Dealing with Ruts: A Quick Guide for Farmers

Compared to previous summers when farmers have been grappling with extreme droughts and hard, compacted soils, summer 2024 was unusually wet across the US Midwest – which has left many farmers with fields scarred by deep ruts as a result of running heavy machinery (especially harvesters) on wet ground.

Looking ahead to next spring’s planting cycle, those ruts pose a problem – they are likely to accumulate even more water over winter, making spring tillage a challenge – and if not removed, they make it almost impossible to achieve precise, uniform planting, which is likely to result in uneven crop stands and reduced yields next fall.

So what’s the best way to tackle ruts – and when? Let’s take a closer look at the techniques and tools farmers can employ in order to get their fields back on an even footing before spring.

When is the best time to tackle ruts?

You might think that ruts are best repaired just before planting as part of your spring tillage cycle – but in actual fact, leaving them too long can make the problem worse, as rain, snow and crop residue gathers in the ruts, making tillage more difficult.

Instead, experts recommend waiting until the soil is either dry or frozen, since this allows heavy machinery to operate without making ruts deeper, or smearing the soil. This means that the end of fall, or very early spring, can often be the best time to tackle ruts.

What’s the best way to repair ruts?

The first step in repairing ruts is to assess the severity of the damage – how deep are they, and how widespread? Deeper ruts (> 6 inches) will typically require more aggressive tillage to repair them, but they don’t always mean there is a compaction issue – use a soil penetrometer to check before reaching for deep tillage tools.

You should select tools that match your soil type and objectives, aiming to interfere as little as possible in order to repair the ruts – especially if you plan to do a secondary tillage pass later on. If the ruts are not widespread, it’s better to repair them in isolation at this stage, than to deploy full-width tillage.

1. Wait for soil drydown

Wait as long as possible for your soil to dry out before attempting to repair ruts. For tillage operations, the soil should be 90-95% of field capacity at the depth of tillage. To check soil moisture, collect a handful of soil at or just above tool operating depth and form it into a ball. Drop the ball from about waist height – if it stays mostly intact, the soil is too wet to till.

2. Select appropriate tools

It’s vital to choose the right tools for the severity of the ruts you’re dealing with as well as the level soil compaction and also your particular tillage system. 

Shallow ruts

If you’re repairing shallow ruts, then some light disk tillage followed by a ground levelling tool may be all that’s required to get your fields back in plantable condition. There’s also an argument for simply leaving shallow ruts alone and letting crop roots do the work – you may lose some yield, but especially in no-till systems, the long-term benefits of not working the soil could outweigh any short-term losses.

Moderate ruts

For moderately rutted fields in conventional tillage systems, tillage tools with lateral soil moving action can be used to move soil into the ruts and level the ground. Tools with concave discs are ideal – but care should be taken not to overwork the soil or carry out any unnecessary passes, which runs the risk of causing more damage or compaction to the soil. 

For no-till systems with moderate ruts, choose only a true vertical tillage tool with an adjustable gang angle – avoid concave discs that can damage the soil structure by adding a tillage layer. Another option is to use a cultivator with the sweeps or points set at the soil level between ruts, and using it at an angle to the track to gently knock down the high sides of the rut without penetrating the soil.

Deep ruts

For deep ruts (> 6 inches) in conventional systems, concave disks represent the simplest way to move displaced soil back into the ruts – but resist the temptation to till more than absolutely necessary, since this will increase the chances of further ruts developing next fall.

For deep ruts in no-till systems, using a similar strategy to that for medium ruts – for example, using a field cultivator to very gently level the surface – is advisable, followed by using a subsoiler to reset the deeper soil profile while leaving upper layers as intact as possible.

3. Consider cover crops

So you’ve levelled up your ruts – what now? Tempting as it might be to leave your fields until spring planting, repaired ruts lack the same structure as the rest of your soil and as such are prone to collapsing or re-emerging during periods of bad weather over winter. 

One of the best ways to shore up your repair work and leave soils in the best possible condition and structure come spring is to consider planting a cover crop in the late fall. Crops like winter rye are extremely hardy and can germinate in low temperatures, helping to bind the soil back together with their root systems and ensure winter precipitation is more evenly absorbed across the field, reducing the risk of runoff and reappearance of ruts.

Tillage tools for repairing ruts

Which tillage tools should be your go-to when dealing with ruts? At Wearparts, we offer a wide range of durable tillage tools designed for maximum efficiency, so you can get more done in fewer passes. Here’s a look at some of the tools you might use, depending on the severity of your ruts and whether you’re running a conventional or a no-till system.

Disc blades

Light disking is regarded by many farmers as the best way to deal with ruts. Straight disc profiles on an adjustable gang angle will knock down the tops of shallow ruts, allowing soil to fall into the cavity and leaving fields level enough to plant in spring. Concave disks have a more aggressive lateral action that can be helpful for moving larger amounts of soil back into moderate ruts.

Cultivator sweeps

As mentioned above, a field cultivator fitted with sweeps can be a useful tool for repairing ruts, especially when used at soil level so penetration only occurs on the raised walls of the rut, rather than the soil itself. Wearparts offers a range of cultivator sweeps to fit a variety of different machines, with key features such as stay-wide profiles, extended nose sections and optional hardfacing to ensure durable performance in the field. Our new Raptor-Loc sweeps offer the added convenience of a quick-change sweep that’s fully compatible with JD Perma-Loc.

Coulter blades

Coulter blades can be used alongside disc blades on a disc harrow to act as soil levelers, helping to ‘chop’ the top layer after soil has been moved back into the rut for a smoother finish.

Ripper points

Ripper points are designed for soil fracturing and can be a useful tool for breaking up the compaction that occurs in the bottom of ruts. However, they are quite an aggressive tool and are not normally recommended for use in no-till systems. We offer a range of different ripper point styles – but all with a high chrome content for advanced durability and up to eight times longer wear life than the leading competitor.

Chisel plow spikes/sweeps

A chisel plow will sometimes be used to repair severe soil compaction caused by widespread ruts. Spikes or sweeps penetrate deep into the ground to effectively fracture and lift compacted soil restoring the surface profile. However, chisel plowing is regarded as an aggressive tillage method that is not suited to no-till systems, except for isolated usage where there’s no other option. Our range of chisel plow sweeps and spikes are manufactured from heavy-duty materials with hi-chrome and all-chrome options available to maximize both performance and wear life.

Planning for spring success

If you’re out in late fall or early spring repairing ruts, it’s the perfect time to evaluate overall soil health too. You may want to consider soil testing at this point – but even if you don’t go that far, this fallow period is a great time to observe conditions in your fields, looking out for areas that would benefit from extra attention or nutrient placement ahead of planting season.

Your nearest Wearparts dealer can advise on the best parts for your specific soil conditions as you move into the new season – and from tillage tools to fertilizer knives, seed openers and harvest parts, our entire range is developed with precision, agronomic efficiency and extended wear life in mind. Get in touch if you’d like to learn more.