Subsoiling – Soil Compaction

[Ruth Bunbury]

Hello,

I was wondering what everyone has done in terms subsoiling for planting (we are about 3 months out so the time ripe to rip!).

In South Eastern Ontario finding a subsoiler can be tough as they are rarely used by common agricultural industries in the area. I have a family friend who knows someone (, who knows someone… etc.) with a subsoiler that will come and complete the job for me; I am no expert in subsoiling…compact tractors are more my style. The thing is their subsoiler comes attached to a 17,000lb Case 9210 tractor. My concern is that the weight of the tractor will negate the work being done by the subsoiler, causing compaction…I just don’t know enough about this side of prepping to know whether this will work out or not, is there an alternative, or am I in the clear despite the weight, if the soil is dry? Any advice would be great!

Thank You,

Ruth

[Fabrice Caporal]

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To pull a traditional subsoiler you need a very powerful and heavy machine. The chains of the Case will somewhat mitigate compaction. Further if you run it in good soil moisture condition you should be fine. We went that route.

Alternatively you could look into the Yeomans plows. These can be harder to find but they are favored by the regenerative farming community and can be pulled by “regular” tractors.

All that said the question is do you really need to subsoil your parcel? The only reason would be if you have a hard pan that needs breaking. Otherwise regular disking or chisel plow should do the job well…

Hope this helps.

[As always take my opinion just as is. I am no expert and have only limited experience]

[Ruth Bunbury]

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It really does, and I have to thank you Fabrice, for your continued help in this. It is such a new industry in Ontario and the agricultural academic community has been very reticent to assist me. To the point where the they will not respond to my emails or calls, it is disillusioning.

[Fabrice Caporal]

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This is true here to. Often people are uncomfortable of admitting not knowing… and not that many knows much about truffle farming. There is that nagging fear of being blamed for giving the wrong advice.  So they prefer to stay quiet.  You need to put on your common sens hat and try to transfer knowledge from other practices. Don’t ask about truffles, but rather ask about other techniques and don’t focus your attention on the what, but on the why…

[Fran Angerer]

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Ruth,

I would suggest digging a hole about 4 feet deep with an excavator and looking at your soil profile before ripping deep. You may not need to rip deep if your profile shows no signs of compaction or hardpan that would prevent draining.

 

Fran Angerer

[Ruth Bunbury]

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Thank you Fran and Fabrice! I truly appreciate your help!

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