Who has a yeoman's plough?

Discussion in 'Designing, building, making and powering your life' started by Tamara, Aug 7, 2007.

  1. Tamara

    Tamara Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    213
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Who has a yeoman's plough?

    I was thinking it might be useful to compile a list of who has a yeoman' plough that they can lease out or will do the work for you.

    I am also interested in size, whether it has discs, your region etc.

    I have heard that there is one near leongatha, victoria.

    Kind regards,
    Tamara
     
  2. crowtrapper

    crowtrapper Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2007
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Tamara, the original plough used by P.A.Yeomans was actually a common type of chisel plough - I think one with so-called "curly tines". Definitely not discs, they damage soil a lot more than tynes.

    Then about 40 years ago Geoff Wallace from near AllansFlat (NE Victoria) built a somewhat re-designed "Yeoman's Plough" which he called the Wallace Plough. It has widely spaced tynes with large flat points, to lift the soil from below; no springs atall, the tynes are rigid. Coincidentally I think he may have called his plough a Wallace Bunyip!

    Anyway you would find that there are a number of wallace ploughs around, maybe for sale or lease; you could find one with a wanted ad. There are also a number of chisel ploughs available (clearing sales etc) which are the same as the Yeomans original.

    Hope this is some help.
     
  3. disorderly

    disorderly Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2007
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Tamara,

    Crowtrapper is on the money.
    If you go to just about any farm clearing sale you may see them.
    They are basically just a common chisel plough.
    What you need to ascertain is how many tines your tractor is able to pull and buy one of that size.
    I bought one of five tines for a 65hp massey ,although the tines can be moved closer together and another tine added onto each of the 2 bars,my tines are made of thick solid plate steel(similar to a bulldozer's rippers only smaller),but you can get others that are spring tyned and some you can add scarifier points to(to create a finer seed bed).
    My unit is great for initially busting up compacted soil and the inevitable hard pan below.
    For what purpose are you tilling the soil?

    Should also have added that my old unit cost $100 or thereabouts.

    Scott
     
  4. Tamara

    Tamara Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    213
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I have read (by Darren Doherty) that wallace ploughs are not as good as yeaoman's.

    the disc I'm talking about is an extra bit. It makes a nice cut in front of the plough tine so you get a slit with the shoe shape down below.

    We deep ripped our place (not with a wallace or yeoman's) and I found the result, while it did work to get moisture deep into the ground (we actually ripped twice - the second time we got deeper) was very messy, with large chunks of grass ripped up.

    I saw the results of a yeaoman's with the discs recently and you could hardly tell anything had happened, there were just rows of slits in the grass. Very tidy indeed, and still able to be grazed.

    Much love,
    Tamara
     
  5. permaculture.biz

    permaculture.biz Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2003
    Messages:
    369
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Occupation:
    https://cli.re/RWPlace
    Location:
    https://cli.re/RWPlace
    Home Page:
    Climate:
    Global
    G'day,

    I have a 3 shank (26" and 22" shanks) single beam (3SB) Yeomans Keyline Plow with 16" coulters down at "Dalpura" near Moriac (Geelong/Anglesea) Victoria. We also have a Yeomans Shank pot seeders, pipe layers (one for 1/2'' pipe with self feeder and another for up to 2" pipe) and a heap of other bits.

    We also have a twin beam Wallace plow frame - frame as we oxy'd off all of the shanks and removed the coulter assembly. We butchered the roller off of this frame and put in on the Yeomans frame. I am not a fan of the Wallace plow as I have enunciated on many times in the past. To avoid a repeat please google the subject. As for chisels and other rippers - they will work to get a bit of a result (they are what PA Yeomans started with after all) but nothing beats the Yeomans Keyline Plow shanks and bits. They are designed with Keyline Pattern Cultivation in mind and a way ahead of the pack. Really no comparison.
     
  6. crowtrapper

    crowtrapper Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2007
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Interesting, Darren - quite a few people don't like the Wallace plough, while others swear by it - perhaps it is perfect for one particular kind of soil. One interesting point you raise is having a 3-run plough - I would add, that my observation is that everyone (including myself the first time I tried deep ripping) tries to put too many tines behind the tractor, in an attempt to make the process less tedious (i.e. faster).

    I tried an Agrowplow deep ripper once; the machinery agent wanted to sell me a 7-tine machine to use behind a 65 hp tractor, but I thought it would be too slow so I insisted on 9 tines. Oh dear! 7 would have been better, and even 5 would have been OK.

    The agrowplow had coulters too, but in fact the best way to get a less torn-up-looking paddock is to be patient and go slow. At least that was the case on our country, and I guess all these factors - tine shape, depth, coulter or not, point design, etc - work together differently for each kind of soil and moisture combination.
     
  7. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2005
    Messages:
    1,590
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    crowtrapper,

    The nicest ripper I ever used was a 30'' single tyne ripper with about an 10'' lifting base plate, no coulter needed and a toe and blades that visibly 'lifted' the soil. It was on deep mallee loam and was pulled by a case 120hp tracked machine. That had a huge beneficial impact on sandhill soils. Whilst not removing trees should have been the correct enviro option, they were successfully removed by a never-ending source of government covenants.

    I would think behind a 65hp tractor, given what little experience I have, a single tyne would be excellent and pulled in 2nd gear low so that depth is achieved with minimal backfill. If you go faster you will 'smash' and not move soil which should be the aim.

    Just going back to the 'torn up look', the whole thing about Yeoman's was to allow water/air access to the soil but he always did it with an eye to nearly immediate fertility increase. P.A. Yeoman's was always a fertility farmer first, these days we have a more imperatives to consider. I am not arguing here that Yeoman's was in any way misguided but land imperatives have changed in so many ways.

    I think it is important to recognise what his imperitaves were: which were fertility and some water access. Today, using his methods, we may be trying to stop water degradation, re-establish native trees and generally improve the living landscape. Yeoman's should be justifiably proud of his vision. Yeoman's as a visionary was a remarkable man - what we deal with today is differing enviro concerns with different terminology.

    cheers

    floot
     
  8. crowtrapper

    crowtrapper Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2007
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Spot on, Floot, Yeomans certainly was a visionary. He had a lot to say about water, as I am sure you are aware. I recently came across a paper he wrote which was not connected to his Keyline theories at all - rather, it was about an issue which faces us right now. That is, dams? or no dams? And where, and how big?

    Yeomans maintained (and he had figures to back it up - out of date now but still valid) that big dams (municipal) were a very inefficient and expensive way to conserve water. The most cost-effective method is small storages right where the water will be used. On-farm, an irrigator would store his own water and then use it for a fraction the cost of large-scale communal storages. Similarly, in towns, for each home to store its own water would be the way to go.

    Of course collecting and storing water where it is to be used would be anathema to many of Australia's large scale irrigators because they live in areas where there is little rainfall. However, if storages are relatively small (that is, farm scale as opposed to regional) then they can be so efficiently designed and built that even a small annual rainfall can supply enough to irrigate - not enough for rice, but enough for many other crops.

    Local storages are also resisted tooth and nail by municipal and regional water authorities, because it takes control out of their hands. So we see a combination of bureaucratic muscle and political maneuvring by irrigation interests, condemning us to a continuation of what we have already got, which in most cases is not working.
     
    Cooindaken likes this.
  9. Cooindaken

    Cooindaken New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2018
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Gender:
    Male
    Climate:
    Arid
    G’day
    Great to see folks out there that actually promote deep tillage. It’s been an uphill road for many years to get an understanding of the benefits of non inversion ploughing. Interesting to note though P.A Yoemans gets the top credit most times? It was Geoff Wallace that first put together the Wallace plough before Yoeman developed his own version, Keyline irrigation was also developed at Geoff’s farm in the Kiewa valley. The Wallace plough was a fabricated tyne with the spacings non adjustable being welded onto the frame. Yoeman worked with Geoff and wanted to make his own version in larger scale production with adjustable tyne settings and opted for a cast tyne and cast frame mounted. Now after this came the Agrowplow, not common knowledge but John Ryan(the founder of Agrowplow) was Yoemans nephew, worked for Yoeman wanted to take the design even further and then went out on his own. It’s a bit like a religion all sharing the same founder, developing new interpretations but striving for the same goal.
    The greatest benefit is non inversion airation. Opening up the soil profile without turning it over, in a hot dry climate this works so well. All three of these ploughs work well the Wallace being the most basic and never built on a large scale(the Agrowplow went up to 30feet wide) They all have what are called rigid tynes with sheer pins( designed to break under load) allowing the plough to go much deeper than the standard spring tyne. All also came with the option of coulters on the front, to cut through so as not to clog the tyne and allowing for minimum disturbance.
    There’s so much more to add to this little thesis non inversion is just the start. My family have been trying to get this understanding accepted for over 50years. Dad started with a single tyne “rabbit ripper” in the 60s and noticed the benefits on the fence line, after he’d gone deep around them we had the first 30foot Agrowplow made, still use a modified Wallace they all play there part.
     
    9anda1f likes this.

Share This Page

-->