Forest ploughing

I - What is Forest ploughing ?
II - How to plough ?
III - Why ploughing ?
IV - Why ploughing with PLANFOR ?

I - What is Forest ploughing ?

Forest tillage consists in ploughing the soil widely and deeply, thanks to a tool drawn by a tractor.
It is a precondition for the good growth of the trees root system.

II - How to plough ?

First of all, the quality of the tillage is determined by the quality of the clearing and the density of stumps per hectares.
A good clearing is essential before any ploughing.
It is also recommended to reduce the number of stumps per hectares (stump extraction or grinding the stumps with an excavator).
Subsoiling is essential (bulldozer, subsoiling teeth 1,20m deep) in the parcels where there is alios less than 40cm deep.

There are several techniques for forest tillage:

• Conventional tillage: The whole surface is ploughed, and there is no dead furrow. The conventional tillage is done by mouldboard ploughing. Beforehand, it is important to drain the soil to avoid the “asphyxia” of the young plants. Moreover, it is compulsory to mark the planting or seeding rows.
• Strip tillage: Only a narrow band of soil is ploughed for planting or seeding.

Several tools are used for strip tillage:

• Train of Tools
• Coastal Train of Tools
• Mouldboard Plough
• Mixer

All these tools are equipped to add fertilizer locally, in the planting or seeding row.

A - Train of Tools :

This tool has been developed and patented by PLANFOR. It is perfectly adapted to dry and mesophilic lands.

Its advantages:

• Superficial scraping which significantly limits the competition of adventitious weeds.
• Deeper loosening stimulating roots development.
• Burying fertilizer locally in the planting row.
• When used in parcels where stumps have been grinded, the Train of Tools displaces the grinded wood on the furrow wall, to allow planting in a ‘clean’ row.

Blueprint showing the principle of the ploughing done with the Train of Tools:

B - Coastal Train of Tools :

This tool has been specially designed by PLANFOR to prepare the soils before reforestation in the coastal or inland dunes, and the sandy areas (dry Landes).
The aim is to work with ‘hollows’ to collect rainwater and to offer the young plants a side shelter against the wind.

Its advantages:

• Allowing deep ploughing of sandy soils, to encourage the good rooting of the plants.
• Burying fertilizer locally in the planting row.
• Stimulating the growth of the plants in dry areas and limiting the impact of the weather.

C - Mouldboard Plough :

It is the most common tool. It can be used in dry lands, as well as in mesophilic or wet areas.
The plough is the most adapted tool for moist soils (grounds with Molinia).

At first single-coulter, then two-coulter, there now exists three-coulter ploughshares.
Some ploughs are also equipped with a disc which fills back in part of the hollows left by the second and third ploughshares, during the strip tillage. The evolution of the ploughs is due to the increasing power of tractors.
The depth of the ploughing is between 30 and 40 cm.
The distance between the rows is between 4 m and 4m50.
The ploughed soil is then crumbled prior to planting, with a Landes roller or forestry discs.

Its advantages:

• Multipurpose machinery, whatever the situation.
• Proven technique.
• Good burying of organic material and fertilizers.

D - Mixer :

The mixer is a tool to prepare the soil, ‘grinding and shredding’ deeply.
Just like the Train of Tools, the Mixer carries out all the stages of the ploughing in only one passing.
It can be used with any types of soil.
It is important to use this tool on a drained plot to avoid the ‘asphyxia’ of the young plants.

Its advantages:

• Machinery which allows a one-time intervention on unprepared plots (getting rid of crop residue and of weed competition in the planting row).
• Ventilation of the soil stimulating the rooting of the plants.

III - Why ploughing ?

Forest tillage improves the structure of the soil.

It is good for:

• Ventilating the structure of the soil.
• Stimulating the root system, necessary for the good development of the tree.
• Partially limiting the competition of adventitious weeds.
• Loosening the soils.

IV - Why ploughing with PLANFOR ?

PLANFOR owns specialized tools adapted to all types of moorlands.
PLANFOR adapts the tool with the type of soil concerned.
PLANFOR is equipped with powerful tractors in order to work with complete tools.
PLANFOR’s tractors are equipped with geo-tracking for real-time work supervision and validation of the surface actually ploughed.
PLANFOR works in the whole area of the Landes of Gascogne Forest (Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne).
PLANFOR is the only company to carry out ploughing with vertical Train of Tools (patent pending).
PLANFOR has its own means for carrying out the work: drivers, tractors, and tools. It can also rely on a network of partners ETF (Entrepreneurs de Travaux Forestiers – Forestry Work Entrepreneurs) to complete the work.