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Chisel plough

The chisel plough is a common tool for deep tillage (prepared land) with limited soil disruption. Its main function is to loosen and aerate the soils, while leaving crop residue on top. This plough can be used to reduce the effects of soil compaction and to help break up ploughpan and hardpan. Unlike many other ploughs, the chisel will not invert or turn the soil. This feature has made it a useful addition to no-till and low-till farming practices that attempt to maximise the erosion-preventing benefits of keeping organic matter and farming residues present on the soil surface throughout the year. Thus the chisel plough is considered by some to be more sustainable than other types of plough, such as the mould-board plough.

Chisel ploughs are becoming more popular as a primary tillage tool in row-crop farming areas. Basically the chisel plough is a heavy-duty field cultivator intended to operate at depths from 15 cm (5.9 in) to as much as 46 cm (18 in). However some models may run much deeper. Each individual plough or shank is typically set from 230 mm (9 in) to 360 mm (14 in) apart. Such a plough can meet significant soil drag: a tractor of sufficient power and traction is required. When ploughing with a chisel plough, 10–20 horsepower (7.5–14.9 kW) per shank is required, depending on depth.

Pull-type chisel ploughs are made in working widths from about 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) up to 13.7 metres (45 ft). They are tractor-mounted, and working depth is hydraulically controlled. Those more than about 4 metres (13 ft) wide may be equipped with folding wings to reduce transport width. Wider machines may have the wings supported by individual wheels and hinge joints to allow flexing of the machine over uneven ground. The wider models usually have a wheel each side to control working depth. Three-point hitch-mounted units are made in widths from about 1.5 to 9 metres (4 ft 11 in to 29 ft 6 in).

Cultivators are often similar in form to chisel ploughs, but their goals are different. Cultivator teeth work near the surface, usually for weed control, whereas chisel plough shanks work deep under the surface; therefore, cultivation takes much less power per shank than does chisel ploughing.