I’ve been talking to our neighbor who use to be in the club that had our place for over 30yrs before we got it. I asked him if the plots had ever been turned with a moldboard plow. He said they have only been disced and planted. I think it would do the plots some good to turn them over and break some of the hard pan that all the years of discing has caused. I have a 2 bottom and a 3 bottom plow so it wouldn’t take us long to turn them. Is my line of thinking right or am I way over thinking this?

It wont hurt but a deep shank ripper would do a better job. Plus turning that ground will expose dormant weed seeds. I love ploughing with a moldboard. Do what you want to do. Itll be fun either way.

CNC says yes. Moldboard the piss outta it

I about spit my coffee out when I read this.

Poor CNC

Hard pan can sure he an issue with some of my areas. I have seen deer around a feeder cause tremendous compaction which resulted in limited vegetation growth when planted. I use a ripper about every 3rd year in red clay. It definitely makes a difference with moisture. A corn field that was half paratilled and the other half nothing done made a believer out of me. There was a dividing line in the field where at least a 2 ft difference in height. As for a plow in red clay, I prefer a disc plow (or fire break plow or tiller plow or whatever you choose to call it). Only when I feel its needed. In some sandy fields, I just disc them.

Plowing or chiseling deep will make alot of difference. Need to break the hardpan now and then.

Actually what "I'd say"......is that its probably gonna depend on the individual conditions and variables of each field.....There is not gonna be a one size fits all answer of yes or no,

I do have a 7’ 3pt shank I could rip them with. I may go that route.

Even a good pasture aerator will suffice for food plots.

If you want a big, bumpy mess, definitely get out the moldboard plow. I've got one I'll probably never use again.

Just gotta know how to use em. Thing is mold board plowing done right needs to be done in late fall and let cure all winter. Then finish off in spring. The freezing thawing and rains mellows it out to work down

You do know youve got to run the disk behind the plow right? Two passes with a good cutting disk and itll be smooth again.

Or one pass with a roto tiller. I thing I’m gonna try to rip it with the shank instead of the moldboard.

Definitely chisel or rip length wise then cross cut rather than mold board. Another thing, if there is timber on the edges of your plots, get your hands on a single shank ripper with a tine around three foot long to destroy those moisture stealing roots. Make your first pass around 10' from the edge then the second pass at the edge. Just have plenty of sheer bolts.

I think the first piece of equipment I'd use would be a shovel

I chiseled the crap out of my garden spot this year instead of turning it. Cant tell the difference.

I was just sitting here thinkingabout the tiller over the plow. That would give you a good seedbed with loose dirt underneath. That sounds like a pretty good deal. There has been times when I disked a watermelon field too much, I think that loosely broken dirt down deep will be a good later on.