The Carruca was a heavy, wheeled plow with an iron plowshare which came into widespread use by the tenth century. It was used to turn over heavy soils to let them drain, and was thus an important technological advancement for the medieval agricultural economy. Due to its great weight, a team of oxen were required to pull it.

The scratch plough had been developed for light sandy soils but was unsuitable for heavy fertile soils in Northern Europe. The Carruca was a plough with a coulter, plough share and mouldboard and was able to turn over a furrow. It was heavy and possibly required eight oxen to pull it. Its use therefore required co-operation between a number of peasant farmers because few would own so many oxen.

The scratch plough tended to create square fields because the field was ploughed twice, the second time at right angles to the first. By contrast, the carruca was most efficient in oblong paddocks. Because this pattern conflicted with traditional ownership arrangements, the carruca was probably most often used when breaking uncultivated ground.