So the plow wasn’t working very well.  It wouldn’t stay in the ground.  Instead it would slide up and dig only about two or three inches off the surface.

   Whether it was the nearly one-half inch of moisture or the increased growth of the grass causing the problem, I don’t know.

    As mid-May approaches, getting the grass turned under becomes more critical.  If the grass gets above six inches, it is harder to turn under and it will cause residue problems for future operations in the process of preparing a seed bed.

    Plus, plowing is painfully slow.

    As you can see, the plow barely covers the wheel tracks of the tractor, less than eight feet swath.

    So break out the oneway.  A oneway is really a oneway disk.   The disks do the same thing as the plow bottoms—turn the soil over burying the surface residue, allowing the residue to compost and conserving moisture. 

           It’s called a oneway because it only has one row of disks, all throwing the soil one direction.  A two way disk has a second row of disks that follows the first row and throws the soil the opposite direction.  A tandem disk also moves soil both directions.  (More on the tandem disk later)

      The difference between the plow and the disk is one of depth—the plow goes deeper--and efficiency of turning the soil.  The plow turns the soil over so that what was on top will be underneath, very consistently.  The oneway also turns the soil. But some of the sod ends up upside down, as with the plow, and some sod ends up lying on its side, while some will even end right-side-up.  But, both are very efficient at destroying the vegetation.

    I suppose this is a little like looking at a bowl of oatmeal, but it does show the different effect of using a disk and using a plow.  On the right, the sod is fairly uniform, upside down and in fairly neat rows.  On the left,  the rows are almost non-existent, certainly not as uniform as on the right.  The plow did the right side, the oneway the left.

      But, the oneway is 12 feet long, compared to the plow, less than eight feet.   So, hook up the oneway and finish the job.  (Job finished on May 14, 2012.)