New product line
Indexable Carbide-Tipped Mole Plough
The subsoiler has barely changed in generations. We thought it was time it did.
New product line
The subsoiler has barely changed in generations. We thought it was time it did.
Look at the business end of most conventional subsoilers and mole ploughs and the principle is remarkably simple: a heavy slab of steel, usually with a basic chamfered cutting edge, dragged through the ground.
It works. But is it really the most efficient way of doing it?
Modern agricultural ground is becoming increasingly challenging. Longer periods of dry weather can leave soils extremely hard, while repeated machinery traffic and overgrazing can create severe compaction. Breaking through that ground can require enormous draft force — putting more load through the tractor, increasing wheel slip, and ultimately burning more fuel.
So we approached the problem differently.
The idea
Rather than relying on a conventional steel leading edge, we've developed a replaceable carbide cutting tip designed to attack hard and heavily compacted ground more effectively.
Using modern deep-drilling and precision manufacturing techniques, we've created what we believe to be a world-first agricultural mole plough design incorporating an indexable, removable and replaceable carbide cutting tip.
The concept is simple: instead of making the entire leg fight its way through the soil, concentrate the cutting action at an extremely hard, purpose-designed leading edge. We've also incorporated Hardox wear protection into the high-draft and high-abrasion areas of the assembly, protecting the main structure from the constant punishment of working underground.
The result is a seriously heavy-duty piece of equipment designed for seriously difficult ground.
See it working
Here it is on test in some seriously hard ground — follow @emmerdale.agricul for more footage as the product line develops.
@emmerdale.agricul Testing out our world first carbide tipped mole plough in some super hard ground!
Key features
This isn't about creating something complicated for the sake of it. It's about applying modern cutting-tool technology to an agricultural implement whose basic cutting principle has remained largely unchanged for decades.
The cutting action is concentrated at an extremely hard, purpose-designed leading edge — not spread along a slab of steel.
When the tip wears, you replace the cutting component — not the main assembly. Indexing extends the life of every tip.
Hardox plating in the high-draft and high-abrasion areas protects the main structure from the constant punishment of working underground.
Built for hard and heavily compacted soils — a seriously heavy-duty piece of equipment for seriously difficult ground.
Designed to improve penetration compared with a conventional blunt or chamfered steel edge, reducing draft force, wheel slip and fuel burn.
Developed specifically for increasingly difficult conditions — long dry spells, machinery traffic and overgrazing that leave ground baked hard.
Want the result without the implement? We run mole ploughing as a service across Hampshire and the surrounding counties — see mole ploughing for drainage work on wet fields.
Common questions
They're close relatives — both pull a steel leg through the ground below the surface. A subsoiler is about lifting and shattering compacted layers; a mole plough tows a bullet-shaped foot that forms an unlined drainage channel as it goes. Traditionally both rely on the same thing at the business end: a slab of steel with an edge ground onto it. That leading edge is the part we've redesigned.
Tungsten carbide is dramatically harder than even hardened steel, so it holds its engineered cutting geometry as it wears instead of rounding off into a blunt edge. Concentrating the cutting action at a purpose-designed carbide tip means the leg isn't fighting its way through the ground — which reduces draft force, wheel slip, and fuel burn in hard conditions.
It's a term from modern cutting-tool engineering: the tip can be rotated to present a fresh cutting edge as it wears, and removed and replaced entirely when it's done. You replace the inexpensive cutting component, not the main assembly.
Yes — that's exactly what we'd suggest. Get in touch and we'll arrange a demonstration in real ground, ideally your own, so you can see what it does in the conditions you actually deal with.
Both. We run mole ploughing as a contracting service across Hampshire and the surrounding counties, and the Indexable Carbide-Tipped Mole Plough is available to purchase. Either way, start with a phone call or the contact form.
If you'd like to see the Indexable Carbide-Tipped Mole Plough working in real ground — or you're interested in purchasing one — get in touch. We'd be happy to arrange a demonstration and show you exactly what it can do.