Plowing thick sod

I'm trying to plow some old fallow land that I got to rent for free.  The sod is so thick it rolls back into the furrow.  I cant get a first pass off at all.  I leveled the plow out and that didnt help to get me going for a first pass.  The plow is doing an awesome job, and sometimes goes for a while perfectly.  Then the slice will start to roll back in and its like a domino effect.  It pulls 15 feet of plowed ground back in!

I got a set of moldboard extensions off my parts plow.  Will these help?  If so how to I adjust them to keep that damn sod where it belongs.  I sprayed it with roundup 4 days before I started, now I just need to get it worked!

My only option is a plow.  I don't own any equipment other than a 10 ft disk and my plow.
Also I cant hook a tiller to the WD45. Thanks though.  A tiller would be a good solution.

I'd try the extensions. I assume you have coulters on the plow? Also try plowing not quite as deep. You can always plow it deeper next year.

Can you post a picture from behind the plow showing the furrow and plow. How deep are you plowing. I have seen a team of horses pulling a plow in sod doing a very clean job.

Now that I see you say you have extensions, yes, use them, alo, if you know how to use the traction booster, this helps! I like 3rd gear 3/4-full throttle in corn stubble, but not sure about sod.

`If it's old fallow ground, you don't really need to plow very deep.  Good luck with the cover boards.

What plow are you using. I've experienced similar results with plows on smaller tractors both 1 and 2 bottom 12". Just recently got a 3 bottom 16" Oliver trailer plow and I've never done a nicer cleaner job before. No more spots with weeds or grass still showing. Rolls over much nicer. Moral here is maybe its just the plow. High speed Radex bottoms do a nice job.

Its my old 3 bottom #73 snap coupler plow.  I had to take the 3rd off because the WD45 won't pull it.  My traction booster doesn't seem to want to co operate and I don't have time to mess with it.  

Ability to flip sod is probably one of the differences of some plow bottoms, particularly those with longer moldboards. For me speed helped, 5 mph was not too fast but that takes real hp.

Gerald J.

We used number 9 wire to fold the tall grass/weeds over so they would cover. Quit using the wire when we put Yetter colters on the plows. The Yetter colters rolled the first two to three  inches over ahead of the mold boards which caused the tall stuff to tuck under. Are the land sides in good shape? If the (rear) land side in bad shape it can let the rear of the plow to not hold the mold board over far enough to do its job of rolling the furrow over.   That is what keeps the plow straight.

Edited by Dick L - 03 Jun 2011 at 8:29am

Its all in the moldboards.Get them as long as you can and curve down as much as you can dont give the sod a chance to stand on edge got to get it to break center. Speed will help as long as it doesnt stand it on edge.If I read it right one time AC used high speed moldboards that were designed to pulverize the soil rather than cleanly roll it over. I dont know if thats right or not bout thought I had read that in a book. But thats what we did with our plows over the years was run cover boards and extensions.

i READ WITH INTREST  M y  dad bought a D/14 and had a oliver pull type plow he had used with the  WC   and it worked good . Bought  lift plow  for the  14   i am A/ C man but the ac plow in sod just gives it a twist ,oliver pickes it up and lets iit break over. He solved problem by getting two 16 in olivers and mounted on a/c frame . Ansner to problem go borrow an oliver.

Roddo wrote: Its my old 3 bottom #73 snap coupler plow.  I had to take the 3rd off because the WD45 won't pull it.  My traction booster doesn't seem to want to co operate and I don't have time to mess with it.

I just went through some of this myself. For most of the old pasture , I burnt it with roundup and no till. But I bought a 210 this spring so i had to use it. I have a 4-18 2000 mono frame plow pulling behind the 210. Im pretty sure they are 387 bottoms on it and this plow will turn over anything you have. Same situation, 30 years worth of pasture.  High clearance, alfalfa rotation, corn stalks, you name it. You cant tell where one round starts and the next ends. does a nice job. ONCE you get it set up to the tractor. Where were we... oh ya... Speed, depth, .. ya. But im a believer in the right bottoms on the plow. will make all the difference.. Check this out. He posts on here from WI also. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqtxfcTyGrg

No question about it Oliver radex bottoms are the best. 

Now to help you. I asked about a 4 bottom and a d19 a few weeks ago. I got them to work good to Okay, still not doing a good job on stony ground in sod. I just plowed this spring ground that had trees (small), blackberries, all types of weeds and grass, and wild roses.  Brush hogged down first. Plowed about 5 acres of this stuff. Take hatchet to cut the roots out, that plug the moldboard. Hears what I had SC  80 framed plows with 375 moldboards, moldboard extensions, and what I'll call cover boards and coulters.

 How long are your shares??  Had to cut the oliver shares down to make it work right.  The sod has to have the right hinge to turn over on.

How level is your ground?  I would think any plow should turn over sod on level ground.  How clean are the moldboards, do they need scoured?

Your picture:
 Can you set the coulters a little lower?  Maybe get them closer to the shin,  just a question here, see if it may help.
Do you have two links that adjust? If you have only one you need to switch them. You need to adjust the farrow side.


Edited by Teddy (punchie) - 04 Jun 2011 at 6:47am