Slatted boards or solid

[Deere 6430]

Trying to get this plough dilemma sorted and need everyone’s help with the boards.
How many people run slatted boards? Our ground won’t shine boards, we are on a medium loam ground. It doesn’t stick to the points shins etc but from the start or midway on the board to the end, once it sticks it sticks, it’s pretty hard even to lever it off with a spade after every run. A small amount of our ground is a heavier clay and it will then scour off to a degree.

Putting a shine on the boards with a grinder is a) time consuming and b) it only makes a marginal difference. Don’t plough every year and putting grease on the boards doesn’t solve the problem either.

Once the boards get blocked it doesn’t make a very good job, tends to push the soil over. The boards are Dowdeswell UCN so not the best board hence the reason to change.

Would I be better with slats or just a better solid board? The options are an Amazone or most likely a Kuhn. I want to bury the trash and some black grass and we do plough out grassland within the arable rotation in a semi organic soon to be a fully organic system so it must make a good job hence why I keep wondering if the slats may be a better option as they won’t block? Or so I’m told.

I can’t find a demo plough to try as they are all too big for our tractor. dont know anyone locally with slats but then so many no longer plough. I am specifying discs on all furrows to help in the grass situation.

All help appreciated.

 

[David.]

I have Rabe slats, neighbours had Kuhn slats, little to choose between them, both much better running than solids. I have some fields that you would bring the same soil out stuck to the boards on completion, that you picked up on first pass, with the old UCNs.
I'd go slats, they bury well enough for me.

 

[KB6930]

What's your neighbour's ploughing with ?

If you can't find a demo plough to fit your tractor then get them to send it on a tractor.

We ran slats for 20 yrs due to sticky ground but we've just sold our slatted plough after running a boarded one for 5 seasons and it only sticks to a very small percentage of our ground so no need for slats now .

Dowdswell ucn were very bad for sticking from memory I was very young but I remember my father having one for a very short time before changing to kv that was back in the 80s

 

[daveydiesel1]

Got a nh with plastic boards. Our ground sticks very badly but the plastic board always runs clean. Highly reccommend it

 

[Sandy]

Slatted bodies are good for sticky soil even better in clay

 

[ploughman1963]

We run a Kuhn with slats and very happy with it across a whole range of soils (contracting). Easier to pull although weighs a bit heavier as slatted bodies weigh more than solids. We would have gone Pottinger with slats but the plough was just too heavy. Salemen will tell you that you cant plough turf with slats which is baloney - slats (especially the modern ones) do every bit as a good a job as solid boards. Running costs are lower as you only replace the slat that has worn, not the whole board - 3 years old and ploughed a few thousand acres - only replaced the no2 slat on all the bodies.
Like @David. we are still running a Rabe with slats as a back up - bought in 1993 and still going - never seen the welder and still straight despite being a shearbolt version - lightweight, strong, simple although the 234 bodies are superceded by the modern slatted bodies. Excellent value for money secondhand if you find one that suits you.

 

[Horn&corn]

Slats and turf not a problem. Moving to slats was one of the best decisions we’ve made. Don’t need the discs either!
Lemken euro here on organic mostly grass ploughing

 

[Boohoo]

Are flush points available for UCNs? Changing from reversible to flush points made a difference on the KV No.8s I used to plough with.

 

[KB6930]

We run a Kuhn with slats and very happy with it across a whole range of soils (contracting). Easier to pull although weighs a bit heavier as slatted bodies weigh more than solids. We would have gone Pottinger with slats but the plough was just too heavy. Salemen will tell you that you cant plough turf with slats which is baloney - slats (especially the modern ones) do every bit as a good a job as solid boards. Running costs are lower as you only replace the slat that has worn, not the whole board - 3 years old and ploughed a few thousand acres - only replaced the no2 slat on all the bodies.
Like @David. we are still running a Rabe with slats as a back up - bought in 1993 and still going - never seen the welder and still straight despite being a shearbolt version - lightweight, strong, simple although the 234 bodies are superceded by the modern slatted bodies. Excellent value for money secondhand if you find one that suits you.

That may be the case with you but not all slatted ploughs are easier pulled than boards.
Experience of kv here they're worse to pull and wear metal quicker than boards but do a very good job .
In a really wet season they leave the ground more broken so it takes in more water

They certainly have they're place and it was a hard decision to change to having 2 boarded ploughs rather than keeping the slats as the backup

 

[Exfarmer]

Never used a slatted plough after neighbour had one and promptly parked it in the nettles. If you have much stone it will cause issues. Whether they have changed in 30 years I cannot say though

 

[KB6930]

Never used a slatted plough after neighbour had one and promptly parked it in the nettles. If you have much stone it will cause issues. Whether they have changed in 30 years I cannot say though

Again from looking at something someone else did you're wrong about the stones.

Some can get jammed but only really once the slats are getting very worn and I'm ploughing stuff with more stone than soil

 

[Exfarmer]

Again from looking at something someone else did you're wrong about the stones.

Some can get jammed but only really once the slats are getting very worn and I'm ploughing stuff with more stone than soil

It was a brand new Rabe, I saw it at the back of his yard one day and asked him about it, told me I was welcome to take it away as he could not get on with it. It sat there for at least five years till he traded it for something. We were on very stony Breck, the locals used to say there was a stone for every hole

 

[KB6930]

It was a brand new Rabe, I saw it at the back of his yard one day and asked him about it, told me I was welcome to take it away as he could not get on with it. It sat there for at least five years till he traded it for something. We were on very stony Breck, the locals used to say there was a stone for every hole

Neighbour's bought lemken 20 yrs ago because we were getting on fine with kv and they were cheap used ploughs didn't last more than a year because of stones getting stuck

 

[David.]

We also have limestone dinner plates on some fields. You will occasionally have to get off the seat and remove a stone from between the slats, but having this year changed slat No.2 it has lessened the need to do so.
Fibrous roots along hedge backs are far worse than stones for jamming.
But the main thing you are seeking is the many times better cleaning on sticky soil, and I find it worth any downside. You will still get some soil in certain conditions that will stick regardless, but that ought to be DD.

 

[2wheels]

What's your neighbour's ploughing with ?

If you can't find a demo plough to fit your tractor then get them to send it on a tractor.

We ran slats for 20 yrs due to sticky ground but we've just sold our slatted plough after running a boarded one for 5 seasons and it only sticks to a very small percentage of our ground so no need for slats now .

Dowdswell ucn were very bad for sticking from memory I was very young but I remember my father having one for a very short time before changing to kv that was back in the 80s

we had scn bodies, they could be a b*****r too but were better on the dowdeswell than on the ransome 108. i beleive dowdeswell bodies were set at 5deg angle from straight.

 

[mf7480]

Got a nh with plastic boards. Our ground sticks very badly but the plastic board always runs clean. Highly reccommend it

Any pictures?

 

[KB6930]

Got a nh with plastic boards. Our ground sticks very badly but the plastic board always runs clean. Highly reccommend it

How do they wear ? The plastic inserts on the kv between the slats don't last long

 

[daveydiesel1]

Any pictures?

Not the best photo but the best 1 iv got. Hopefully be out way her next week or the following so al get a few then for u

 

[daveydiesel1]

How do they wear ? The plastic inserts on the kv between the slats don't last long

They seem to be doin ok so far. Be mainly light land with stones and some gravel and bits of moss id be ploughin. The light land round here is a bit*h for stickin and i didnt want slats for it leaves it kinda broken and if it gets rain it just turns into porridge. A friend reccommended them to me and im very happy with them. Apparently theyr very popular in new zealand

 

[KB6930]

They seem to be doin ok so far. Be mainly light land with stones and some gravel and bits of moss id be ploughin. The light land round here is a bit*h for stickin and i didnt want slats for it leaves it kinda broken and if it gets rain it just turns into porridge. A friend reccommended them to me and im very happy with them. Apparently theyr very popular in new zealand

Yeah I've a mate down in nz tells me the same round where he is it's very light black soil and it's all plastic boards