Tillage Equipment Upcoming Auctions

About Tillage Equipment

The new and used equipment for sale within the Tillage Equipment category is collectively among the oldest and most important farm machinery growers call upon. Used both for primary and secondary tillage tasks, tillage equipment variously helps break up and till soil, alleviate soil compaction, chop weeds and stover, and level fields, all to prepare soil beds for planting. The category includes subcategories such as disks, field cultivators, land rollers, mulch finishers, plows, rippers, rotary tillage, row crop cultivators, vertical tillage, and other tillage equipment (harrows, choppers, strip till units, etc.).

While all tillage equipment exists to help prepare soil for planting, individually the machines offer specialized abilities. Plows, for example, are used for primary tillage purposes to cut through, lift up, and turn over soil while burying weeds and crop residue. Mulch finishers, meanwhile, perform secondary tillage tasks by incorporating disks, cultivator shanks, and a finishing attachment all in one implement to provide labor and fuel savings.

A Long History

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John Deere 637 Disks

Humans have been using tillage equipment in one form or another essentially since they began farming. Plows, considered to be one of the most vital agricultural innovations ever, have been around for hundreds of years. The history of cultivators traces back even longer to the earliest hoe-like tools man created. Prior to tractors, the earliest plows, field cultivators, and other tillage equipment were human- or animal-drawn. While historians credit Thomas Jefferson with determining the ideal curves for a plow’s moldboard, John Deere built the first all-steel moldboard plow in 1837. The first U.S. patented disk appeared in the mid-1800s, while powered cultivators date to the early 1900s. Interestingly, while usage of cultivators declined during the 1960s due to increased use of pesticides, cultivator usage has picked up again in recent years due to more organic farming operations and herbicide-resistant weeds.

Development & Innovations

As with other farm equipment, manufacturers of tillage equipment are continually working to evolve their machines for more effective and efficient performance. Modern disks, for example, can tackle the most difficult soil conditions and heaviest crop residue while also offering hydraulic folding abilities for easier transport. Similarly, cultivator manufacturers are creating stronger models that provide more consistent depths and improved field coverage. Some land roller models, meanwhile, incorporate larger-diameter drums, meaning fewer revolutions and less horsepower are required. Elsewhere, some row crop cultivators include GPS- and camera-supported precision guidance systems, while some mulch finishers feature hydraulically adjustable rolling baskets to combat residue buildup.

Find The Right Tillage Equipment

Leading manufacturers of new and used tillage equipment for sale include Brillion, Case IH, Great Plains, International, John Deere, Krause, Landoll, Sunflower, and Unverferth. Popular models on the market today include the John Deere 637, Case IH Ecolo-Tiger 870 and True Tandem 330 Turbo, and Landoll 7431 series.