# time to plow



## don the farmer (Nov 28, 2011)

hi everyone, and Merry Christmas. The first of the year is coming, very quick. If you have not done your plowing its time to start. I am using new ground for my potatoes this year. I will be planting 2,500 pounds of kennebec potatoes. I recieved my order form from my supplier today. I plow 2 acres with a 1949 Ford 8N. When do the rest of you plow on the east coast? Any body have a 8N farm tractor if so I would like to here from you.


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## idigbeets (Sep 3, 2011)

Are you cover cropping the area you plow up? Or possibly mulching it heavily w/ leaf mold?


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Hi Don, and welcome to the forum. 

Not on the east coast, so, can't tell you when they plow. But, believe it or not, early on Thanksgiving Day I saw an Amish man teaching his young son how to plow by doing it in their garden. He had the reins, the son had the walk-behind plow--and was struggling a bit, because they were plowing nearly 100% water saturated black Indiana clay that had been rained on for ten days straight. They were turning mud, literally. But, you can do that with two horses, you won't have much compaction, and the freezing during winter time will actually melt down the clay and have it ready by the time gardening season rolls around. A tractor, except maybe an 8n, might get buried up to the belly. My first sight of an 8n was that of my neighbor showing off by plowing thru nearly the same clay/mud condition--many years ago. 

But, frankly, I wouldn't try that. It really depends on the soil type you have, the moisture of the soil, and if the ground is previously plowed or not. One way of guesstimating if the soil is ready to plow or not is the hand test....take a lump of soil and squeeze it. If it crumbles easily by touching your finger to it, it's dry enough to turn. If it stays in a lump, it's too wet..... If you have vegetation or sod to turn, it should be done early enough to allow it to break down before planting time(and if you are plowing grass pasture/sod, expect wireworms to be a problem in your crop). I have a 9n with a single bottom, but it is a different proposition for plowing than an 8n with position control on it. With two acres to plow, you should get a pretty shiny set of moldboards by the time you are done, huh? And if you are not familiar with your tractor, keep a close eye on the oil pressure gauge, lest you spin a crank bearing. Oh yes, make sure you have the correct grade of breakaway bolts on the plows. And I would highly recommend Yesterday's Tractors. That site has a very good N-series discussion board, with quite a few willing experts to lend a hand with your questions. http://www.ytmag.com/nboard/wwwboard1.html

Just curious as to what you will do with two acres of spuds?

geo


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## woodsy (Oct 13, 2008)

I got some plowing done after the 1st snowstorm in late October and before the 2nd snowstorm just before thanksgiving. Using a 51 JD M single bottom moldboard plow draw bar mounted, slightly rusty starting out. 
Not a big area but another 3,000 sq.ft of sod that hasn't been touched for ten years, good looking ground except for finding a couple boulders which i yanked out with a chain
afterward.
Ran the double gang disc harrow over it couple times then put some lime down and disc harrowed it again to work it in. 
There is a couple acres tillable here with some rock removal but just haven't decided 
what crops can make enough money to make it all worthwhile. Seasons here can be short.
But, fall is the best time to turn established sod and add lime if needed.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

U might be interested to know that several of the oldtime manufacturers and several state collages said it was best to disc up the ground well before plowing it.

As for Fords of the 40s, Bah Hum Bugs lol


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

Too wet to plow here. Don't think we have fall plowed in at least 4 years.


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## Raven12 (Mar 5, 2011)

What do you add to improve the soil after it is plowed?


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

we rarely fall plow and doing anything in the field this time of year would be pretty difficult. 
We may fall plow if planting the field down to hay with a grain nurse crop just because the soil will work up nice and smooth next spring. 
Corn ground doesn't need to work up so fine and the garden works up really well with just a disc.

We don't do much after plowing but before we plow the manure from the sheds is spread on the field.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

All of the potato fields that I've seen this fall were plowed right after harvest and planted back to rye or something similar. However, those were established fields and won't need much working in the spring. 

There is no set time for fall plowing. Even if there is snow on the ground, it can be plowed as long as it's not frozen and the tractor has traction. Anyone working with new ground or sod would be quite correct in plowing now if the ground is dry enough. That would be sufficient until spring when it would need disking or digging depending upon the type of soil and what was plowed under.

Also wouldn't knock those Ford's from the '40s. They were responsible for sending an awful lot of horses to the fox farms. Immediately made one of our two teams redundant the minute that it was delivered. 

Martin


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I should have tilled in September but we hadn't had a killing frost and stuff was still growing well. It's been too wet to till since.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Dad had one delivered to our farm. He had the crazy idea he could work construction back in the 50s and pay somebody to run a tractor on Saturdays. Well Ford couldnt climb the Missouri River Foothills or NE Kans. Dad told the guy as he was going home back to St Joe to tell the dealship to come pick it up. Guy told dad when he walked in, they said, well, is he ready to trade his H Farmall in for it by now. Guy said he told them, He said to get out there and pick the dam thing up.


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## EDDIE BUCK (Jul 17, 2005)

Around here most farmers have always plowed or broke their land as soon as it dried out enough after winter.That was mostly early March.None of them ever planted a cover crop in the fall.One disking after crop harvest,no more till spring..However,A few would grow a wheat crop,planted in Oct.Since cotton has come back in style,I have noticed right many farmers are running or listing up their rows in the fall.That way they are one step ahead of mother nature,if a wet spring would cause late land preparation.That way all they have to do is drop the planter,and take off.

I only garden,and once it is harvested,and I am not planting a fall garden on it,I'll broadcast and disk in soybeans to grow, until just before the first frost.(about Nov 1)..Then I broadcast annual rye grass over those standing soybeans, and any other available garden space..Then I cut that still green soybean cover crop in while planting the rye grass at the same time

.Around here it normally does not get cold enough to kill the rye grass.When winter is over,and its finally dry enough to plow,I turn under that knee deep rye grass,disk it twice or maybe a third time,if that rye grass hates to die.

Now the whole process starts all over again.I forgot to mention I get a soil test every year when I'm planting the bean cover crop.If it shows the need to lime,I lime it then. My two cents.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

2,500 pounds of potato planting stock as is seems a bit low for 2 acres. That's usually about enough for 1 acre. Thus I suspect that you'll be cutting everything in half? If so, then you'd have the normal amount of plants per acre. Time spent cutting them will be well worth it in the end. Once was in contact with a grower in Colorado who was looking at 40 tons of fingerlings to be cut. I didn't ask how that was going to be done! 

Martin


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

The five foot wheel stance of the N-series tractor(60 inches outer edge to edge) allows for a 48 inch row width with the row/implement in the center of the tractor and enough middle room to cultivate and hill each row. That would make 10, 890 row feet per acre, times two. At a ten inch seed spacing in the row, he would need 26,136 seed pieces to do the job. With 2500 lbs ordered, that would make each seed piece 1.5 oz........yep, a little shy.......a decent seed piece should be twice that much weight.........(about the size of an egg) 

So, I would make a suggestion that OP order some more(or at least recalculate this to make certain and have a backup order plan)--but order some N'orlands and _possibly_ some Yukon Golds so as to hit an earlier market if he has a roadside stand......... 

OldCountryBoy is right about the N-series in one respect. For spud planting they are too wide for one row planting and cultivating, and too narrow for two rows....but can be okay for two row corn and beans until the crop gets too tall to fit under the axles. Otherwise, they are pretty darn good.....

geo


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

I have a feeling that the OP has experience growing potatoes and has a market for the 30-40 tons that he may expect from the Kennebec planting stock. West Virginia ain't all that far into the South but definitely not in the prime Red Norland and Yukon Gold range. There's a good reason why they have names which reflect where they do best. They'd work for an ordinary garden but I wouldn't plant a thousand pounds in WV and expect 10 tons back like I would for Kennebec.

Martin


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Hmmmm,
Going back to the original post, we may have jumped to a conclusion that Don will be planting all of the two acres he is plowing, into potatoes. With that in mind, then, he and his supplier will be the ultimate judges of how many he needs........ I'm just suggesting that since he has said in a post on a different forum that he also runs a vegetable stand, that he try some kind of early season varieties that may sell well. Probably again, that will depend on the supplier, and how much space, time, and bucks he is willing to invest.

This info may have some use to Don, too: http://www.ipmcenters.org/cropprofiles/docs/WVpotatoes.pdf

Hope this may help.

geo


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

If that's the case, then I still see no point in suggesting that he eliminate other vegetables in order to grow more potatoes unless the 2 acres is in addition to other available ground.

Martin


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Paquebot said:


> If that's the case, then I still see no point in suggesting that he eliminate other vegetables in order to grow more potatoes unless the 2 acres is in addition to other available ground.
> 
> Martin


I'm sure that Don the farmer didn't want to spark any big debate and speculation with his original question, so I will just wait until he asks something again, and give the best suggestion I can, hoping he will consider it as just that and make his own decisions with his own land, tools, and climate.....(and, yes, from reading his other posts, the two acres is in addition to other available ground....the suggestion was to consider other varieties if he calculates, along with you and me, that he is running short of the Kennebecs, to fill in /add to the total, so as to have some early/colorful spuds on the market table. Some green beans and okra would be nice, too, to go with the early potatoes in the skillet..)



geo


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## don the farmer (Nov 28, 2011)

I have 55 acres of plantable ground. Last year I sold 20,000 pounds of kennebec potatoes in 7 days. I am going to plant tomatoes, bush green beans, green peppers, half runner green beans, yellow straight neck squash, zucchunni squash, black simpson leaf lettuce, bannana wax peppers. and cabbage, and do not forget the greatest thing of all spring onions. My old potato ground in planted in winter rye, it is going to be light plowed and planted into alfalfa, I have been running the thoughts of maybe getting a few pigs to put on pasture this year also. I cut and plant the potatoes all by hand and dig them with a middle buster, and pick them up by hand. When I started 3 years ago my family thought I was off my rocker, now they know it can be done by hand and I guess I got there respect, because it is a lot of back breaking work.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

No okra?  

At this point the only suggestion I would offer is that you consider some labor saving equipment. If you are young, you might be able to continue this way for awhile, but usually you have to borrow from your next decade to keep it up. Take it from the voice of experience........

Otherwise, best of luck with your farm.

geo


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

yup, find an old tater picker and fix it up, They dont look too hard.

I disced my big garden 90ft ea way. and another 2 acres last night. ill disc my bottom 10. then start plowing, try to get as much plowed as possible before rain Wed. With it rough plowed, it may hold alot of moisture through winter and early spring. We had a wet spring here and a dry summer. I gotta plow it anyhow so, getting it done now means I wont have to do it when it may be wet in the spring. I can disc way easier than I can plow, so that may let me get corn planted earlier next year.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

FarmBoyBill said:


> yup, find an old tater picker and fix it up, They dont look too hard.
> 
> I disced my big garden 90ft ea way. and another 2 acres last night. ill disc my bottom 10. then start plowing, try to get as much plowed as possible before rain Wed. With it rough plowed, it may hold alot of moisture through winter and early spring. We had a wet spring here and a dry summer. I gotta plow it anyhow so, getting it done now means I wont have to do it when it may be wet in the spring. I can disc way easier than I can plow, so that may let me get corn planted earlier next year.


Well, you know how those Farmalls bog down when it's wet.... 

geo


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## don the farmer (Nov 28, 2011)

how many horse power is a farmall? I am going to have to get one with a little more ump. My old 8N is a good old girl but I am out growing her fast. All and by the way I am defentily not a spring chicken, I will be 52 years old in May. I have looked for single row potato diggers, but no luck on one in my price range. Plus small farms wants 5,000.00 for one and they drop them on the ground. I would like to find one of the old horse drawn kind that drops them in a wagon, or some plans to build one.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

don the farmer said:


> how many horse power is a farmall? I am going to have to get one with a little more ump. My old 8N is a good old girl but I am out growing her fast. All and by the way I am defentily not a spring chicken, I will be 52 years old in May. I have looked for single row potato diggers, but no luck on one in my price range. Plus small farms wants 5,000.00 for one and they drop them on the ground. I would like to find one of the old horse drawn kind that drops them in a wagon, or some plans to build one.


That's a difficult question, because so many were made, and then the same lines continued in the International Harvestor insignia but with numbers. However, here is the listing from TractorData.com which might help. http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/index.html The next step up from the N-series tractors in the Farmall line would be the Farmall H model. The Farmall B, C, and A had the same engine(bsically) and were in the same hp range with the 8n
If you wanted a Farmall(International) in the same configuration as the Ford n-series--the utility type, you might look at the Int 300 or 350 Utility models. They were essentially the H engine and hp but in the squat utility stance. 
The hardest thing to consider is that the Ford/Ferguson three point hitch system had patent protection up into the fifties, so you have to find other brands that have the three-point conversion-- otherwise you are stuck with trying to find implements that match the hitch brand.

If I were trying to update and step up in horsepower, I would look at the Allis-Chalmers WD-45. In the wide front end version, and equipped with the three point conversion,you would be getting hp, live PTO and hydraulics. Couldn't go wrong there, if you could find a good one.... http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/000/1/7/177-allis-chalmers-wd45.html

geo


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