Plowing a tiny bit of land with just a loader?

hotnoob · Mar 28, 2020

Hi,

Just got a new L3301 with a loader.
In short, quit my job, ran off to my land, cause money is locked away in investments, i'm on a pretty tight on budget cause of the situation. i have to save my money so i can afford to pay for the water well, i just have barely enough cash to do so.

unfortunately, banks are not responding, otherwise i'd just open up a line of credit. even with the current situation i was barely able to finance a tractor, despite having a perfect credit rating.

very low population area, so, my only option to get a plow for my tractor is to buy new, and that is not an option for me.

my goal is to grow enough food for myself + canning for the winter, this season. i am a complete newbie!

i got 320 acres, but i'm not going to be close to using it all.

So, my question, can i just use a loader to plow a new field? just a tiny one, like maybe 1/2 acre.

i understand a plow flips over the soil, so in theory, could i scrap off the top into a pile, and let it sit for a while ( for the grass to completely die ), and then spread it back on top?

or what would be the best way to plow a field with only a loader?

thanks for your help.

Henro · Mar 28, 2020

I believe in never saying never...But...it seems to me that using a loader to plow a field might work about as well as using a plow to load a truck...

edit: On second thought, I think the loader would win the contest if both were tried...

GreensvilleJay · Mar 28, 2020

Got any farmers nearby ?
Best solution, rent him say 300 acres and have him plow your garden plot.
Around here ,every farmer wants more land....
While it 'could' be done,'plowing' with a loader could easily burn a LOT of diesel. $1 / litre here in Ontario..

NHSleddog · Mar 28, 2020

Right tool for the job, no.

Way better than a shovel, yes.

sheepfarmer · Mar 28, 2020

Rethink your garden approach if you want veggies this year. Consider what I think are called lasagna gardens. Cover sections, rows, hills, whatever your plants call for with newspaper, tarps, plastic to kill or inhibit grass. If you can get it, layers of manure and compost. Dig little holes with trowel or shovel to plant seeds at suitable spacing. The fertilizer will seep through the soil to plants as they grow and the paper and or plastic will inhibit grass enough to give seedlings a chance. You can do a bit at a time. You don't need a very big garden to grow food for one or two people. If you have a really big family that's another issue, but more hands to help with labor. I know you'd like to use your tractor, but this might get you started faster. Use that loader to carry the tarps, paper, compost etc.

BigG · Mar 28, 2020

If you have a tractor and a loader you need something on the back for weight. You might be able to find a box blade new or used with the plowing shanks or scarifiers on it. It will do several things for you. First you can scrape the grass off to the side and start a compost pile. Second you could use the plowing shanks to rip up the soil so that you can garden. Third and the most important it will give you counter balance when using the front end loader. Fourth it will help maintain the driveway.

torch · Mar 28, 2020

GreensvilleJay said:
$1 / litre here in Ontario..

Dyed Diesel was only 84¢/L around here yesterday.

North Idaho Wolfman · Mar 28, 2020

Just get a small roto tiller!

armylifer · Mar 28, 2020

I plowed up my wife's 1/4 acre garden with a middle buster the first year that she started it. In subsequent years I used a box blade. Those are nothing like using a roto-tiller but with a few passes everything got tilled up. If we had anything larger than the garden she has now I would invest in a 3 point roto-tiller. In fact, I would buy that for her right now if she approved the purchase. She says we don't need it. Just keep doing it the same as we have been.

GeoHorn · Mar 28, 2020

Hotnoob.... you FIRST need to decide what crops you plan to grow. The only reason to plow a field is for large amounts of things like corn, wheat, greens, etc.

If you’re only planning for personal use, you can do as allready suggested, cover the areas NOT used with newspaper/plastic sheets etc to kill/prevent weeks from interfering with your productive plants. Then use a shovel to dig holes for tomatoes, beans, squash, ...and do like Native Americans.... plant a corn-stalk for the beans and squash to grow up onto. Those three plants will support each other nutritionally as well as structurally.

Potatoes ? Sure... hook a blade onto the back of your tractor or truck trailer-hitch and drag a groove into the soil and plant potatoes.

You don’t need to “plow” in the traditional sense. If fact, for personal use, raised bed is even better. And your loader and bucket is the perfect tool for raised beds.

GeoHorn · Mar 28, 2020

Addendum: Here’s another possibility should you still want to “plow” up the place.... maybe you can adapt it to a 3-pt hitch/trailer-hitch method.

https://heavyhitch.com/product/heav...-garden-bedder-hiller-cultivator-attachments/

hotnoob · Mar 28, 2020

GeoHorn said:
Hotnoob.... you FIRST need to decide what crops you plan to grow. The only reason to plow a field is for large amounts of things like corn, wheat, greens, etc.

If you’re only planning for personal use, you can do as allready suggested, cover the areas NOT used with newspaper/plastic sheets etc to kill/prevent weeks from interfering with your productive plants. Then use a shovel to dig holes for tomatoes, beans, squash, ...and do like Native Americans.... plant a corn-stalk for the beans and squash to grow up onto. Those three plants will support each other nutritionally as well as structurally.

Potatoes ? Sure... hook a blade onto the back of your tractor or truck trailer-hitch and drag a groove into the soil and plant potatoes.

You don’t need to “plow” in the traditional sense. If fact, for personal use, raised bed is even better. And your loader and bucket is the perfect tool for raised beds.

yeah, just general growing. i do however want to eventually want to experiment with different crops on larger scales.

i'm not certain about the plastic sheets in terms of pricing. at this point looking at just getting something going, quick and dirty.

in the long run, green housing will be what i want to eventually take care of all of my food needs.

---

@BigG, a box blade is probably something i'll eventually want to get anways. i have to build a 1.5KM long road in the up coming year or 2 :S
good to know that it can prep soil... if i have too type thing.

---
@everyone, i think i now have a general idea of what my options are, thank you.

sheepfarmer · Mar 28, 2020

hotnoob said:
yeah, just general growing. i do however want to eventually want to experiment with different crops on larger scales.

i'm not certain about the plastic sheets in terms of pricing. at this point looking at just getting something going, quick and dirty.

in the long run, green housing will be what i want to eventually take care of all of my food needs.

---

@BigG, a box blade is probably something i'll eventually want to get anways. i have to build a 1.5KM long road in the up coming year or 2 :S
good to know that it can prep soil... if i have too type thing.

---
@everyone, i think i now have a general idea of what my options are, thank you.

I'm in favor of scrounging rather than buying a bunch of stuff like big sheets of plastic. Look around for anything that will block the light. Even just 6 or 8 inches of manure and straw or some other compostable materials. Old feed sacks, construction wrappers etc. After you have done a garden for a couple of years it will be time to invest in things that can be used for multiple years like black plastic to warm up soil.

Brazos · Mar 28, 2020

I just use my box blade. I drop the the rippers down to the lowest setting and drive around breaking up the soil. My garden is for personal use (24’x40’). I am not growing crops. Just tomatoes, okra, peppers, etc. so if you need a box blade anyway than get one and use it to break up the soil. I also have a ratchet rake I put on my bucket that I use to break up soil to plant seeds and such.

GreensvilleJay · Mar 29, 2020

The wife's garden is about 1/3rd acre, but only 1/4ac is for veggies, rest is for 2 giant pumpkins. However I use subsoiler, plow, discs, rototiller on it every year as well I add a LOT of compost( horse stable sweepings- poop 'n shavings). Each year it gets easier and easier to till. Tilling even just strips in a 1/4 acre is a LOT of hard labour, did last 20 year ago,when I had to.
Make a list of the veggies you want and buy varieties that come early, say 60 days NOT 75. I prefer pole beans, easier to pick,less disease.
Have taller crops on the north side. Watering should be done on a regular basis,say every 4 days, plants KNOW that...

GeoHorn · Mar 29, 2020

Newspaper or cardboard is better than plastic , IMO... because they will breakdown and contribute to the soil, whereas plastic becomes trash that’s hard to dispose of.

sheepfarmer · Mar 29, 2020

GeoHorn said:
Newspaper or cardboard is better than plastic , IMO... because they will breakdown and contribute to the soil, whereas plastic becomes trash that’s hard to dispose of.

Agreed! Lots of places to scrounge cardboard. Hold it in place with manure or even shovel fulls of dirt. The places that shred documents sometimes have free shredded paper. I have and love my 3560, but it would just compact the ground in my veggie patch, and you couldnt even turn it around in it. For one person you do not need a big patch. I grow and freeze enough veggies for a year, including corn and squash and potatoes which are space greedy. Put cucumbers and beans on a trellis. After a year of the manure and cardboard treatment, dig it in and rent a tiller if you want.

skeets · Mar 29, 2020

One more thing is contact a flooring place about used carpets,, they will down the weeds and hold moisture as well. I used them in the green houses with pea gravel to let the water out, water seeps right through the carpets.. and they were free because the flooring guys have to get rid of the carpets they take up.. Just a thought

fruitcakesa · Mar 29, 2020

When we moved into our home thirty plus years ago, we covered the pine stump dotted future garden area with layers of old rugs, cardboard, sawdust, leaves woodchips etc.
Starting with small, discrete raised beds, over the years as the biomass we used decomposed, the garden slowly grew and the stumps below it became mulch or were easily removed when hooked by a rake or hoe.
Minimal initial hand-working of the area was needed. Lazy mans rototiller

GeoHorn · Mar 29, 2020

The problem with using old carpet is if you ever try to till it in the future you will find your tiller all “wadded-up” in carpet and polyester twine. It’s a mess.

Don’t recommend carpet or anything synthetic.

Plowing a tiny bit of land with just a loader?

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