Tighten the sway bars to no movement left and right then adjust the top arm so the plow bottom isn't at such an aggressive angle. That will help roll the sod with out digging to deep. Sincerely a Midwest sodbuster.

Theres just something about standing on the porch in the morning drinking coffee and watching my cows in the pasture. You forget all the pains of farming

Anyone ever tell you you’re like the Bob Ross of homesteading? Love the channel brotha keep it up. I’ve learned so much from you

Sometimes, Cody, when you're speaking from the heart, you choke me up. God bless you and your family. And thank you for your stories.

I used to pull an implement just like that on a property in Oregon…. The best way to do it is to get your depth set right in about the first 5 feet and then speed is your key to throw the sod out of the ditch

Try spacing out the rows further so the soil that is rolled over doesn’t interfere with the next row’s rolled up soil. That way it won’t fall back or get pushed into the plowed Canal.

It’s a very cool system. I have definitely taken an interest in farming this last year. Preparing for the unknown or known

Funny story, reminds me of a story my Dad told me about when he was in high school. My Dad went over to his friends house but his friend wasn't allowed to go out until the Fall leaves were raked to the street. They raked the leaves to the street and got ready to leave when a car drove through the leaves scattering them everywhere. They raked the leaves up again when that same car drove through the leaves again, they then raked the leaves over a fire hydrant, that same car came back a third time to scatter the leaves but hit the hydrant. Needless to say that ended that guy in the car driving though piles of leaves. LOL!

And so it begins! And so it never ends. Time for another farm implement... a disc, but one of the cheaper ones you'll have to buy. Any time you plow a field you will get clumps and clods, held together by the vegetation. You definitely don't want to get rid of it. You need to bust it up and level it with a Disc Harrow. Water and gravity will take care of the rest.

Watching you get “THE FIZZ” with the irrigation system and gate brought a huge smile to my face. Henry reminds me of my dad. If there Was something he didn’t know how to do, he worked at it until he got it. Taught me how to do a lot. My old man is still around and not as active as he used to be but the lessons I have Learned from him I pass on to my own kids and others as well. Great video.

Look up draft control for keeping your plow at the same depth even when tires go over bumps. Most large tractors have some kind of draft control. Your new tractor may be autimatic.

We call them “toe ditches” and we would just cut one toe ditch and Lead the water to the highest point of the dry spot. And it will saturate the dry spot.

A nice small disc set would do the same without the clumping……It will just make nice channels for the water will follow don’t fret the water it will force it’s way anything that falls into the groves.

You’re not the only one who admires the irrigation. I hope you find a warm welcome to the farming community. We’d love to have you brother. No one knows it all and we’re all always learning. The reels need to be further spaced though.

Seems like running a disc over it could accomplish a similar result without the sod lumps. I'd start planning on laser leveling it at some point and replanting.

It looks like the water is making it's way into the field even with clods slowing it down in some places. It might not be pretty, but once that water hits the field, I don't think you'll be able to see it once the grass takes off. Man I cackled at that story. That's pure gold. If you have a million of them, one per video would be great!

I think one of the main issues you are having is your speed or more specifically the lack of it. When cutting as slowly as you are when the cutter is passing through its not generating enough energy to roll over the sod so it ends up sloughing back into your cuts. Try experimenting with different speeds to get it where you want. If you go a bit faster I think the cut material will stay rolled over instead of falling back into your furrow lanes. Just my 2 cents. Good luck and I hope you find a solution because spending all day cutting the sod by hand and picking it up is back breaking work you shouldn't have to do. Lastly by removing the sod your furrows may end up deteriorating faster because there isn't enough earth to keep the lanes from eventually wearing away if that makes sense. Next year you might consider plowing/tilling the fields and then trying to cut your furrows it may cut your lanes better with the softer cut up dirt.

I would offer a couple of options for rilling. If the idea is to spread the water out over the pasture by creating little rows of avenues for the water, take your disk plow and set the angle to zero, straight blade. Put some weight on it, and it will cut multiple rows for the water to go and cover more surface area than the ditches you are cutting. If you are wanting the deeper furrows, then look into what is called a subsoiler. They are basically the turning plow without the plow. This will give you the ability to cut through the soil and get a fairly deep but narrow pathway for the water.

I don't think you'd need to get rid of the sod, unless you're planning to turn it into a golf course? I mean, give the grass on the underside a couple days, and it'll naturally find it's way up towards the sun, and you'll be happy to have that extra dirt, when you rake the field later, to fill in the gaps. It looks awesome, I'm super excited to see what you'll do and how it goes. you're a blessed man, Cody! :)

It’s always reassuring when at the end of a video you get a “god bless” makes my heart happy! God bless you and your family!

Great Hank story. Don’t mess with a guy who knows how to win an argument with a shovel. Your Irrigation system and process is very cool. Therapeutic.

Cody you will love gardening We garden and can many great recipes like chili base, salsa, spaghetti sauce, apple pie filling, applesauce, soups. We grow and freeze brussel sprouts, green beans, and other veggies. We have a relative who farms crops and we get about 500 ears of sweet corn each year that we blanch cut off cob and freeze. We are very self reliance along with chickens for eggs and for meat.

Thanks for the story! I got a good chuckle!

I’m no farmer, based on my intuition the tool needs set deep into the soil to create a channel for the water to run through under the turf thus eliminating the turf issue. Condo dweller from Vancouver BC .

Men like Henry are what built this country. They are missed daily.

Around my area, we have a field Corrugator for Corrugating the field. These corrugations specifically engineered to perfectly match your truck's wheelbase in order to maximize bounce while trying to drive over them... they also help direct the water across the entire field to even watering. We will feed these corrugations with a ditch we cut with a "v ditcher" and irrigation siphon tubes. I am no expert, but thats how its been done in my field.

Cody, I just want to say that I truly love you brother! I am blessed to have found you about 8 years ago and I wish you were my neighbor. GOD BLESS YOU BROTHER!

glad to hear your joy of the irrigation, I can only imagine the peace of mind that brings in these terrible climates. god truly does marvels for us doesn't he? just so much to be thankful for everyday. god bless you and yours cody!

Farming is learning, doing, having as much control as the Almighty allows and coming out of it with something meaningful to benefit your family. What's not to love?

I have cut rills before, but the attachment I used was narrower than that plowshare, and had outboard wheels on either side of the cutter... So you'd put the 3 point in float and let it ride on the wheels. The stinger depth was determined with a hand crank on the side. The plow was more of a shallow scoop shape with cutter wheels riding forward of the plow on an angle, and the plow itself had a sail on one side to always cast the sod to the right side. Left a clean scallop just maybe 6-8" wide and a couple inches deep, And the rills were pretty far apart, as we used aeration on the field too, so the water traveled from the rill, migrating through the aeration holes. That what you've done would be trouble to hay. Imagine your tractor bumping across those close ruts... and yes, you pick up the cast off sod and put it in a compost heap

What my neighbor did he took a three-point hitch mower and welded it a 6x8 foot plate steel underneath and then he welded a six 2 in by 7.5 ft pieces of pipe and made points out old c chisel plow heads and crow's feet to close the Forward side of the pipe just stuck out right below the three-point hitch and he could level it or make more agressive. On the back side of plate he welded angle iron at 45 to smooth out dirt hills each angle iron was cut to fit in between each pipe and only went 2/3 down side of pipe. There main ing drit was spread acrossed the surface but left tiny trenching all acrossed his pasture. He also used to clean dung piles.

Cody, you gotta keep telling us Hanks stories. He sounds like he was one heck of a guy and telling his stories keeps him alive in a way.

From what I’ve seen of your place, you have a perfect place to use the “Joel Salatin” method of farming. I’d do it in a heartbeat!

It is very helpful to cut the rill while water is flowing. The water is a self leveling indicator and can make it very easy to tell what elevation to set your spade at.

I noticed that when the sod that would roll back in is affected by when you turn the steering wheel on the tractor. When you turned it right the tool would move to the left and the sod on the right would fold back into what you just trenched. Something I saw farmers do in southern Nevada, who used flood irrigation as you have. They rotated their fields and pastures (one year a field would be used to plant and harvest, the next that field would be used for livestock grazing, then the third-year back to a harvesting field). After the second year, they would lightly plow the field then open the gates to water to field. What they looked for were areas that were not getting the water it needed. After the ground dried a bit, they would go in with box blades, backhoes, small dozers (whatever the farmer had) and would rework the grade on the field, with a gentle slope down and away from the source of water. It was amazing to watch because they did all this grading to near perfection with just their eyes and the machine they were on, no calling in a surveying team, no lasers, no grading sticks, and no marking flags/stakes.

It's frustrating not just knowing what to do, and asking noob questions, especially when it feels like your pestering that person. But that awesome feeling when the light goes on and you start getting it. You feel like a super hero. I call it....I know just enough to be dangerous. LOL!!!

If your really wanting it to be good and level with perfect drop you can hire out a leveling company who will precision level the whole property with a few inches drop. Cutting the ditches there is no way you’ll be able to go across it with any equipment. Sorry but i think you’ll regret cutting all the ditches but that’s how we learn. Trial and error

Same here the smoke here in northwest Montana is awful. Can’t see our mountains at all.

The trick with a furrow plow is speed and rigidity. Lock your three point arms so there’s no sway and clip along at 3-5mph. The momentum of the flipping turf tosses it away from the furrow. Leave the sod where it lays and it’ll eventually break down. The dead grass underneath will be natural fertilizer for the ground. For ground that hasn’t been worked for some years you’ll want to either use a ground roller on it or use something like a cultipacker to smooth and level it all out. Takes a couple seasons but it’ll get nice and level.

His excitement in sharing his irrigation with us gives me the fizz haha. It's really cool to see the passion people have for something others might might find to be an ordinary mundane task. Really gives some perspective on how we can find joy in learning something new

What a wonderful way to take advantage of the resources the Lord gives us. Thanks for the hard work brother.

ABSOLUTELY Love stories like that, and with my Gma and Gpa gone, don’t get stories anymore. Would sit there fir hours listening to them talk about what they went they, did, etc….throughout there lives. Was pretty special and amazing, Learned a lot too, as they grew up on farms (did all diff sorts of things from Cattle, corn, beans, milking, horses, etc…) than to pipe fitting, electrical and into framing. My Gma was a cook, wife, and worked as a nurse in the war….besides doing farming as well. Love and miss the stories. God Bless😊

Before we got sprinklers systems on the farm 20 years ago we always used what we called a layoff thing that made like 5 little dichtes at a time before we planted the fields

My concern is I don't think you can hay that with all those grooves cut into it. I'm pretty sure the cutter will bite into the dirt and dull or damage it. But I'm not a farmer so I don't know for sure

I’d like to watch you be a farmer as I am one myself I find it quite interesting

When I was a kid I loved irrigating. We used a tarp and 2x4 and then I cut small riles with a #2 shovel to direct the water. We did the alfalfa fields that way.

Cool to have some water in summer, over here (Chile, the country), it's getting nasty. In my region, farmers are no longer working with animals due to our +10 years drought. However, what's working really good to keep water in the ground with animals, is Holistic Management, it is basically a administration system for farms, homesteads, with planned grazing. The Savory Institute works in the US. Which got me hooked is that you can plan all the upgrades you want to do, it doesn't require to do all in one go as other methodologies ask. I hope it helps!

Judging by the dirt on your shirt, it looks like you've earned some play time. Enjoy your Sabbath!

Hey Cody I think a 3 point disk would work better for the small trenches. Preferably one that’s adjustable so you could control how it cut into the ground just my thoughts

Love the stories Cody! Keep em coming! And we pray for you and your family as well…love all you do! God bless!

The camera footage was so crisp on this video. Great job

I would love to see you make hay and get a few cows

You need to go faster it will flip the sod out of your way.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity in sharing your world with me (us). May God continue to richly bless you and your family. I first saw your channel after Curtis Stone interviewed you about your homestead.

My grandfather used furrow irrigation in the loamy soils in southern Arkansas. The key is to cut the furrows in very dry soil with some speed to clear the trench. First furrow is cut parallel to the flood gate and canal and subsequent furrows at right angles running length of the field every 15 inches to 15 feet depending on often your high ground occurs. Enjoyed the video, brought back some memories.

Hey Cody, have you ever been here to New Hampshire? I have a feeling after you see our mountains and forests, you would realize the far north corner of the east coast is the one decent part of it, everything below Massachusetts is a no go.

Farmers are some of the most brilliant minds around. That irrigation system is absolutely amazing. I love the Henry stories. The man sounds like a real treasure.

Getting really good chuckles out of me with the Henry stories! Thanks always for the good vibes!

I live in Massachusetts in the Cape Ann area. In Essex and Ipswich Mass there are great examples of that form of irrigation. We have a hay called salt marsh hay. Many years ago the old timers cut canals in the marshes so the tides would arrogate the grass, it works perfect all these years later. The gardeners use salt marsh hay to cover there flower beds for the winter months because there’s no weed seed in salt March hay. Thanks again for another interesting video.

People will be kicking themselves in few weeks if they miss the opportunity to buy and invest in Bitcoin as it's retracing....BE WISE

Love the old timer stories!!! Keep them coming please.

Cody if you're wanting to make smaller less bumpy of furrows add enough weight to the back implement so you're able to have it just hit the ground maybe a inch or 2 tops you'll be able to make them closer together and not have the clumps falling back in. If there's enough weight you can also go a good bit faster as well. This will allow for many more groves for the water and do away with the rough bumpy fields cuz no one like running a tractor across those kinda bumps they beat ya to death lol. Loving all your videos wish I had a homestead up that way it's so beautiful and peaceful.

A subsoiler would be much better. All the water would be flowing under the sod and you would never see the ground disturbed on top once you drive back over it. It is the same tool with a much narrower foot attached. You cut up to 18" deep. Helps to break up hard pan under the topsoil. We use them here in the mountains of North Carolina to catch the water running off the mountains and redirect it across the side of the hill. Approximately 10' apart.

Hank sounds like he was quite a marvelous fellow. I had a "Hank". His name was Joe. We shared a back fence. He was born around the 1880s and was a Church Pastor as well as a farmer in his younger days. I knew him when I was a boy and he was in his 80s. He had some stories I tell ya. Quite a guy. I have stories of things we did together working in his garden. He had the best oranges and he had some ingenious ways to deal with the squirrels that got into his garden. I learned a lot from him. Let's just say I don't have any squirrel problems in my garden to this day. 😉

Its smoky up here in BC, too!

Thanks for bringing the Henry stories back! I love them.

As an east coast man we are typically trying to get water out of our fields but it sure does give me the fizz to see new drain tile or a repaired one dumping out water during a heavy rain! Fantastic series!

I really appreciate your honesty in showing what went wrong and your thoughts to address. It's really helped me gain knowledge to avoid mistakes on the fly. Prob saved me a couple emergency room visits too, lol

Great system. Thanks for showing us. Take care.

Gives me the fizz as well Cody. Living in Valdez was a treat getting to go down and enjoy the braided rivers.

I’d probably recommend just marking the high spots for now, then after the heat wanes a little, go back through and till those areas. Then re-furrow them, rake the spoil out smooth between the furrows, then reseed. If you going to grow any crops think about spacing the furrows far enough apart to get more than one row between them. If you take a little more time and get them re-established carefully now it’ll be a longer time before it has to be done again.

We love and pray for you and your family and love the old time story of HANK..God Bless You and your family we absolutely love you guys .. From the Great State of Tennessee 👍👍🙏🙏🙏

In the north east we call them potato plows, middle busters, and French drain plows. Unless you don’t want weeds/grass growing next to the furrow, remove the sod/root systems.

I’ve absolutely loved the whole irrigation system on you’re farm living in the outback of Australia

It's like when your a kid in the spring and your working in the back alleys chipping ice and guiding the melt water.

Back in the 90s the midwest went through several years of drought. But my Dad wasn't going to let that effect his vegetable garden. He took the largest sump pump he could get his hands on, a very long run of romex cable and some plumbing parts to rig up an irrigation system for his half acre garden. The sump pump had enough to pressure to lift the water out of the creek and move it to the top of the garden to a hose splitter but not so much pressure we would hydro-mine the garden. All we had to do was move the hoses from row to row as they got water. We had the greenest garden in the county.

A middle buster is an implement that is primarily used to create furrows in areas of vegetation. Besides digging furrows for vegetables, middle busters can also be great tools for harvesting root vegetables like potatoes. My dad normally used one to clear the valleys between his rows and push the dirt up to his plants.

I’d try an aeration spike attachment on a small disc. It’s a pretty cheap piece of equipment, and good to have on hand every now and again. 1 of our 3 discs is antique and has been on the family farm for almost 100 years. Might need new paint, but I think it’s all the more beautiful with its original rust and specs of orange paint from when my grandpa got after it as a kid. It’s handy to have a small disk around for projects that don’t need the big field equipment. I’d go over it perpendicular to your furrows a few times, wait a few days to see how it’s settling down, then try again if needed. It’ll help level the sod without undoing any previous work. It’ll be bumpy, but only the first or second time. You’ll also be able to keep your top soil, if you disc instead of shoveling out the lumps. Lesson 1 about farming: top soil and the quality thereof ought to always be the center focus. That’s not the way Grandpa says it but that’s what was written in our family Bible (from 8 generations ago in 1862) along with some other notes. You may find a better way to fix the furrow problem, but I decided to share my humble suggestion in case no better solution arrives. Ive been a fan since middle school. May god bless you and your family.

God Bless you and the family. Peace be with you.

I love your stories! Thanks for sharing them. It makes your videos extra special.

1st time I've seen a landscape view of your new place, looks amazing, bet that's just part of the property.

These video's are a joy to watch, thanks!

If the fields are leveled with a slope away from your ditch, you actually want to put in irrigation bunds 60ft +/- apart from each other, running down the length of the field. What your using there is for land that doesn't have a equal slope. If that's the case, you would zig zag through the field in a S shape through the high spots. But. You actually want a bigger V plow for that method, since it acts as an irrigation ditch. that leaks over the sides through the field.

Thanks you for the prayers. We all need ‘em.

A possible reason that sod is falling back into the furrow is that the implement is not down deep enough. Those two “wing” like areas at the top help to fold that sod to the side. Also, an increase in speed might help. Thanks for the excellent content as always!

Working with water has always given me the fizz. Hank sounds like a great man to have as a friend. I can only imagine the reunion you will have with him on the other side, and the stories you will both have to tell.

A subsoiler or mole plough may be a suitable alternative to your rill plough, much less surface disturbance.

Your friend Henry sounds a lot like my father. He could do almost anything and he only had a high school education. I’m very PROUD of my father.

Cody, Thank you for continuing to share those stories!! I honestly think our current society is missing out by all the technology and self gratification it affords. Sitting around a shop, talking with neighbors, knowing people and hearing stories should be cherished.

Love your stories Cody! I Always enjoy your videos!

That irrigation set up you’re got there is fantastic. It’s hot, dry, dusty and you’ve got plenty of fresh water from that there hill. Gotta love it. Bet you miss old Hank. What a character he must have been. Cheers 🇦🇺

I agree with some of the other comments that going faster will help with the sod falling back in. Think of it like a moldboard plow or a snow plow, the faster you go the more it rolls over. Never had any experience with making rolls but maybe cutting shallower and not going all the way through the sod would help that?

Please , don't stop the Henry stories !!! Joy on my morning !

I really like the stories of ol' Henry. Please keep em' coming!

Great video. Always learn new stuff on your channel. Love the stories of Henry. Thanks for sharing

A rill is a small streamlet. You'll find a reference to them in the second verse of the lyrics of 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee'. "I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills"

I enjoy your videos and ever since you moved to this new homestead it's really been interesting to watch it come to fruition

When we used to cut our reels we would take the sod and stack it on our infeed ditch to make a berm to control winter flooding.

That system is absolutely fascinating! Would you consider doing a “walk through” using the drone to give us an aerial view of the whole thing? Can be a bit hard to understand how it all works from the ground. Thank you!

@Wranglerstar: Watched you for years. My first video of yours was in a small garage reading before the family woke up. It was around the time you were trying to put in a driveway. Anyhow i it is fun when something impacts you the way this flood irrigation has. You are a blessed man to do so many "leisure activities" almost as a lifestyle. You play in your shop, play with your tools, invest in your passions hours more each week than most men have. But to see you get so moved by the flood irrigation is, inspiring really. To see a blessed man have the time and resources to invest in a truly interesting and unique project as flood irrigation. But I think this is past the fizz stage. This is more than a 2nd kind of cool. This is a passion that could alter how you invest time and resources. We have finite time, I am sure you are aware the more time you put into the fields the less time you have for other stuff whatever that is. But please create a unique project with the flooded fields. Create a unique crop that requires massive water. Something that maybe is not naturally grown in that area because of the water needs. I have no idea what that is. I don't have a river running through my field. But to have a resource like you have and just plant hay seems like a massive waste of what the Lord has blessed you with. Yes, it is your land. If that is your passion. Heck, getting a bunch of miniature cows and starting a creamery. But you have been blessed with something rare and special. You are chosen really. Looking forward to great things. Kinda can't wait.