Dealers 
Sales portal What is a vertical tillage definition?
Vertical tillage is a shallow tillage pass that uses coulter blades to size crop residue and open the top few inches of soil without turning it over. Most of the residue stays near the surface.
Why it matters on the Prairies
Heavy residue is the usual trouble. After a big canola or corn crop, thick straw and stalk mats can slow soil warming in spring and plug seeder openers.
It has limits. Saskatchewan Pulse research at Central Butte found wheat, pea and canola yields after vertical tillage were not significantly different from other residue treatments. The soil effects faded in year two and had mostly gone by year three. Good chopping and spreading at the combine is still the first step in crop residue management.
How producers handle it
There are two windows. In fall, producers run it after a heavy canola or corn crop, or to level ruts before freeze-up. In spring, they run it before seeding.
Toolbar angle sets the job. At 0Β° the coulters slice straight through and leave the surface close to how they found it, which suits a wet spring when the ground needs to dry and warm. Open the angle toward 14Β° and the blades move soil, mix residue and level ruts.
Watch soil moisture. Tillage in wet soil compacts it and leaves clods that hurt seeding depth, and soils near field capacity are the most vulnerable.
Every pass also dries the ground. Manitoba Agriculture puts one pass at about 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) of water.
Vertical tillage does not replace ripping or subsoiling. Wheel-traffic compaction can reach 1 to 3 feet down, well below a shallow pass. It is also not a weed control tool.
Equipment that fits
The Mandako STORM is our full-size vertical tillage tool for tractors from 405 hp up. It runs 20-inch coulter blades on 10-inch spacing, works at depths from 1 to 6 inches, and adjusts hydraulically from 0Β° to 14Β° while you drive. Hydraulic rolling baskets are available behind the coulters to firm the seedbed and break clods. If your roads call for a narrower machine, the Mandako Euro STORM is a 2-section version of the STORM built for narrow roads and stricter transport rules. Before the first pass, check soil moisture in the field and set the toolbar angle from the cab to match it.
