Could someone please post diagrams of the differences between a sub soiler, ripper, cultivator, chisel. etc. I suspect that I am not the only one that is not clear on this. Thanks, Grant.

the main difference between a ripper and a sub soiler is in the design of the shank and tooth. the ripper will break and fracture from the tip of the tooth all the way to the surface,the sub soiler will fracture a clay pan at depth and not disturb the surface very much.  the cultivator is used in the top 4 inches of soil to disturb and usually remove weeds. 

Thank you, I have a better idea of the naming now. Grant.

The engineered max recommended tool use determined its strength. Subsoilers are heavier built for the depth, while chisels worked at less depth but more could used on the bar for larger area coverage.
A D4 I had with 7 heavy duty Cat chisels. Remember, set tools to depth and operate the machine in "hydraulic float".

I tried the sub soiler behind the 100 hp 4wd tractor and the D46U today. the tractor pulled it but the tires were slipping quite a bit. the D46U pulled it in first gear fine but was a nice load no smoke and in second there was some smoke and it would lug sometimes. with the sub soiler in a shallower setting second and third were fine with third lugging just a bit in tough spots. this was with all three shanks installed. the ground was an old oilfield location so it was a tough test.

Hi, gauntjoh.
There izza website dedicated to UN-conventional vehicles called Unusual Locomotion: www.unusuallocomotion.com/ . On this site, there is a fairly detailed history of track patents: www.unusuallocomotion.com/pages/locomotion/track-history-1.html which goes back further than most light think.

In all of the various ways in which people have tried to get 'grunt' on the ground to do work, it seems to me that there still is nothing to beat the good ole steel track with grousers.

One interesting 'kwestyun' does arise from your story about the Fiat and your D7 - Comparative weights?????????? Pretty much anything to do with moving or breaking earth is all about weight, horsepower and the method used to get the horsepower to the ground. Seems your D7 has that Fiat well and truly beaten in that context.

Just my 0.02.

 

Awwwww!  You guys convinced me to trade off the green 9630 and get a D7!!  At least it won't take me 5 acres to turn it around!!  I'm guessing a D7 weighs about half as much again than the 9630.  Not sure the D7 can run 25 mph on the road when going to remote fields.

Jim, Who is he guy in bibs & white hat? That's your spring fling 2006.