AREA: Cropping systems

UNIT: Tillage concepts and terminology

JOB: Introduction to terminology and concepts of tillage practices.

SITUATION:

OBJECTIVES:

    1. To develop the students understanding of the definitions of tillage practices.
    2. To develop the students understanding of equipment used during tillage.

MOTIVATION

    1. Discuss what tillage is.
    2. Discuss what the terminology that involves tillage practices.
    3. Discuss the equipment used for tillage practices.

STUDY GUIDES:

    1. What is the purpose of tillage?
    2. What is a bedder?
    3. What is a chisel?
    4. What is a chisel plow?
    5. What is a coulter?
    6. What is a cultivator?
    7. What is a disk?
    8. What is a disk harrow?
    9. What is a disk plow?
    10. What is a cross-slot drill?
    11. What is a harrow?
    12. What is a moldboard plow?
    13. What is a paraplow?
    14. What is rod weeding?
    15. What is a roller harrow?
    16. What is a rotary plow?
    17. What are shovels?
    18. What is a slot mulcher?
    19. What is a sweep plow?
    20. What are sweeps?

REFERENCE: Soils and our Environment 7th Edition, R.W. Miller & R.L. Donahue, pg. 414-418

ANALYSIS:

    1. What is the purpose of tillage? To prepare an adequate seedbed and to control weeds, as well as to improve aeration, increase water infiltration, make furrows for irrigation, and bury crop residues.
    2. What is a bedder? A sweep that looks somewhat like a small moldboard plow with the curved sides on both sides. It is used to build ridges in ridge-furrow cultivation.
    3. What is a chisel? A narrow shank, usually with a narrow seep fastened to its tip. The chisel is pulled through the soil to "rip" it.
    4. What is a chisel plow? Large chisels, usually about 0.6-1.0m (2-3.3 ft.) apart, pulled through the soil to rip it to 15-30 cm or 6-12 inches deep.
    5. What is a coulter? A sharpened disk, with a straight fluted edge, often running in front of a chisel or small sweep to cut the surface vegetation and open a slit in the soil.
    6. What is a cultivator? An implement fitted with several small sweeps that are pulled 5-10cm (2-4 inches) deep between crop rows to cut and kill weeds. Wings are 10-25 cm (4-10 inches) long.
    7. What is a disk? A combination of concave-shaped disks, usually a front set and a following set, both offset in directions opposite from each other and from being perpendicular to the direction of movement.
    8. What is a disk harrow? A combination set of closely spaced disks to break the large clods to smaller units. Sometimes a vertical tine harrow or unit is attached.
    9. What is a disk plow? A combination of large concave-shaped discs capable of turning soil to depths of 15-40cm or 6-15.6 inches.
    10. What is a cross-slot drill? This planter opens a slot (furrow), drops the seed, and then covers the slot and seed with soil to retain soil moisture and to firm the soil.
    11. What is a harrow? A set of vertical tines that, when pulled over the soil, break the larger clods into smaller pieces. Often the harrow is the final equipment pulled over soil to prepare the seedbed.
    12. What is a moldboard plow? A dip tillage implement 15-40cm or 6-15.5 inches deep with one side having a curved surface to turn the plowed strip almost upside down. This inverts the plowed layer and buries most of the surface plant residues.
    13. What is a paraplow? A series of chisels on a frame. Each chisel leg goes straight down and then bends to the side at a 45 degree angle. As the plow is pulled, soil flows over each bent wing and falls back, causing the soil to shatter but not to be mixed or inverted on itself.
    14. What is rod weeding? Pulling a sweep or blade through the subsoil at a depth of 2.5-4 inches to cut and kill weeds. This is sometimes called blading.
    15. What is a roller harrow? A large set of "toothed" disks 4 inches apart on a wide-diameter drum. As the drum disk rolls over the soil, it pulverizes and smooths the seedbed.
    16. What is a rotary plow? Blades rotating into soil to mix it (rototill). Often only narrow strips of soil are rotary-tilled slots in front of the seeder.
    17. What are shovel? Narrow-winged sweeps.
    18. What is a slot mulcher? Cuts a slot into the soil about 3 inches wide and 10 inches deep along the contour each 13-20 feet apart. The mulcher fills the slot with grain straw mulch left in the fields. Flowing water is readily absorbed.
    19. What is a sweep plow? A seep up to 6.5 feet wide, fitted on its underside with four or more shanks about 6 inches long. The shanks incline toward the center, which breaks up the soil to a depth of 8-10 inches.
    20. What are sweeps? Any chisel tip that has "wings" curved surfaces to throw or disrupt the sol, or flat surfaces simply to cut through the soil to kill weeds without excessive soil disturbance. Small sweeps are the tips of cultivators; large sweeps are used to stubble-mulch or rod-weed fallow fields.