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Modified Plow Leaves More Surface Residue
You can modify any moldboard plow to leave more residue on the soil surface by simply cutting away the rear half of each moldboard, says Ray Key, a county conservation tillage specialist in Waukesha, Wis.
Key helped Tim Downing cut the mold-boards on an old 4-bottom plow. They cut off the entire curved "wing" on
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Modified Plow Leaves More Surface Residue TILLAGE EUIPMENT Miscellaneous 13-6-27 You can modify any moldboard plow to leave more residue on the soil surface by simply cutting away the rear half of each moldboard, says Ray Key, a county conservation tillage specialist in Waukesha, Wis.
Key helped Tim Downing cut the mold-boards on an old 4-bottom plow. They cut off the entire curved "wing" on each mold-board at a point about 2 in. ahead of the rear edge of the plow share. The modified mold-boards fracture or crumble the soil, mixing soil and residue together rather than rolling it over in a ribbon.
"We wanted to eliminate the need to buy new tillage equipment that would leave more residue," says Key. "Commercial cut-off moldboard plow bottoms are also avail-able, but they cost up to $40 apiece. This idea works great for farmers who want to ease into conservation tillage or who need to leave more surface residue to meet requirements of government programs. In a year with average or above average crop yields, the cut-off moldboards can leave 30% residue even when you leave straight coulters on the plow. In a year with below average crop yields and less crop material, you may want to remove the coulters. We did that last year and the plow never plugged up once."
According to Key, use of a conservation moldboard plow provides better weed control than a disk chisel plow. "Disk chisel plows have a space between the shears so they don't cut all of the perennial roots. Moldboard shears slice through every bit of ground to reduce weed problems."
With the "wing" removed, the modified plow doesn't throw soil as far right as a conventional moldboard plow, so it has to be adjusted to the right to fill the dead furrow. The horsepower requirement is unchanged because the plowshare cutting width stays the same.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ray Key, Waukesha County Land Conservation Office, Waukesha County Office Building, 500 Riverview Ave., Waukesha, Wis. 53188-3632 (ph 414 548-7767).
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