Mole Ploughing Results

Durrus Boy

With all the mole ploughing done in the fine summer/ autumn of 2013 and the wet weather we've had since the middle of Dec. I was just wondering what results (if any?) any of you guys who carried out some see? Is it assisting in drainage any bit or has it improved soil aeration?

Pics always welcome!!

Cheers....

reilig

No pics, but can take some for you.

Noticable improvements in dryness in some fields. Other fields that are very heavy soil and have always been wet are still wet - the hope is that they will dry out faster than they did any other year.

Other main point is the aeration. Grass grew in fields that were mole ploughed up to mid december - we had weinlings out till then and if you follow my posts, you will know that we never usually have cattle out beyond the end of October. This was down to the mole ploughing.

Where the moles are wide spaced, you can see the grass growing stronger around the track of the mole bar - the experts say that this is because loosening the soil allows nitrogen that is in the soil beneath to be released and utilised for grass growth.

Happy all around with mole ploughing. Would recommend it to any farmer who has suitable soil for doing it!

micraX

Bar you have a field with a fall on it or good drains anyway the wet holes will get wetter if you mole plough it.

Muckit

Worse thing you could do is go using a mole plough when the conditions are not ideal.

But I have to agree with Reilig, there is a marked difference in ground that has been mole ploughed in good conditions. It loosens the soil, aids drainage and lets air into it. It's so important nowadays I feel as machinery has got better and heavier. Slurry tankers, fusion balers, slurry tankers etc. Compaction stops grass and fertiliser from working to their potential. Just look at a track that you follow when drawing in bales, grass doesn't grow on it right for ages.

It needs to be done every 3-4years. It should be a routine chore, same as fertiliser spreading or topping. Anything that helps grass grow better for minimal input needs to be embraced.

onyerbikepat

With Mole Ploughing though are you aerating the soil that much?
Does the soil get lifted and shattered the way an aerator would do it?

Reggie.

Yeah we did some last year and the field that the was normally a lake in is bone dry. Travelled over the ground with a tanker two weeks ago where this time last year I wasn't even able to walk across it.

Reggie.

micraX wrote: »

Bar you have a field with a fall on it or good drains anyway the wet holes will get wetter if you mole plough it.

Not true we subsoiled a hollow in the field mentioned above and bone dry. Depends on what is underneath the topsoil and how deep you can get with the blades. gravel about a foot under the soil in the above mentioned field

micraX

Reggie. wrote: »

Not true we subsoiled a hollow in the field mentioned above and bone dry. Depends on what is underneath the topsoil and how deep you can get with the blades. gravel about a foot under the soil in the above mentioned field

Subsoiling is different to mole ploughing.

whelan2

we did alot of stone moleing(sp) brilliant job, fields i couldnt even walk in last year we could drive through with full slurry tanker yesterday

Reggie.

micraX wrote: »

Subsoiling is different to mole ploughing.

Nope same thing around these parts. If anything a mole plough goes deeper. Subsoiler has two blades or more compared to one on a mole plough

micraX

Reggie. wrote: »

Nope same thing around these parts. If anything a mole plough goes deeper. Subsoiler has two blades or more compared to one on a mole plough

Does the subsoiler pull a bullet?

bbam

We did a bit last year.. the results were mostly great

I couldn't say either subsoiling or moleploughing as we bought a home made implement which is a sort of hybrid of both, it has a blade about 10 inches wide and pulls a bullet also..

Will definitley pritorise its usage again this year.. One field in particular there was a section where you would loose you wellington boot other years.. I walked with regular work boots yesterday and the ground was firm with no water over the toe of my boot..

I con't see it drying the land enough to stop rushes growing... but it will give us much easier access to control them and spread manure.. And hopefully less poaching in wet spells.

Great DD bargain for £80 !

Reggie.

micraX wrote: »

Does the subsoiler pull a bullet?

No it does not but that's a very little difference in fairness and many mole ploughs don't have any bullets attached after a while

Reggie.

bbam wrote: »

We did a bit last year.. the results were mostly great

I couldn't say either subsoiling or moleploughing as we bought a home made implement which is a sort of hybrid of both, it has a blade about 10 inches wide and pulls a bullet also..

Will definitley pritorise its usage again this year.. One field in particular there was a section where you would loose you wellington boot other years.. I walked with regular work boots yesterday and the ground was firm with no water over the toe of my boot..

I con't see it drying the land enough to stop rushes growing... but it will give us much easier access to control them and spread manure.. And hopefully less poaching in wet spells.

Great DD bargain for £80 !

Pic?

micraX

Reggie. wrote: »

No it does not but that's a very little difference in fairness and many mole ploughs don't have any bullets attached after a while

Actually that's what makes all the difference. Yeah if the operator doesn't replace them or weld them up. The bullet creates the "mole drain" no bullet it would just fill back in. The subsoiler has wings, it's primary function is to bust hard pans, they can also pull a bullet and be sort of a hybrid between the two. There is a different, a trend on this ten months ago says it to. Also a quick google says that they are different.

locha

Bought a mole plough last year and todate I am very happy with the results. So much so that I reckon had I had one over the last number of years that I would not have had to spend so much on drainage over the last couple of summers. The mole plough does not have a bullet at the back of it but I am going to put one on for this summer. As Muckit said it will become part of our normal practice from now on.

jayc12

DId anyone use the alstrong aerator? Did it make any difference to the field afterwards?

yellow50HX

Just going to dig this up again.

I have a few wet patches in a couple of my fields, the field slopes down to a small steam that runs along the bottom of the field. The field flatten out before the steam and there is always a couple of wet bit but they are back from stream.

Dad has tried draining them a few times but they are still there. We dug in stone drains a few years ago and while there is water coming out it dosent seem to be draining enough.

Rather then going off and buying expensive land drainage, stone and digging field up again I was thinking of getting a mole plough and then ploughing from the steam back up the field to put in series of holes to drain wet patches. We are in sand stone area so no peaty soil will the mole plough still work?

What is the best time to do it? I was thinking of doing it in April as I'll be setting beet in one of the fields?

Will a 2wd 7610 be ok for pulling it?

Kinda like this
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0uk3sQ4LYo

agriman27

I have my own mole plough for the last five years, results can vary depending on how many shores are in fields to collect the water, class job to link the shores and burst up compaction, but I have heavy clay type soil, don't think they would hold up as well in your sandy soil though, would still be worth a try and would loosen up the soil to let water down. I think you would be better off just get a contractor to do the job, a 2wd tractor would be a waste of time because you won't be able to go deep enough she will just sit spinnin

raypallas

Did some last August, very impressed with the results. ploughed out and uphill from the dyke in the field so every drain had a fall in it.
used a 6810 with loader, filled a 7 foot bucket with stone for traction and it stil spunout 3 times.
make sure the plough has a disc as it cuts the sod cleanly and leaves a better finish to the field.

leoch

wat happens if u hit a big stone that wont move can u just lift her straight out of the ground or wat

micraX

leoch wrote: »

wat happens if u hit a big stone that wont move can u just lift her straight out of the ground or wat

Tyres spin, sheet bolts snap, leg bend. Anything. Usually just rips the tyres off haha

raypallas

got stuck with a stone mole ploughing in a 3/4" water pipe. had to set back nd get a 13t digger to pull it out of the way, it wouldn't fit into a 3 foot digging bucket!!!

Reggie.

raypallas wrote: »

got stuck with a stone mole ploughing in a 3/4" water pipe. had to set back nd get a 13t digger to pull it out of the way, it wouldn't fit into a 3 foot digging bucket!!!

Probably the only one stone that was in the field

jimmy G M

Yellow, we have our own mole plough here and do a few acres every year. The dryer the ground is when you do it the better. The ground may not be dry enough down deep in April, we tend to wait until well into May or even August to do it, however depends on the weather you might get in april.

Mole ploughing / pan busting is a great job for breaking up compacted ground, improving drainage and growth/utilisation of fertiliser.

In dry conditions with diff lock on, your 2 wd tractor will pull a mole plough down aprox 10-12 inches, beyond that you will need 4wd.

You could try a contractor with one of those pan busters, circa €70hr, do aprox 2.5 acres per hour.

Some more discussion on mole ploughs etc a couple of years back here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=87791227

raypallas

Reggie. wrote:

Probably the only one stone that was in the field

guaranteed reggie! very fast and efficient way of putting down water pipes if a lad was thinking of upgrading their water system

cj maxx

Hi all.
Been thinking if a mole plough would do a few jobs for me and googled mp's for sale.
They are way more expenive than i thought .
Any cheaper versions/ideas gor mole ploughing?

st1979

make your own. its not that difficult. i made one couple of years ago. got no shearbolts. idea is its made strong enough it stops tractor got 150hp on it and yet to break it

cj maxx

st1979 wrote: »

make your own. its not that difficult. i made one couple of years ago. got no shearbolts. idea is its made strong enough it stops tractor got 150hp on it and yet to break it

Do you have any pics any maybe say a bit about how you made it ?

_Brian

We used ours again last autumn and while it doesn't stop land getting wet it definitely speeds up the recovery after wet spells.

Unfortunately I damaged the point on ours last day out and it will need a few hours with the grinder/sledge/welder to get it into shape again.

I find running it with no stabilisers at all allow it to move sideways enough to get round all but the biggest of rocks.

Deepsouthwest

cjmc wrote: »

Hi all.
Been thinking if a mole plough would do a few jobs for me and googled mp's for sale.
They are way more expenive than i thought .
Any cheaper versions/ideas gor mole ploughing?

Surely a contractor a few days in the yr with a proper high Horsepower tractor would more sense than buying one.

cj maxx

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Surely a contractor a few days in the yr with a proper high Horsepower tractor would more sense than buying one.

At the money i saw , yeah
But it would be along term plan at tidying up the land and wouldnt warrant either the expense of buying one as its a try and see approach, or getting a contracter for a couple of hrs when the weather/ tining etc is right.