1. Equipment Used for Soil Preparation
Farm tractor and tillage implementation
Source: Daniel R. Ess, Purdue University
Tractor - a traction machine that provides mechanical, hydraulic, and/or electrical
power to implements to perform a wide range of crop production and handling
operations. Tractors are most often used to perform drawbar work (pulling equipment
through the field) and PTO (power take-off) (power to rotate equipment components)
work. Tractors can be equipped with rubber tires, rubber belts, or steel tracks. A modern
farm tractor is almost always equipped with a diesel engine and tractor size is measured
by the amount of power that the tractor can produce at the PTO. Tractor sizes range
from those with less than 40 PTO horsepower to ones that produce more than 400
horsepower. The cost of a large modern tractor can be well over $200,000.
Rubber-tracked tractor and moldboard plow at work in the field
Source: farmphoto.com
Plow - an implement used to perform primary tillage. A number of types of plows are in
common use including the moldboard plow, the chisel plow, and the disk plow.
The moldboard plow has a large frame that is equipped with a series of "bottoms,"
each of which consists of a steel coulter to slice through residue followed closely by a
steel share that cuts the soil and an attached moldboard that is used to raise and turn
over the cut "slice" of soil.
Disk plows work in a similar manner to laterally displace and invert soil through the use
of concave steel disk blades.

2. Chisel plows use curved shanks to penetrate and "stir" the soil without inverting a soil
layer. Chisel plows cause less residue disturbance than moldboard plows and are often
used in conservation tillage systems.
A close-up view of a disk harrow in the field
Source: Deere Photo Library, Vol. 1
Disk Harrows (or Disk) - are implements that uses steel blades to slice through crop
residues and soil. Disk blades are mounted in groups or gangs that rotate as they move
forward through the soil. Front gangs move soil toward the outside of the disk while
rear gangs move soil back toward the center of the disk. A disk can be used for primary
or secondary tillage.
A field shot of a tractor and disk harrow at work
Source: Deere Photo Library, Vol. 1

3. A tractor and row crop cultivator working in soybeans plated with a conservation
tillage system
Source: Deere Photo Library, Vol. 1
Field Cultivator -an implement used to perform secondary tillage operations such as
seedbed preparation and weed eradication. Field cultivators are equipped with steel
shanks that are typically spring mounted to permit the shank to move within the soil and
shatter clods. Field cultivators are constructed similarly to chisel plows, but are more
lightly built. Large chisel plows can exceed 50 feet in width in the field.