Viktor Schauberger designed a plough of a most unusual shape. He intended it to imitate the action of a mole, as the mole is a highly efficient turner of the soil. In his lifetime, however, he never had a chance to take his design from the drawing-board to reality. As a tribute to his work, and because we think it has huge potential, we want to bring his plough to life.

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Our plough project began in summer 2002. An experienced engineer and engineering designer agreed to design the plough. With very little to go on in the way of drawings, it was quite a challenge. Added to this, Viktor Schauberger's designs contain no Euclidean geometric shapes (such as straight lines or circles), which meant that it had to be modelled using more traditional methods.

The shape resembles a male swan's raised wings. The earth is turned over 180 degrees as it moves through the spiral of the plough, similar to the way a mole excavates its way through the soil. 

The plough was cast in bronze. It was quite small, as we intended that it should be drawn by a small tractor or draught animal. Our first prototype was ready to taste the soil in May 2004.

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We field tested the plough on different soils. The experience was invaluable, in showing us how the soil moves, and the inspiration behind the idea of the plough. However, we could also see some problems with the design. For example, there were some blockages through the spiral centre, and the flat bottom of the plough tended to pan the soil.

As plough design has moved on since Viktor Schauberger's day, we designed to clad a modern ploughshare.

The plan is that all parts that come into contact with the soil will be of bronze. We hope to be able to update this page as the project continues.

In the meantime, if you have any comments or suggestions about the project, please contact us.