# Human pulled plows - anyone know about them?



## Cobber (May 22, 2015)

I can't find much information about it on the net other than a few people saying it is too hard. 

This article pretty much covers everything I wanted to say here.
http://occupyilluminati.com/human-pulled-plows/

I'm talking about a home garden about the size of basketball court.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Shovel. 

Or build up your growing beds so that you have no need for plowing. You'll know you're there when a broadfork is easy to use.

Earthworms are your friends. Compost is your friend.

I've never been a permaculture follower but it is way too easy to destroy soil structure with power eqipment. It might not be practical on a large scale but for the homesteader...


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I agree with Bellyman, lasagne garden. You don&#8217;t really have to plow or even dig a small garden. Cover the area with several layers of newspaper. Now is the best time while the grass and weeds are going dormant. Spray the newspaper with water. Cover it with compost, or even material that has not composted and use the area as a compost. If you get a book on lasagna gardening it will all be spelled out for you.

The soil under the newspaper will become easy to work. Just make sure you don&#8217;t walk all over it. Use boards as paths to distribute your weight.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEAdW9DQnHI[/ame]

A single bottom plow, pulled by a pair of big horses can plow an acre a day. Looks like these 6 people were going at about 1/2 or 1/3 speed. Took them about 50 feet before they stopped. 

Using this video and a bit of common sense, a garden the size of a basketball court could be done in a day with 120 humans, 5 teams of 20. Could do it with just 20 people, stopping when tired and take a couple weeks of full time plowing.


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## Shin (Mar 25, 2014)

I bought an inexpensive electric cultivator to till up my first garden, as it was all covered in lawn, and I didn't have time to cover everything up in boards before the season started. Worthwhile -- it sure kicked a lot until I got the hang of it, and gave me nice rows.

Can't imagine that I could've done all the labor with a shovel or other tool. I would've had to have waited instead and used something like that lasagna method. I like the look of that old fashioned human plow but I'd only dare use it on already loose soil or that'd be it for my back.


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## Ellendra (Jul 31, 2013)

I think I'd file those plows under "doing it the hard way".


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Honestly, if I thought I had to pull a plow by hand, myself, without help, I'd be trying to figure out some kind of a leverage setup, perhaps a block and tackle, where I could gain enough leverage to be able to pull a lot less hard to move the plow. It would take longer, though. 

A person might be able to design something like a people powered tractor with enough gearing that you could pull a plow while sitting on it and riding in more like a bicycle fashion using your legs for the motive power. It would go quite slowly and it might take a very long time, especially if it were geared low enough that it wasn't so difficult to pedal. 

It's all pretty much a matter of leverage... and having enough time. It would take a long time to plow up a garden if it took you 4 hours to get through one furrow of a 100' row. If the ground isn't so bad to start with, the shovel isn't sounding like such a far fetched idea after all.


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## ceresone (Oct 7, 2005)

When we were kids, my brother Would hook me to the push plow. and Make me pull it--Dad insisted he use a cotton rope so it wouldnt burn me--actually!!


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## Cobber (May 22, 2015)

This is more the size I had in mind, but even this can be simplified.

[YOUTUBE][ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlo7ANQudLI[/ame][/YOUTUBE]

Remember the person with his hand on the plow also provides a lot of energy by pushing it down. If they used a harness and went a lot slower, taking a minute between each row to catch breath, and not laugh while doing it, I think it could be done.

At 1 foot per row you have 50 or 96 rows. 2 minutes per pass,2 minutes to catch your breath, you could 10 rows done in an hour. Get it all done in 5-10 days because it is not the sort of work you could keep doing for hours on end.


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## FCLady (Jan 23, 2011)

We rented a heavy-duty rototiller to initially break the ground. Then a small earthquake tiller to maintain it. Now we don't till. We first we spread stump grindings from a landscaper. Then topped with manure in the fall. Now we're topping with wood chips every spring and manure every fall. VERY LITTLE weeding, no tilling. The hardest thing is hoeing the row down to the dirt. The HARDEST thing to get used to is not walking in soft dirt while I'm planting.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

I use a heavy Mattock works great but over last couple years I have added lots of Peat Moss and other Organic Matter. The soil is very lose.

big rockpile


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## Rectifier (Jun 12, 2011)

This is a lot of work to sign up for voluntarily. May I ask why?

If it's only for lack of a tractor, I've seen guys pull plows with a truck. A sulky in particular. Use a strap, not a chain, as a chain may kill the rider if it breaks. Good tires, 4WD low and real locking diffs go a long way toward success.

If you are not breaking sod, you can even pull a set of small discs behind an ATV. Deer food plot guys do it all the time. You will get the trash worked in, weeds terminated. Going to take a few passes with a light disc.

If you are breaking sod for a home garden and not pursuing immediate organic certification... hate to say it but nothing terminates sod like a one-time application of glyphosate. It will be gone long before the sod is, and no residue will be detectable after you work the soil.
If you want to do your work by hand, killing the sod roots will go a long way toward success. Otherwise the sod will regrow, I guarantee it. You do not want to summerfallow it out by hand.

If you are doing it just for the experience, what can I say... you must be a masochist!


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Or if you have some time, black plastic can do quite a lot to take care of sod. But you'd have to plan ahead for that.


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## mmoetc (Oct 9, 2012)

I can't help but think that there's a reason we domesticated certain animals and harnessed energy.


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

Maybe they are into S&M? Just a theory. Some people like to believe they are ponies. Why not believe they are an oxen?


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

In the last two pictures it looks like they are pulling cultivators, not plows. They are working pretty soft, tilled earth.


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

I always heard to marry a big woman in case the mule dies you have someone to pull the plow. :huh:


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

haypoint said:


> [ame]
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Technically an acre is the amount of land a team of Oxen can plow in a day. A horse team is faster. 

To to op, Why would you not want to use a highwheel cultivator? Ignorance? They work very well and are purpose built. The article noted is simply wrong. Breaking ground is the hard part without real equipment it will take weeks at least.


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