The Till-Ease Model 543 chisel plow is a very aggressive tillage tool in hard and soft ground conditions. The Till-Ease Model 543 can perform several tasks suited to applications such as deer and wildlife food plots, extensive gardens, new lawn seedings, small-scale production vegetable farming, and mechanical weed control.
The Till-Ease Model TP Cultipackers is used to firm and press seed into freshly tilled soil. Typically the Till-Ease Model TP Cultipackers are combined with the broadcast seeding method to provide good seed-to-ground contact. A couple of applications are deer and wildlife food plots and new lawn seedings.
We designed Till-Ease Model 543 around a small 350cc 4×4 ATV. Our thoughts were that if a 350cc ATV can pull the Till-Ease Model 543, then a larger ATV will be better yet. In many cases, a 500cc 4×4 ATV or larger will work easier and prepare a deeper seedbed faster. Better performance isn’t because of the larger engine but because, the larger ATVs tend to weigh more and have slightly larger tires. In almost every case, traction will become a problem before horsepower. Adding 75-100 lbs of weight to the front rack Smaller ATVs can do a surprising amount of work.
A chisel plow like the Till-Ease Model 543 is considered a primary tillage tool designed to work in challenging ground conditions. The working rear shanks can attach various points or sweeps to penetrate the hard surface, shearing, and heave the soil upward. This broken soil will generate a proper seedbed. Using a chisel plow is also an excellent tool to help reduce soil compaction, retain moisture and reduce erosion.
For a tillage tool to work effectively, the device must penetrate the surface and work the ground. Like the Till-Ease Model 543, a chisel plow pulled itself into the soil. This down pressure allows the Till-Ease Model 543 to penetrate hard ground effortlessly. A disk harrow does not make any down pressure at all. The tool constantly tries to return to the surface. It takes a tremendous amount of weight to force a disk harrow in the ground to create a shallow seedbed. One misconception is that a disk harrow is for primary tillage. The function of a disk harrow was intended as a secondary tillage tool, smoothing furrows after the moldboard plow.
Rigid shanks are the key to the successful performance of the Till-Ease Model 543. For a tillage tool of this style to penetrate and pull easily, the chisel points and sweeps have to maintain a particular angle with the ground’s surface. If this specific angle changes by as little as 5 degrees, the ease of penetration and pulling load will quickly change for the worse. When the spring shank encounters hard ground the tool angle changes, it penetrates the ground poorly and pulls very hard. A spring shank works best for shallow tillage in soft soil conditions.
No. We equipped the Till-Ease Model 543 with straight blades. These blades are used primarily for cutting surface plant debris. This cutting action is a necessary feature to help prevent unwanted plugging or hair pinning around the rear shanks where the tillage work occurs. A secondary function of these blades is similar to a disk blade in helping to reduce clod size on secondary passes. A straight blade is like a knife edge and takes much less pressure to penetrate the ground than a cupped disk blade.
No. We only provide the electric lift option on the Till-Ease Model 543. A manual lift system would be challenging to adjust appropriately and cumbersome on a chisel plow. Because the Till-Ease Model 543 quickly penetrates the hard ground and may need periodic adjustments. The electric lift gives the operator the ability to make rapid adjustments while moving forward.
No, not at this time. This 3 pt hitch may be something that we will offer as an optional kit in the future. One of the advantages of a pull-style tillage tool is that the machine does a much better job following the contour of the ground. The rear implement will rise if the tractor’s front end drops down with a rigid mounting system.
The Till-Ease Model 543 comes with a set of 9″ field cultivator sweeps and a pack of chisel points. The field cultivator sweeps work well for soft ground or secondary tillage situations such as springtime of the year tillage or second passes. Chisel points work best in demanding ground conditions, like hard or rocky soils, and provide the least resistance. These two different sweeps bolt onto the shanks and are easily interchangeable.
An excellent weight to add to the Till-Ease Model 543 is 150-200 lbs. This weight can be placed in the provided weight racks and is solely used to help the front cutting coulters penetrate the ground. If using Till-Ease Model 543 in an application where the cutting coulters have either been removed or adjusted up, no additional weight is needed. The rear of the Till-Ease Model 543 does not require weight to work and provides all of its own down pressure to the shanks.
The ground will be left uneven and slightly furrowed by the sheer nature of a chisel plow/field cultivator. The earth will need to be leveled with another device to prepare a smooth seedbed. We do offer the optional drag harrow for the Till-Ease Model 543. This attachment is a spike tooth drag harrow that mounts into two rear receivers on the Till-Ease Model 543 frame.
Very hard. With the chisel points installed on the Till-Ease Model 543, it can penetrate something as hard as a dirt road. The Till-Ease Model 543 is the most aggressive ATV tillage tool on the market.
No. We feel that seeding directly behind a tillage tool before harrowing is incorrect for most applications. The ground needs to be leveled with a harrow before seeding should ever take place. Smaller seeds such as clover leveling the soil after seeding will bury a large percentage of the kernels too deep. Using a seeder on the back of a tillage tool skips far too many critical steps. The best order for planting is first to create a seedbed with a tillage tool, harrow the ground to make a level seedbed, cultipack to firm the seedbed seed, and then cultipack to imbed the grain into the soil and provide seed-to-soil contact.
For plants to germinate and grow, the kernel must contact the soil. The seeds are scattered on the ground but not incorporated into the soil when using the broadcast planting method. The Till-Ease Model TP Cultipackers roll over the kernel and press the seed into the soil. This action provides excellent seed-to-soil contact allowing the grain to absorb moisture and germinate.
The Till-Ease Model TP Cultipackers comprises 21 individual cast-iron packer wheels on the TP2148, 27 packer wheels on the TP2760, and 32 packer wheels on the TP3272. These packer wheels have knobs positioned around the circumference of the wheel. When rolled across the ground, the knobs on the packer wheels leave dimples in the soil. The dimples in the earth conserve moisture and provide an excellent location for rapid seed germination. Also, the Till-Ease Model TP Cultipackers use packer wheels that have the proper weight to firm but not compact the soil.
In contrast, a lawn roller leaves a smooth surface. A uniform surface will dry out at the same rate allowing the seedling to wither and die because of lack of moisture. A heavy roller can easily create a compaction situation. There is a fine line between firming and compacting.
No. With a Smaller seed such as clover, You must place the germ in the top 1/4 inch of soil. If the kernel is too deep, it will not grow. After seeding, using a drag harrow is very risky and will over-bury a percentage of the seed. The Till-Ease Model TP Cultipackers will uniformly press the grain into the ground and prevent over-burying. Use a drag harrow to incorporate the kernel into the ground on larger seed plants where depth is not as critical. Then using a cultipacker, like the Till-Ease Models, will provide good seed-to-soil contact.
