Double furrow trail plough at Rannoch Forest
Photographs courtesy of Abbie Gordon, Banchory.
A nice rear shot of a Double furrow plough in Molinia grass over soft peat in Rannoch Forest. The double wheeled plough (for softer conditions) is being pulled by tractor Reg No PSC90V. Does anyone know the type of tractor and the name of the driver?
The double furrow plough created two benefits in that it covered the ground more quickly, hence lower costs and also there was a wider platform between the ploughed trenches which was believed to lead to a more stable rooting area for trees in windy conditions. Single furrow ploughs created a narrow platform and when the trees were larger, at over 40 feet, and especially in wetter conditions they often just blew over peeling the platform over onto its edge. This plough looks as though it is a machine designed to plough down to about 60 cms known by the code D60/- ( Double furrow Depth 60cms/ nil tine).
The aim in order to get 2 metre spacing was to plough at 4 metre spacing and try and get the peat or soil ribbons to lie about 1.8 metres apart. Trees would be planted at two metre spacing along the ribbon. Different types and quality of peat produced different types of furrow ribbon and sometimes this landed quite some distance from the trench edge or even turned right over vegetation side up which was extremely difficult to plant.
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Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Tractors Ploughs and Drainage Machines