Six or five furrow plough

[Jon]

I am looking to the plough to help against my black grass problem.

I currently use a five furrow plough on medium to heavy loam, with 180 hp, set at fourteen inches.

This ploughing that I'm planning to do will be post harvest, so ground conditions should be good, but time being at a premium.

Would I get better furrow closure with six furrows set at twelve inches ?
Would the extra furrow increase draft greatly at this reduced furrow width?

Thoughts on this greatly appreciated.

 

[Spud]

Interesting. We have both 6&5f. The 6 is a dowdeswell dp120ma, and is phenomenally long and heavy compared to the much more nimble 5f kverneland.
The kV is much kinder on tractors and easier to live with too.
What's your soil type? On heavy ground without stones, furrow splitters make a big difference.. Skimmers are essential, and trashboards help bury things at higher speeds.
Re furrow widths, 14" is a good compromise, at 12 most tyres will squash the furrow, and trash burial will be more difficult. At 16" will be lumpy in heavy ground.
A press is well worth pulling alongside too.

 

[Rust]

Why will 12" furrows make the furrow bottom smaller ?
Never known furrow width make the tail piece àny closer to its landside.

 

[Spud]

A wider furrow creates more material to bury, but the target is wider relative to the stream of trash flowing into it, so it's easier to make a tidy job.

Wider furrow (fixed width) = wider shares = wider hole

 

[Zebbedee]

Did you really just ask that? A 12" furrow leaves a 12" furrow bottom, a 50% bigger furrow will leave a 50% wider hole.
Now sure, a wider furrow creates more material to bury, but the target is wider relative to the stream of trash flowing into it, so it's easier to make a tidy job

.
??????? You sure ?

 

[Drillman]

Did you really just ask that? A 12" furrow leaves a 12" furrow bottom, a 50% bigger furrow will leave a 50% wider hole.
Now sure, a wider furrow creates more material to bury, but the target is wider relative to the stream of trash flowing into it, so it's easier to make a tidy job

The furrow bottom width will not alter if altering furrow width. Only way to do that is use different shares and mouldboards.

Or in simple terms the ditch the wheel runs down (when ploughing in the furrow) won't get bigger or smaller if furrow width is altered.

 

[bert]

Aye, longer boards will push each furrow further over away from the landslide, creating a bigger trench for the tyre to run. Regardless of how many inches of soil it has to turn over the trench will be the same width.

 

[Exfarmer]

Did you really just ask that? A 12" furrow leaves a 12" furrow bottom, a 50% bigger furrow will leave a 50% wider hole.
Now sure, a wider furrow creates more material to bury, but the target is wider relative to the stream of trash flowing into it, so it's easier to make a tidy job

A very common misconception.
Furrow width has nothing to do with the open furrow left.
This is controlled totally by share width and mouldboard throw.
However if the share width is too wide, you may have problem with the hinge effect and find the furrow is effectively pushed sideways

 

[Spud]

As a student ploughing with a 4f hydraulic vari width plough, the hole was definitely wider with it set at 20" than it was at 12".

iirc, it ran with 16" shares, which, with the variwidth closed right up, sort of overlapped, or at least reduced the 'hinge' significantly, on sticky land with couch etc on a hedgeback finishing a headland could be an issue. Set wider therefore, up to the limit of the share, left a wider hole, and beyond 16", a wider 'hinge'.
That plough had maize skimmers fitted, and a rear disc, both of which helped to leave a tidy job at higher speeds.

 

[Spud]

Widening furrow width usually alters the angle of the board thereby moving the soil further over, thereby leaving more space for the next furrow.

In any case, if the OP were to set his plough up correctly to a fixed width, he would doubtless use the appropriate shares, and hence alter the hole size.

 

[spikeislander]

I would say older mouldboards were designed to run better at lower widths but on my plough which is vari width i find when I close it up tight to finish headlands etc the trash burial isnt as good, I put this down to the skimmers etc being set better for 14" which imo is the optimum for here.

 

[R tea]

Did you really just ask that? A 12" furrow leaves a 12" furrow bottom, a 50% bigger furrow will leave a 50% wider hole.
Now sure, a wider furrow creates more material to bury, but the target is wider relative to the stream of trash flowing into it, so it's easier to make a tidy job

You might want to edit that a bit.
The moldboard is what governs the width of the hole left by the last furrow, makes no odds what width of furrow you cutting.

 

[Spud]

Moldboard type or angle? #doingsomelearningtonight #otherpostersaidboardsmakenodifference

 

[R tea]

Widening furrow width usually alters the angle of the board thereby moving the soil further over, thereby leaving more space for the next furrow.

In any case, if the OP were to set his plough up correctly to a fixed width, he would doubtless use the appropriate shares, and hence alter the hole size.

No , the plough should run square no matter what width you set it to, you best just put your hands up now and stop digging.

 

[Refco]

Spud, I like you. We all like you. But... this time I'm afraid you're wrong.
Vari width ploughs don't alter the angle of the mouldboard in relation to the direction of travel. They move laterally sideways. The beam does change its angle though, which is maybe where you're getting that idea from.

 

[Spud]

Of course it should run square. Vari width alters the beam angle, and the body to beam angle by the same amount to keep the bodies pointing straight forward

 

[Spud]

Fine, hands up, I'm not explaining things well.
Anyone else care to offer the OP any useful advice then?

 

[R tea]

Of course it should run square. Vari width alters the beam angle, and the body to beam angle by the same amount to keep the bodies pointing straight forward

Well if its running square at 12" and running square at 20" then the angle of the board will not of changed. You said it does and makes a wider hole.

 

[R tea]

Fine, hands up, I'm not explaining things well.
Anyone else care to offer the OP any useful advice then?

Stick another furrow on if he wants to get on, but dont go back to 12".

 

[mo!]

Is there mileage in the idea that a bigger plough will have to run slower and therefore will bury trash better and so give better blackgrass control. I know that I plough too fast because the plough is smaller than tractor could pull.