Donation of Yaakov Strauss, Balforia. Made in the Netherlands.

A subsoiler is an agricultural tillage implement pulled behind a tractor, designed to break up the hardpan that forms in the soil after repeated cultivation at the same depth, or due to the compaction of tractor tires on moist soil that tends to solidify. A subsoiler can have a varying number of shanks (legs). These shanks are inserted diagonally into the ground and break up the clods deep within the soil without dispersing them on the surface. The operation of the subsoiler is helpful in situations where the soil is intended for crops that will send deep roots, so that the roots do not struggle to develop due to hard and dense soil. The subsoiler can be inserted from a shallow depth up to a depth of one meter into the soil, but usually there is no need to go deeper than 40 to 45 cm. The subsoiler can contain three or more shanks, as long as the tractor is capable of pulling it. The shanks are arranged in a V-shape (arrowhead), or in two or more rows, with each shank operating in the space between the two shanks in front of it. This arrangement is intended to minimize the pulling force that the tractor needs to provide as much as possible, and also to achieve maximum breakage of the hardpan. The more shanks there are and the deeper the penetration, the stronger and heavier the tractor required to operate it.

After the subsoiler's operation, the soil surface appears quite smooth, but the soil is shattered at its depth.

There are several types of subsoilers: paraplow, straight, angled, and arched.