. My understanding was that you want plastic conditions at moling depth, but then shattering conditions higher up so that you create a V-shape of fissures nearer the surface. My father has told me this morning that the older generations around us were most happy when they could see the soil rise a bit across the whole width of the mole drainer (i.e. from wheel to wheel).

I will check on the mole angle point.

I think maybe sometimes I haven't felt the moles too badly. But certainly a few fields recently have been almost impossible to travel even in the Fastrac at more than about 8 kph.

Do you worry much about fine material being washed down the moles? Again, my father has always brushed over with something to seal the surface, but I don't know how necessary that is.

 

[Simon C]

My contractor, who works on cultivated land everywhere else can't understand how I get away with crossing moles. I think any cultivation after moling moves soil from the lifted strip so that wheels then drop in after things have settled.

I've never thought about anything washing down the slots, they are usually closed up again straight away. Don't know anything about high silt soil though.

 

[Feldspar]

My contractor, who works on cultivated land everywhere else can't understand how I get away with crossing moles. I think any cultivation after moling moves soil from the lifted strip so that wheels then drop in after things have settled.

I've never thought about anything washing down the slots, they are usually closed up again straight away. Don't know anything about high silt soil though.

I think you might be right about the cultivation thing. The worst effect I've seen recently was a shallow cultivation at 90 degrees to the moles. Deeper Sumo Trio was quite a better, but still far from comfortable.

 

[yellow belly]

One of the keys to moleing is not to have too much heave as little as possible

if there is a lot of heave
it could be too dry at mole depth ,hot mole and bullet is a give away if it is too dry the first heavy rain will destroy the mole as it has too much loose soil
i have stopped autumn moleing because it is too dry in most years

warn mole which is set at too steep an angle with point down


ahdb as a very good moleing demo on their soil site

i now mole in the spring after drilling for early April drilled crops but pre drilling for later April drilled crops with a twin leg and then aim to roll after every 4 years and with gps to not follow the same run
most of my fields mole with the tramlines and controlled trafic system

where we mole across the tramlines due to drainage direction I try to be 45 degrees and avoid perpendicular
I have considered just level ing the tramlines with a shallow tine if we did perpendicular

 

[yellow belly]

moled fields within 2 years were much dryer in the spring alowing a week earlier drilling

 

[Godber]

Generally we pull the mole one way, up hill then return with a track on the mole which rolls it down, usually leaves it level.

 

[GeorgeK]

I often do a lap with a shallow cultivator round the headland tramline to keep it smooth, on occasion I will do all the tramlines if they need it. (Whisper it) power harrow works great, if you're really keen you can even remove some tines so it only does the wheelings

 

[Auckland Blue]

We run a mole were the blade runs close between to wide skids. Disc runs just in front of the blade and is run fairly deep. i believe this reduces heave a little bit. We are on Hanslope, Ragdale series clays.

 

[ajd132]

One of the keys to moleing is not to have too much heave as little as possible

if there is a lot of heave
it could be too dry at mole depth ,hot mole and bullet is a give away if it is too dry the first heavy rain will destroy the mole as it has too much loose soil
i have stopped autumn moleing because it is too dry in most years

warn mole which is set at too steep an angle with point down


ahdb as a very good moleing demo on their soil site

i now mole in the spring after drilling for early April drilled crops but pre drilling for later April drilled crops with a twin leg and then aim to roll after every 4 years and with gps to not follow the same run
most of my fields mole with the tramlines and controlled trafic system

where we mole across the tramlines due to drainage direction I try to be 45 degrees and avoid perpendicular
I have considered just level ing the tramlines with a shallow tine if we did perpendicular

We are doing the same. Heave is a sign it’s too dry. Spring moling is the way foward for us with a twin leg too. It’s usually too dry in the summer.

 

[Feldspar]

One of the keys to moleing is not to have too much heave as little as possible

if there is a lot of heave
it could be too dry at mole depth ,hot mole and bullet is a give away if it is too dry the first heavy rain will destroy the mole as it has too much loose soil
i have stopped autumn moleing because it is too dry in most years

warn mole which is set at too steep an angle with point down


ahdb as a very good moleing demo on their soil site

i now mole in the spring after drilling for early April drilled crops but pre drilling for later April drilled crops with a twin leg and then aim to roll after every 4 years and with gps to not follow the same run
most of my fields mole with the tramlines and controlled trafic system

where we mole across the tramlines due to drainage direction I try to be 45 degrees and avoid perpendicular
I have considered just level ing the tramlines with a shallow tine if we did perpendicular

Thanks.

"warn mole which is set at too steep an angle with point down" – is "warn" a typo? Not quite sure what you mean here.

We have been using a Sumo Trio with two legs in to lift tramlines as we move from 24m to 36m tramlines. I wonder if we could use this on the tramlines where moles go across the tramlines?

What tractor do you use for moling in the crops in the spring? Do you do it when the crop is showing or before? Does it obviously damage the crops in the tractor wheelings? I don't see people doing it much around here (except for @ajd132), but is this because it works less well in cultivated systems?

 

[Feldspar]

I often do a lap with a shallow cultivator round the headland tramline to keep it smooth, on occasion I will do all the tramlines if they need it. (Whisper it) power harrow works great, if you're really keen you can even remove some tines so it only does the wheelings

Because we want to drill really quite early, I'm worried about any soil disturbance outside the tramlines. I think a 3m power harrow would disturb too much soil and result in a 3m band of black-grass. That said, I'm not sure whether even the moling itself will cause black-grass.

 

[Farmer Dan 42]

I’m not keen on this running on the mole line to flatten the heave,if conditions lend themselves to it I have known it collapse the mole.Any pass done after moling I always try to do in the opposite direction.