Reply to Old Magnet:
FatCatGotHot,
That thing over the cab is the Roll Over Protection Structure......not that I'd want to test itπ π
Deep ripping is done to mix up strafied layers of soil or break up hardpan which is a layer of soil simmilar to sandstone.
The reason why they don't do this on the eastcoast is becouse this is primarly done when planting garapes or trees which send roots down much deeper than he shallow rooted wheat, corn, soybean rotation grown in the east. To bring an orchard into production you are looking at a $40-50k investment per acre to get into production,any mistake made in the first few years will cost you for the next 30 - 40 years.
Single shank is typically used for hardpan, and slip plowing is done for moving stratified soil. A slip plow is a steel plate 1 -2' wide that runs from the shoe up towards the surface. If you slip plow hardpan you end up with large rocks on the surface of your field that you can't get rid of. The last time my family had to break up hardpan for planting almonds we hired 2 hydraulic excavators in to dig about 8 - 10' deep at each tree location then we had to relevel the field and plant the croplater in the winter.
The guy who does my familys ripping from Madera has a large weight about the size of a peach bin that is mounted infront of the nose for counter weight. the problem with running a blade for counter weight is moving the thing the blade on the larger cats must be taken off and moved sideways on a lowbed trailer. Not something you want to do every few weeks when you have to move it.
I don't know what your rates are, but a few years ago we rented a Komatsu from a rental yard in Fresno for $250/hr, + operator + shoes + shipping + ~30 gallons an hour?