FABRIC LAYER MACHINE

Installing fabric check strips to prevent gully erosion, the fabric layer machine creates a furrow and installs the fabric in one pass.  The fabric is 36 inches wide, and is installed with one-half of the fabric buried and anchored with compacted soil.  The remaining 18 inches of fabric drapes down the watercourse in the direction of the water flow.  Spacing of the fabric check strips depends on the steepness of the grade of the waterway.  The machine requires a tractor of at least 75 horsepower to pull it.  The rental fee is based on the number of feet of fabric installed, and includes the cost of the fabric and the use of the machine.

The major fieldwork for the Marshall County soil survey was performed in the period 1974-1977.  The published soil survey book has details about all of the soil types present in our county.  Soil survey books are available at no charge to anyone who comes to the office to request one. 

An interactive CD version of the soil survey of Marshall County, Iowa, was digitized in 2004 using ortho photography from 2002.  There is a small charge for the SoilView CD, to defray our costs of copying them. 

The Soil Compaction Tester is a penetrometer that measures the firmness of soil.  Use of the tester BEFORE YOU TILL will show whether or not you have a compaction layer and how deep that compaction layer is.  Detailed instructions will be provided to anyone borrowing this piece of equipment. 

Marking flags are available in assorted colors, usually sold in bundles of 100.