Feedback gathered from the sanet-mg and permaculture mailing lists: ------------------------------------------------------------------- I've never seen blueprints, but I think that Guy Baldwin in California's Sierra foothills might still have an actual plow... He used to hold "keyline" courses at his farm. I don't know what he's up to now... Someone on this list (Keith Johnson?) is sure to know... (Guy Baldwin, if you remember, was the founding editor of The Permaculture Activist, he is another one of those "walking encyclopedias" among us) You might want to look at a "Wallace" plow too. I once saw a homemade "shake-R-ator" on a chisel plow that worked pretty well. The big "vibrating" action is what makes those plows so powerful... Other than the Yeomans system, a good all-around, do-everything implement, there are other devices to consider: 1) Howard Rotavator 2) One, two or three row hilling disks Nice option: mount the hilling disks on a 5-6' toolbar, instead of the 4' one the one row version comes with - spread the hillers out enough to create a raised bed/hill standard raised bed width (42-44" +/-); add a levelling bar behind to flatten the top of the bed and all you will have to do it put seeds or plants in the soil to get your garden going (I plan to try this option this coming Spring) 3) 9, 11 or 13 shank tillage tool, 3-pt hitch 4) Ford 101 3-trip-bottom plough (best bottom plow ever made, no longer manufactured, can be bought used for $500-$1200 used) I have all of the above implements and eventually will photograph them, idle and in action, and upload the images to the Permaculture Wiki. Yeomans Keyline Plow System --------------------------- http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/permaculture/2002-May/006009.html This is a three point hitch implement though you could fabricate a drawbar version with 2 extra wheels - Available direct from Yeomans in Australia if you can find a way to import one or just order the system from Market Farm Implements (see below) - Contact: Yeomans Plow Co. PTY Limited PO Box 311 Ashmore City, Qld., 4214 Telephone: 07 5571 6544 Telephone: (068) 62 1511 Fax: 07 5571 6566 yeoplow@onthenet.com.au yeomans@onthenet.com.au - Or just call: - Market Farm Implement, in Friedens, PA, telephone 814-443-1931 Web site: http://www.marketfarm.com/ Market Farm Implement 257 Fawn Hollow Road Friedens, Pa. 15541 Phone: (814)-443-1931 They offer a printed catalog by mail. If you request it they will include a brochure on Yeomans plow and attachments - this brochure if far from complete but does include the plows and points that MFI carries. I got mine in the mail yesterday. This is an impressive device and well worth a market farmer or permaculture practitioner investing in. From the brochure: Yeomans Plow Co. NEWSLINE Big-Y adjustable shank expands the range - with Bridge Lock system Point News: They Just Got Meatier BW-4 Batswing Point BF-B Bull Frog - tip holder WB-3 Wombat Point Yeomans RB-1 weld-on shank base New AJ50 Adaptor - fit secondary cultivating points to Yeomans shanks Tadpole TP-1 New tip for fighting wear problems New Bridge Lock = super strong shanks Yeomans YSH-1 Stealth Hiller - for all types of hilling and bed work New SBL-2 Shin Guard - stop shank wear - For those interested in this excellent tillage device, MFI offers the Yeomans plow or YeomansLG shank (subsoiler with sweep point, sharp-edged shank around 3+ feet long and an added V-shaped sweep at the opposite end of the bottom of the shank from the point). They are having the toolbars with three point hitch fabricated here in the US rather than import the Yeomans version from Oz. You buy as many plows as you want to mount on the toolbars. It is assumed that a 40 HP tractor may be able to pull three Y Plows - in this arrangement you would attach one plow in the middle of the front toolbar and the other two on the toolbar behind and on either side of the front plow - this allows rocks and sod to escape around the three plows rather than getting caught if the three plows were in a straight line on one bar. A three plow system delivered to NC is about $4000, complete. - I have been using a Yeoman Plow for 10 years with great results. The plow was originally described as a subsoiler but I rarely use it as such now having done all the 'pioneering' work. If I use it deep it is in greenmanure crops so that there are roots present to follow the openings created by the plow. The design of the plow point gives it a lower angle of lift so it requires less draft and also mixes layers less. [ because of this it will not bury trash ] The power requirements I remember are 12 horse for the first shank and 8 for each one after. The shanks can be mounted on an old 4" chisel frame but I do not recommend it because the shanks are stiff and any shock will transfer directly to the frame. I built my own frame from one stick of 3/8" X 4" box and still tweaked the frame when I foolishly bypassed the safety having run out of safety bolts. My biggest tractor is 25HP with 4WD and in my gravel loam soil with permanent beds I can plow 18" deep with 3 shanks. If I am moving into a new area I drop shanks until I can pull without lugging and allow the biology to open up the ground with the help of the plow leaving time between passes. The adjustable sweeps on the back of the shanks are great because you can run them just under the surface no matter how deep the shanks are running. For a lot of crops it is the only tool I use for soil prep. Unless they have changed the design they have an 18" and 24" shank, get the 24". I consider the depth wheels to be essential, they transfer extra power to the plow. I started off as a 'french intensive biodynamic' kind of guy and this plow was the key to a twenty year quest to mechanize my deep bed formation [the other components being a Celli spade plow and Williams weeder which Market Farm also carry]. - Steve Diver offered this additional information: - Batswing and Wombat, names of the paraplow points that go with Yeoman's Slipper Imp. See picture in Mollison of cover crop roots going into the channels created by Howard's plow; same thing for Yeoman's. Lower horsepower per shank; biggest difference between Yeoman's and other sub-soilers. Paraplow points, I think Yeoman's featuerd these long before U.S. sub-soiler manufacturers picked up on this concept. - And from: http://www.regional.org.au/au/roc/1984/roc198477.htm - BUNYIP SLIPPER IMP by Ken Yeomans Parkes Industries Pty Ltd, 70-82 Close Street Parkes, NSW 2870 Yeomans (Bunyip) Slipper Imp with Shakaerator is a machine of great strength that successfully harnesses the amazing force of powered vibration to work the earth -r for grain crops, row crops, mulch forming, soil development and pasture improvement. Conventionally shaped shanks and digging points compact the earth tighter immediately prior to contacting it. The wombat slippers and shanks penetrate readily with a narrow point and flat angle, then splits and shatters the earth upwards. The vibrations from the Shakaerator greatly amplify this upwards split-and- shatter action. In shallow cultivation with the wide batswing slippers the vibrations flatten out horizontally and the fin dislodges the soil from the roots to greatly assist weed kill. The draft reducing effect of the vibration from the Shakaerator is often clearly evidenced in deep cultivation when wheelslip occurs and the tractor stops if the Shakaerator is turned off. The wombat slippers can be reversed (turned upside down). This feature overcomes the common problem of the undersurface of the digging point wearing to a convex shape and causing the point to ride up out of the ground. The thicker the leading tip the greater the problem. The inversion of the slipper produces a new cutting angle which readily penetrates the hardest of earths. One of the primary objectives of the design of the wombats (digging points) had been to provide for a type of aeration of the soil and subsoil (the A and B horizon) that would most closely replicate the intimate capillary aeration that naturally occurs in deep fertile (living) soil. It is not desirable to leave pockets of air in the soil. Plant roots will not readily cross an air gap. If it is more than 10mm the root will die back and send a branch root around the air space. Smaller air spaces can have a similar effect. The Yeomans Slipper Imp has the right combination of shank and slipper designs, with the trembling shudder of powered vibration to produce mechanically a unique capillary type of aeration which is both intimate and complete. In many conditions there may be no apparent surface disturbance, yet the earth has been penetrated, split, fractured upwards, vibrated, aerated and returned almost to its original place. Walking on the cultivated soil feels like a thick pile carpet. The conversion of subsoil into deep fertile soil with the Slipper Imp is not a "once over" affair. It is a logical and progressive process, which continues for three consecutive years or more before the deep new soil assumes a strong degree of permanence. Correct management of the pasture plants and especially the control of the growth and decay cycle of the root systems is vital. THE YEOMANS SLIPPER PLOW GIVES YOU LOW HORSEPOWER SUB SOIL AERATION - The super strong breakthrough in shank design gives you earth moving type ripping with super low horse-power. - Models from 5 Shank 3-point linkage through to 31 Shank folding wing. - The unique splitter fin on each Slipper point lifts and cracks the soil ahead of the shank. - The Yeomans Slipper plow gives you deep ripping to aerate and develop deep soils and keeps your top soil on the top where it belongs. - There is no inversion of topsoil and subsoil. - The Yeomans Slipper plow will aerate, sweeten and deepen your soil. The Shakearator for smaller models produces powered vibration, assisting cracking of hard soils and saves on fuel and tyre wear. For information on improving your soil with Yeomans deep ripping send for P.A. Yeoman's Farm Manual. And from the catalog: Yeomans Plow Co. NEWSLINE Big-Y adjustable shank expands the range - with Bridge Lock system Point News: They Just Got Meatier BW-4 Batswing Point BF-B Bull Frog - tip holder WB-3 Wombat Point Yeomans RB-1 weld-on shank base New AJ50 Adaptor - fit secondary cultivating points to Yeomans shanks Tadpole TP-1 New tip for fighting wear problems New Bridge Lock = super strong shanks Yeomans YSH-1 Stealth Hiller - for all types of hilling and bed work New SBL-2 Shin Guard - stop shank wear <><><><><><><><> I recommend a two implement system for market farming or permaculture that includes: 1) Yeomans Plow system 2) a two-gang (two three-disc gangs mounted on a toolbar, one gang on each end - adjustable 5 different ways), three point hitch set of 1-hill hilling discs (I can supply contact information for the company that made mine if anyone is interested) $550.00 delivered. Use the Yeomans plow in the late Fall, possibly again in the Spring; follow up with bed preparation with the hilling discs (set discs to widest point to create the widest, highest hill possible - plant directly into these hills or combine two hills into one for extra bed width. <><><><><><> A testimony on the Yeomans Plow: - Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 16:51:05 -0500 (EST) AUSTRALIA FELIX LandPlanning Consultants Project Management, Design & Planning Services & Products for Sustainable & Productive Land-Use since 1993 Re: Yeomans Keyline Plow The Yeomans Plow Co. do have an email address which is yeoplow@onthenet.com.au . I can highly recommend the plow, we have two: a 3 x 26" shank 3SB model, and a 9 x 26" shank 9SU model. The range of attachments they have available is fantastic and allows the operator to deep rip, mound/hill, deep fertilise, chisel plow, seed, weed and a lot more. We currently have our 3SB set up with a single 26" shank with a Simca 1000mm wide rotary hoe mounted on the back, with two 18" scalloped offset discs acting as hillers/mounders behind. Yeomans supplied a special double bearing block which bolted onto the plow frame, which one joins the PTO from the tractor to the bearing block, and then another PTO shaft from the block to the rotary hoe, so there is no long shafts or compromising angles. This set up we use for single pass ground preparation for trees, olives and grapes. It works pretty bloody well with a minimum of energy use and cost. As mentioned in recent dispatches I have photos available of our working with the Yeomans Keyline Plow and its many different applications. I am currently working on a web page which will make available these images from over 500 properties we have worked on over the past 5 years. If I were to insert them into email their size would take for ever to download. So I think its better to wait for the web page. Please send any further queries to this news group or to us here at Australia Felix on pcorgbgo@bendigo.net.au or to: Australia Felix LandPlanning Consultants 14-16 Wood St, Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia, 3556 Ph. (+61)3 54 418977 Fax (+61)3 54 444483 Cheers Yours and Growing Darren J. Doherty Applied Diploma of Permaculture Design, Permaculture Institute (1995) Permaculture Design Certificate, Permaculture Institute (1993, 1995) Whole Farm Planning Certificate (Train the Trainer), University of Melbourne (1995) Principal Australia Felix LandPlanning Consultants Chairman of Directors GIFT (Investments) Pty. Ltd. President Box Ironbark Farm Forestry Network Inc. <><><><><><> More on the Yeomans Keyline System: - Hello All, What does the holder/owner of the Keyline and Keyline Design trademarks, Mr Ken Yeomans (youngest son of P.A. Yeomans - the inventor of Keyline www.keyline.com.au ) think of this course? I suspect that he would have a fairly dim view if it wasn't first approved by him. He is quite strident in his approval of named Keyline practitioners, whether they be teachers or enterprises. The words Keyline and Keyline Designs are only available for use in Australia (at least) under licence from Ken Yeomans of Keyline Designs, which has caused some angst amongst permaculture practitioners here for fear of litigation. I don't use the term (s) anymore except where referring to the use of our two Yeomans Keyline Plows (manufactured by Allan J. Yeomans - another son of P.A. www.yeomansplow.com.au ). We are experienced practitioners of the concepts espoused by P.A. Yeomans and have further developed them for our own purposes over the last 7 years on over 600 properties. When giving the concept a name we call it CENTAUR DESIGN as the landscape/contour line resembles the shape of the horns of the centaur. This is a term used by a few of us who do the work but don't want to cop the legal shit. We all have our private opinions of this state of affairs on what should be a universally applicable concept, with many of believing that a similar system of trademark use to that used in Permaculture (as brokered by Bill Mollison) being applied to Keyline. However this is not our decision. To those of compliant with the Permaculture system this sucks - as it appears to restrict the use and application of the concept by not having the power over the use of the name and all that brings with it. However the intent behind this is to protect the good name of Keyline from the ills of poor and untrained application. Which to some degree is fair enough. Anyway people I just wanted to alight you all of the issues related there. I would commend to you all to visit the brothers' Yeomans sites (listed above), particularly Ken's as it directly relates to the application of Keyline from a planning sense. Our site has some stuff as well which I would like to develop further in the future. You can also order the book from his site if its not available wherever you are. Best wishes for the course - I wish I could come too..... Yours and Growing, Darren J. Doherty www.australiafelix.com.au Australia Felix LandPlanning Consultants Project Planning, Management & Development Contractors for Sustainable & Productive Land-Use <> >A Keyline Environmental Design Workshop In Ojai, CA, USA. > >A series of three all-day Saturday workshops will focus on the Environmental >Design System known as Keyline. The workshop will be held at Happy Valley >School, 8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Rd, in Ojai and will include an Organic Luncheon >Buffet. The first Saturday, February 27, we will cover the concepts of >Keyline in the classroom. The second and third Saturdays, March 6 and March >13, we will apply our knowledge of Keyline with hands-on activities on the >grounds of the school. > >The workshop presenter is Eric Kindberg, certified organic produce and field >crop farmer, forester and consultant for Keyline Environmental Management >Systems that has farmed in New Jersey, Vermont, Alaska, Arkansas and >presently Iowa. > >A Brief Explanation of the Keyline Design Approach: >The first and principal objective of Keyline, as a landscape design >instrument, is the enrichment of Earthly Life. Keyline is a Universal >Instrument of Design for the land that developed, in part, from a feature of >topography called the keyline. Keyline is a synthesis of principles and >practices co-ordinated into a plan or system for the development of land. > >The Keyline design is unique to each parcel of land so the plan is always >customized. Thus Keyline reveals the potential and develops the uniqueness of >each land parcel. > >To develop a Keyline plan a system was designed to weight what initially >appeared like contradictory or conflicting priorities. The "Keyline Scale of >Permanence" is an order for planning based on the relative permanence of the >various items that together make up the completed landscape. The "Scale" can >be successfully applied to the design of farms, towns, cityscapes or home- >sites. Using Keyline, the responsible land manager is able to develop a >'Landcare' design in harmony with nature. > >The Scale of Permanence in order of design considerations is: > >1. Climate >2. Land Shape >3. Water >4. Roads >5. Trees >6. Buildings >7. Fencing >8. Soil > >Soil treatment and management practices to develop deep living soil, for crops >and for livestock, can now be done in a landscape designed to become more >stable, productive and beautiful. A principal objective of Keyline is to >provide consistent soil supplies of water, warmth, air and organic matter to >maintain and stimulate vigorous soil biotic life. > > >For more information contact Eric Kindberg at 805-646-1366, erorganic@aol.com >The Keyline Workshop registration may be made to PO Box 1388, Ojai, CA 93024 >The charge is $200.00 for all three session including the organic luncheon >buffets. <><><><><> - > If water converges into a single gulley, you could divert > the water higher up. Typically a key line is identified as > the line where the land changes from convex to concave. > It is here that water tends to collect, therefore can be > diverted laterally by opening the soil with a key line plow > or subsoiler. If you look at a contour map of a valley you will find, that in the upper part, contour lines diverge if you follow them out to the ridge. Further down, countour lines converge if you follow them from the valley to the ridge. The key line is the boundary between these two areas. If you draw lines on the map that run parallel to this key line, you will notice that above the key line, the distance of these lines from the next higher contour line will increase (because of the divergence). Below the key line, these lines are going to cross the next lower contour line (because of the convergence). This means that theses lines are actually going _down_ from the middle of the valley. They conect points higher up on the valley bottom with points lower down on the ridge. (see Figure 9 on page 46 in "Water for every farm, Ken Yeomans Keyline Plan" - I think that picture is also in Mollison's Designer's Manual, but I am not sure. I have just sent my last copy to Cameroon, and the new one has not yet arrived. Maybe somebody can check.) If you plow with a chisel plow along such lines, water would flow allong the furrows from the valley to the ridge. In contrast to this, normally water will flow down into the valley on paths perpendicular to the contour lines. Further down below the keyline, if you continue to plow parallel to the keyline, the slope of the furrows will become too steep. You must then select a new contour line as a guide line and plow parallel to it. The key line is the highest line that can be used like this. If you plow this way, water will spread evenly over the whole area instead of being concentrated in the middle of the valey. Because of the furrows, it will also penetrate much deeper into the ground. More water will be stored in the soil instead of leaving your farm quickly. Plant roots will reach deeper, thus bringing organic matter further down. In subsequent years, you can repeat this and plow a bit deeper each time. According to Yeomans, this way subsoil can be turned into top soil relatively quickly. In any case, get a copy of that book (or CD). May be the best investment in your lifetime. Ken Yeomans is also working as a consultant, not cheap, but probably well invested money (see his web site). Sesons greetings Andreas And more from Toby Hemenway: - There was a rancher who lived near me, Marvin Hegge, who bought 250 acres and converted it to a keyline system: a series of catchment terraces feeding into numerous interlinked ponds, which then could flood-irrigate sections of the grazing land. He'd put his cow-calves into tight moveable electric-fence paddocks (I think about 100-200 in an acre, or was it a half acre?) and move them once or twice a day, so they'd feed on the "cream" of the grass/clover/alfalfa and other goodies, bust up the crowns a little so the plants would tiller and grow, and put just a little manure on the ground without fouling things. The cattle fattened up faster than anyone else's, and he didn't need to pump water to the grass. Cheap. Built up soil too, that's part of the deal. Marvin's moved to South Dakota now, and is looking for projects. By all means check out the keyline website http://www.keyline.com.au/ Another one is Australia Felix, Darren Doherty's business, http://www.australiafelix.com.au/ where there are a few photos of keyline being done. One nice feature of keyline plowing (plowing not with the contour but with the keyline--the infection point-- all up and down the slope) is that it directs water out of the gullies and onto the ridges, allowing infiltration. I think the Keyline site has a drawing showing how that seemingly gravity-defying stunt works; study it for a while. And get "Water for Every Farm" by Ken Yeomans. And Darren's got a good article on earth dams in the next Permaculture Activist, http://www.permacultureactivist.net out about Thanksgiving (I just shipped it to the printers). There are other useful articles on earthworking in the issue, too.