Mechanics of Tillage Tools
Soil texture One aspect of the physical properties of soil, its texture, is described by the percent of particles in various size classes (Table 8.1). Particle size is the defining…
Cultivators
There are basically three types of cultivators: field cultivators, row crop cultivators, and rotary cultivators. Field cultivators are often used as secondary tillage tools for seedbed preparation. They are similar…
Spike-tooth, tine-tooth, and spring-tooth harrows
These tillage tools are used in the final seedbed preparation. They are also used for post-planting operations to breakup soil crust and remove weeds. In a spike-tooth harrow, the spikes…
Disk harrows
Disk harrows differ from disk plows in that there is no tilt angle and several blades are mounted on a common axis called the gang. They are lighter and have…
Secondary tillage in conventional tillage systems
Any tillage operations performed after the primary tillage are called secondary tillage. Generally, several secondary tillage operations are performed before the field is ready for planting. The main objective of…
Stubble-mulch plows and Tillers
Stubble-mulch plows are made of wide V-shape sweeps that operate at shallow depth of 10 cm or less. The purpose is to cut weed roots just below the surface and…
Chisel plows & Subsoilers
Chisel Plow A chisel plow (Figure 8.9) is an implement designed for primary tillage at depths from 15 to 46 cm. The soil engaging tools are shanks equipped with replaceable…
Disk tillers
The disk tiller (Figure 8.8) is also known as one-way disk plow, vertical-disk plow, harrow plow, and wheatland plow. It is similar to a disk plow in regard to the…
Disk plows
The common disk plow consists of a series of disk blades mounted individually on a frame as shown in Figure 8.6. The disk blades are set at an angle, called…
Primary tillage in conventional tillage systems
Most farmers use only one primary tillage operation after harvesting a crop. An exception is when a farmer uses a subsoiler in the fall shortly after harvest followed by another…
