MAKES COMEBACK
PLOW THAT WASNT
MAKES COMEBACK
A wet season and the wrong
name brought the Square
Plow success story to an
abrupt end, but it could soon
be making a comeback on
UK farms – this time
with a different name,
says Mike Williams
THE Square Plow was much more than just a nine days wonder. It arrived in the UK 10 years ago when Opico imported the idea from America and launched it at the Highland Show. For almost three years it was among the top selling tillage machines, and other manufacturers and distributors developed versions of their own in an attempt to grab a slice of the sales success.
It all fell apart in the third year when a wet autumn made the ground conditions difficult, and the Square Plow and its imitators failed to cope, especially on the heavier soils. They were parked in the nettles or the back of a barn where most of them they have remained ever since, and the demand for spare parts suggests that only a handful of Square Plows are still being used.
"In most conditions the Square Plow is fantastic," says Opico managing director, Jeremy Coleclough. "Fortunately the first two seasons were reasonably dry, it did an excellent job and everyone was happy. A Square Plow is easy to understand, farmers like the job it does and our biggest problem was keeping pace with the demand.
"The big mistake I made was to call it a plough. It isnt a plough, and when the soil conditions started to get very wet at the end of our third season the results were poor – on heavy soils they could be quite embarrassing. But it was called a plough, and farmers expected it to work.
Improvement
"I think it could be the right time to re-introduce an improved version, but if that happens I shall not call it a Square Plow," says Mr Coleclough. "The job it does is more like a set of heavy discs, and Square Disc would probably be a much better name."
David Corbett agrees that the Square Plow needs another name. Mr Corbett is based at Cottage Farm, Norton juxta Twycross, where he and his son Christie farm about 800 ha (2000 acres) on the Leics-Warks borders. Both are Square Plow enthusiasts, using two of the Opico 8-leg versions – but only when the soil conditions are suitable.
"The implement is nothing like a plough," says David Corbett. "A plough will keep working in a wide range of conditions, but in a wet season you have to forget the Square Plow and use something else instead."
The Corbetts bought their first Square Plow about nine years ago to deal with straw after the burning ban was introduced, and the other was purchased a few years later second hand after the supply of new ones had dried up. Their farms cover a wide range of soils from heavy clays to medium loams, and during the last eight seasons David Corbett estimates that only two or three were too wet for the Square Plow.
"If we cant use the Square Plow we use a mouldboard plough instead, but we would always prefer to use the Square Plow if the conditions are suitable," says Mr Corbett.
"The Square Plow is faster than a mouldboard plough and it is also cheaper to operate, and the financial pressure cereal growers are facing makes it very attractive to reduce our cultivation costs if we can.
"On most of our soils we find it is easier to make a seedbed behind the Square Plow than on ordinary ploughed land," he says, "and we also like the way the Square Plow deals with straw residues. Instead of just burying the straw in the furrow bottom, a Square Plow mixes the straw through the soil profile. It may not look as good because some of the straw is left sticking out of the surface, but it helps the straw to break down more easily and you dont turn it up again in the following year"
The Corbetts plan to continue Square Plowing until they can no longer buy the spare parts – and there are already signs that this is becoming more difficult. Then, they say, they will go back to conventional ploughing and cultivating.
They pull their Square Plows behind Case IH Magnum tractors of 250hp or 270hp, and their advice is not to economise on tractor power because maintaining a fast working speed improves the finish – unlike a mouldboard plough which needs a slow forward speed to work properly. The Square Plow is followed by rolling, and the exposed soil is left to weather before a cultivator is used to prepare a seedbed for the drill.
"Almost everybody stopped using the Square Plow when they found it would not work in the wet, and they have given up completely," says David Corbett. "But I think they are missing out, because when the conditions are suitable a Square Plow is much better than a mouldboard plough." *