[FuzzFace2]

It is getting to that time of year from what I read to start thinking of prepping the garden for winter. When we stated the garden in late spring this year I told the wife to go small as we just moved into this house. So we did a 10’x20’ in an area that had not been farmed in over 10 years or more. At the time I only had a 12” yes that is right 12” Toro 2 stroke tiller to break ground for planting, took 2 days never again. The wife wants to go bigger in the garden. She said 20’x20’ but I am thinking 20’x50’ or maybe more? It will be for vegies, this year; tomatoes, peppers, squish, zucchini, some type of melon, string beans, basil and that new sugar plant that I can think of. She also did beats & carrots but they did not come up.

I have a JD 445 with 3PH (Ruegg cat 1) w/2” receiver, no rear PTO, rear wheel weights and stock factory tires. I do have a front quick hitch & 4 way plow.

Any way the question(s), if going with a 20’x50’ garden, some of it new, what would you get for implements?

Thinking a Sub soiler, Middle buster and a tossup of tow behind disc harrow, can’t find 3ph type & under $500 or a walk behind tiller, again can’t find a 3ph self powered one for less than$1200. I will keep checking CL & eBay for local used of both types of tillers and disc harrow.

What would you not get or get in place of or used with any of the above. I.e.: get sub soiler and tiller and forget the rest. OR forget everything and just a tiller for the tractor because once the ground is broken the first time with the tiller (the hard part) the tiller will be the tool used from then on.
Thanks
Dave ----

ps: soil here is sandy but breaking that garden area where the best grass is was not fun. If grass grows then garden should was my thinking?

 

[CADplans]

This one unit does 90% of my garden work,,, :fing32:

The other 10% my wife does with a hand hoe!! :sidelaugh

If you need to break "new" ground,,, add a plow,,,

My garden is 50X100+ feet, and this machine is easy to use,,,

This is a month or so ago,, the beans have filled over the rows now,,

 

[OldBuzzard]

I think I would go with a Brinly plow for breaking ground and then using it in the late fall to start prepping the ground for the next spring.

You should be able to find a 10" sleeve hitch plow for a reasonable amount. That and an A-Frame with a sleeve hitch adapter for your 3-pt would not cost all that much.

With the sleeve hitch adapter, you could also look for a Brinly sleeve ***** disk too. They are a lot easier to find than the 3-Pt disk, and a LOT cheaper as well.

 

[emmettlodge]

You should be able to do everything with a tiller. I recommend against doing any plowing as there are no agricultural benefits to turning up soil from below, and depending on your area it can actually be harmful.

Healthiest way to work the land is to rototill just the top few inches...just enough to be able to plant.

 

[ChrisReyn]

Ok
Let the arguement begin.......
Plowing can be very benificial if done correctly and at the correct times
But expounding on that subject will seriously sidetrack you thread! Lol
I garden 100x60 and will probably expand on that next year
I don't have a PTO, but do have the 3PTH.
I use a Brinly moldboard plow.and in lieu of a disc, I drag a old metal box spring frame that works as a harrow and levels/breaks up clods
I space my rows so that I can walk a 21 inch tiller down them for weed control and hand-hoe what that can't get

But back to your original question the ones I use most are:
1) mold board plow
2) disc or harrow
3) broadcast spreader( over seeding tge lawn and fertilizing )
4) tank sprayer (weed kiil and some fertilizing jobs)
5) box blade

 

[SuperGreg]

After a lot of research, I just purchased a box scraper, moldboard plow, and disc harrow. I just finally got the hitch installed this last weekend and used the box scraper on my gravel driveway to cut down the hump in the center and level it out.

Originally I was planning on getting a tiller, but after quite a bit of reading I decided to get the plow instead. I know people disagree on techniques but I read more evidence against tilling, and heard from farmers who said they switched from tilling to plowing for soil health reasons. But there are arguments for each, so do your research.

I can't speak from experience yet since I just got the plow and haven't used one before, so take that for what it's worth

 

[CADplans]

I can't speak from experience yet since I just got the plow and haven't used one before, so take that for what it's worth

Be sure to post some pics when you start using the plow!! :fing32:

I have only used the plow to plant asparagus,,,

It is the PERFECT mini-trench tool.

My SIL will be starting to garden in about a month,, we may try ground prep with the plow,,,:dunno:

 

[FuzzFace2]

Thanks guys for the information so far and please keep it coming.

From what I have seen posted looks like a plow, have to check on a mold board type and a disc harrow.
If it is planed out right I can plant wide enough to use the mini tiller & hoe for weeding.

Thanks again
Dave ----

 

[ChrisReyn]

If it is planed out right I can plant wide enough to use the mini tiller & hoe for weeding.

Thanks again
Dave ----

That's what I do and it's working great for me, especially on row crops such as green beans and such
Measure the overall width of your tiller( 21inches in mycase) add a couple extra for clearance as the plants grow( I add 6 inches). So Iin my case, my rows are 37-30 inches apart....,,.,.

 

[FuzzFace2]

With recommendations from here I bought this plow off CL for $140.
Looked like it was used maybe 1 time from the little rust on it but all looks to be in good working order.

I have to adapt it to hook up to my 3PH with receiver but I don’t think that will be too hard.

I do have a question the assy. that would bolt/hook it the tractor has holes drilled & threaded I guess to offset the plow to the tractor center line? If this is the case should I try and use this part on the tractor side of the 3 PH assy.?

Now if I can only find a good used disc harrow cheap I will be all set.
Dave ----

 

[OldBuzzard]

The easiest thing to do would be to fab up or buy an A-Frame sleeve hitch adapter for your 3-PT.

Here are the two that I have. One is the old Brinly one and the other is by Ballard Fabrication, and is available here:
Ballard Fabrication

 

[crawler]

 

[FuzzFace2]

Spent a little time in the garage with a chop saw & MIG welder and came up with this.

I need to get a shorter top link for the 3PH and the plow is only a few inches off the ground when all the way up.
Dave ----

 

[TJR345]

Spent a little time in the garage with a chop saw & MIG welder and came up with this.

I need to get a shorter top link for the 3PH and the plow is only a few inches off the ground when all the way up.
Dave ----[/QUOTE

If you can weld I'd go this route http://ccspecialties.org/pics/cat0Aframe.JPG
It would be more ridged.That's how I did mine.Check post # 7 in this thread.http://www.mytractorforum.com/12-john-deere-forum/858945-plowing-dirt.html

 

[tmcalavy]

Yep, that's the ticket...one of them 3 pt. adaptors then a disc, subsoiler/middlebuster, and a blade for grading (front or rear). You've already experienced the joys of tilling...it's not any more entertaining from a tractor seat than walking. Then turn the wife loose with a goose-neck hoe and Bob's yer uncle.

 

[coalminer16]

Hard for anyone of us to answer this as it depends on soil types, wind/slope/rain (errosion) and how much seat time you like. Plowing does seem to help kill things better like dandilion's. Tilling at times just churns things up which with some weeds replants them.

That said-only plowed my garden one time. Tilled every other time. I started with a small electric tiller. Then found a walk behind gas one. Then made it to the GT side. I use all 3 tillers depending on location/season. The GT tiller goes hog wild at the beginning/end of the season but the others go between rows. Still breaking our garden in. Takes 2-3 years and we moved there end of last year's garden season. Plenty of established weeds to work around. It is even worse to mess with a previously established garden that was left to overgrow.

 

[FuzzFace2]

For soil it is sandy, not windy, little slope, and other than the all this last week little rain. Soil is so sandy we have sand spurs in place of grass. Just bought this house in April 2015 so learning what I have here to work with.
For the plow I need a shorter center link to get the plow up more than the 2” off the ground I have now. TSC did not have what I needed or anything I could use to make one. I have a few more places to try yet but not in too much of a rush right not.
I am starting with the plow and am looking for a disc harrow to use after I plow. The new garden for next year will be 20’x thinking 50’ or more. The little 1’ wide tiller I used on the garden (10’x20’) this year was too much work then, so no way for the larger garden. I will use it between the plant rows to keep weeds at bay.
Dave ----

 

[tmcalavy]

Used to have sandy soiled big truck garden on about 1/4 acre...best system I found was to have the neighbor tractor-till it once toward spring, plow to lay-out rows, stockpile grass hay from broken big round bales (found in a variety of places), have manure spread before spring tilling, plant and then mulch heavy between rows and thin on top with the loose hay...repeating the mulch all season long. After last harvest, spread some more manure/compost on top of the mulch and have the neighbor till it under again. Used to trade fresh tomatoes/squash/melons for the twice a year tractor work.
Coulda done the same thing with just a garden tractor, plow and disk. Selling that place was hard...wish I could get it back.

 

[FuzzFace2]

Being new (6 months) here I don't know too many people to start with and from what I have seen close by I have the biggest tractor a GT, everybody else has LT. I also have the most land with 4 acres the rest maybe 1 acre. None have gardens they use the tractor in only me.
Bigger tractors around here are BIG, for farming and they use disc to turn over the soil, maybe plows but only seen discs so far. Way to big for my little garden.

I am looking for disc harrow for my GT or a pull behind tiller if found cheap.
When the tractor shed was put on site I knew it was too small for everything we would need to get.
Dave ----

 

[johndeere]

I farm and have both heavy black soil in one county and sandy soil in another county.I also have a garden in both soils.

I plow the heavy black yearly.But only plow the sandy if and only if it has been in clover hay field or grass.Plowing sandy soil to often cuts the yield way down.Unless it is a black sand.If its light like blow sand I plow very lightly not very deep and only because it was in clover or grass.

So I would more then likley in your case.Plow to establish the garden.Then sell the plow after that.You will never want to use it again.

After that use a garden tiller.Personaly for a garden that size I would get a walk behind.Get a forward rotating tine tiller not a counter rotating tines or you will just sit and spin and dig a hole to China.A tractor mounted tiller could only be used in spring and fall.Could not be used between the rows unless very far apart and a small garden you need narrow rows.

In sand I use a Troybilt Horse that is old and has very worn tines.Even with the worn out tines it works great in light sandy soil.Leaves it nice and level.I also have a Stihl Yard Boss mini tiller that works great on heavy black soil but wants to go to deep in sandy.

On my Black heavy soil garden.I plow every fall with a 12'' Brinley.Then use a Troybilt Counter rotating tine tiller in the spring.

You may ask why I have 2 gardens and the Sandy one in another county 16 miles away.Because I can and melons do great in sand.But tomatoes do great on Black dirt.