Illinois reclaimed soil productivity: Restoration techniques

Consolidation Coal Co. (Consol) has nearly 8,000 acres of high capability and prime farmland reclamation responsibility in Illinois. It has been involved in research in the area of restored soil productivity since 1976 with the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Consol maintains an intensive program to demonstrate and test deep tillage equipment. The research and in-house demonstrations identified soil physical strength (compaction) as the main limiting factor to restoring a soil's productive capacity. There are two primary ways to address this issue, prevention and amelioration. The former was not an option for Consol because many acres were already reclaimed and the company had a major scraper fleet. Along with other operators in Illinois, Consol started an aggressive search for equipment and techniques that could loosen compacted soils. In 1987 Consol was the first to use the D.M.I.-Super Tiger deep soil plow, originally developed and manufactured by D.M.I., Inc. of Goodfield, Illinois. This plow is composed of a single parabolic, static shank with a 44-inch wide sweep weighing 1,200 pounds. It is capable of plowing 48 inches deep while leaving the top soil in place. A Caterpillar D9L tractor with 460 horsepower is used to pull the plow. In 1990 the decision was made to commit to this equipment as the best technology currently available. In 1994 Consol received a patent waiver from D.M.I. to build its own plow. The Consol built plow has been in use since the summer of 1995. To date, Consol has plowed over 3,900 acres with a D.M.I. plow