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Kevin210 
Silver Level
Joined: 08 Oct 2018
Location: Indiana
Points: 440
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 Topic: mold board plowing
Posted: 6 hours 15 minutes ago at 1:27pm |
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So my 96 year old Dad passed away over the weekend so
I'm at home this week and trying to distract myself some by
watching plowing video's.
Dad and mom had 70 acres when I grew up and about half
of that was tillable,we had a massey harris 44-6 and a 53 ford
jubilee and as a kid I was in my glory driving them.
In high school I took AG mechanics and one thing I remember
was the teacher telling us one time that when a mold board plow
was set right the tractor wouls stay in the furrow on it's on.
I see a lot of guys that look like they're fighting to keep their
tractor in the furrow,what are some of the reason's for that,just curious.
Sorry to be so long winded.
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PaulB
Orange Level
Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Location: Rocky Ridge Md
Points: 5184
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Posted: 5 hours 48 minutes ago at 1:54pm |
 Kevin210 wrote:
So my 96 year old Dad passed away over the weekend so
I'm at home this week and trying to distract myself some by
watching plowing video's.
Dad and mom had 70 acres when I grew up and about half
of that was tillable,we had a massey harris 44-6 and a 53 ford
jubilee and as a kid I was in my glory driving them.
In high school I took AG mechanics and one thing I remember
was the teacher telling us one time that when a mold board plow
was set right the tractor wouls stay in the furrow on it's on.
I see a lot of guys that look like they're fighting to keep their
tractor in the furrow,what are some of the reason's for that,just curious.
Sorry to be so long winded. |
The main reason I will give to answer your question is: No-till came around in the very late 60s early 70s. So that makes most of us that actually plowed for everything very near 70 or above. I myself always enjoyed plowing and as our farm never had BIG POWERFUL tractors, I learned real quick (from my elders) that small adjustments made big differences in ho easy a plow would pull. My grandfather used horses to farm until sometime after WWII. It was probably sometime in the 50s before he could buy even a used tractor. I remember when I was 11 or 12 and my grandparents came to the field to pick me up where I was plowing ( thought I'd been doing a good job as I'd not touched any adjustments) and my grandfather walk over and moved the furrow lever a click and said make another round. The tractor quit lugging so hard. When I asked him to explain what he did, he said the plow was not level. I see in most of the videos, the plows are nosed in and leaning left. Most likely due to worn parts and lack of knowledge, but they are rooting around like a bunch of hogs as Grandad would say. I've attended many "Plow Days" where that is the case. Very few place actually have individual areas for each person. Following a poor job, results in a poor job. The last on I took a tractor and plow to many had shins worn the to frog and a few were trying to plow with broken shares. After a couple rounds I could bear to watch the hogs so I loaded up. On our farm we NEVER NoTilled and plowed everything and payed attention to the lay of the land on how the rows ran instead of just using the longest fenceline.
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If it was fun to pull in LOW gear, I could have a John Deere.
Real pullers don't have speed limits.
If you can't make it GO... make it SHINY
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DanielW
Silver Level
Joined: 19 Sep 2022
Location: Ontario
Points: 255
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Posted: 4 hours 55 minutes ago at 2:47pm |
Sorry to hear of your loss. Would love to see pictures of the 44-6. They didn't pull as well nor have the power of the regular 44's with the Continental 4 in them, but they sure had smooth power. Great for sawmill/belt work.
I've admittedly been in that situation fighting the plow a few times. I know how to set a plow, find the centre of draft, etc. But with much of our land at our Northern farm being so steep, we typically have the wheels set quite wide for stability. Often when I go to plow I think to myself, "it's just a few acres: With enough front weight I'll just fight it and get it done because the time it would take to adjust the wheel spacing isn't worth it for only a few acres". Half the time time I get part way done and get fed up fighting it, so I stop and adjust the wheels to pull at the correct centre of draft.
One problem for us is that our hills are dangerously steep in many areas, and when you're plowing you have to throw the furrow down-hill for it to turn. So it's already dangerously steep, then to compound the problem you have the furrow-wheel dropped a few more inches into the furrow, so it's even steeper. I've had a few close calls plowing. Dropped the furrow wheel into an unseen groundhog hole one time and three wheels came up in the air, stood there for a moment, then gently came back down. With land that steep I'll sometimes prefer to keep the wheels wide and fight it a little than lose any stability by narrowing them up. |
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Calvin Schmidt
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Location: Ontario Can.
Points: 4572
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Posted: 4 hours 10 minutes ago at 3:32pm |
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I've plowed until a few years ago. My Dad said that a fellow should plow with a horse and a plow for a day and then he would know how to adjust a plow properly which in my opinion is becoming a lost art. My last plow was a Kverneland vary-width which is the best plow built
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Nothing is impossible if it is properly financed
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Kevin210
Silver Level
Joined: 08 Oct 2018
Location: Indiana
Points: 440
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Posted: 2 hours 37 minutes ago at 5:05pm |
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The massey has been gone for a long time
and I have no idea where it is now,
but my brother still has the jubilee.
I know it can take some time to get plows
adjusted correctly but it sure makes a big difference
in the long run.
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jvin248
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Joined: 17 Jan 2022
Location: Detroit
Points: 493
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Posted: 2 hours 13 minutes ago at 5:29pm |
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Fighting to keep in the furrow is a force vector problem. Like driving a car that's out of alignment and just wants to head for the ditch.
There are a few YouTube videos. If you can find books from the 1930s on plow setup that could help, I have an old John Deere 1930s book on general equipment and it has a little section on plow setup.
My father plowed our clay farm with a Farmall 806 and five bottoms. I disked with that tractor. I've only plowed with the heirloom Ferguson TO35 and two bottom plow at my place. I keep thinking I should find a pull type plow for my WD. But after breaking sod for a new field I no-till from there.
It's helpful to have a spotter watch you drive the plow to make adjustments. Today, you can strap a phone camera to a tripod and be your own spotter.
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DrAllis
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Joined: 12 Sep 2009
Points: 22265
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Posted: 1 hour 45 minutes ago at 5:57pm |
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3-point hitch plows require some adjustments that are different than snap-coupler plows. I know none of the plows we play with today are new, but 40 to 70 years old. Certain parts must be in decent condition or you'll not be very successful plowing. #1. Land sides MUST be all there ( not missing or badly worn out/gone) to keep the plow bottoms wanting to go straight ahead and not swing to the left! !! Many of these may have to be fabricated out of mild steel, but trust me, a good condition land side is a MUST. #2. Good sharp plow shares (lays). The shares have to suck the bottoms into the ground and stay there and that means sharp points to keep the plow from bobbing up and down while plowing. #3. Now, we have the bottoms pulling themselves into the ground and land sides keeping them in a straight line. Next, the wheel tread on the tractor must be set correctly (both rear wheels) for front bottom width cut and it also makes the plow pull correctly when the wheel tread is correct. #4. Lastly, the plow frame MUST be level front to back and side to side when in the ground fully at working depth. You cannot see this while sitting in the seat !!! You have to stop with the plow in the ground and get off and look. *** Lastly, on my 4 x 14's fully mounted 70 series, I remove the right side sway block on the 3-point hitch of the tractor. This see's to it that the plow isn't trying to pull the front wheels of the tractor towards the plowed ground in a hard pull. This is a big deal when you compare to snap-coupler plows which allow swinging of the plow and steering of the tractor while plowing. THREE things: sharp points/shares, great condition land sides and the frame LEVEL in all directions. That is a great way to start out. And if you think you can begin your play day with rusty moldboards?? you're seriously wrong. High speed electric wire brush them off as best you can and find a field of sand to start out with.
Edited by DrAllis - 52 minutes ago at 6:50pm
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Mikez
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Joined: 16 Jan 2013
Location: Usa
Points: 8776
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Posted: 31 minutes ago at 7:11pm |
Sorry for your loss. Yes a properly set plow you can drive in furrow and not hold steering wheel. An operators manual helps setting plow up. But it’s easy to get lost making adjustments when just worn out parts is your problem.
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Sugarmaker
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Joined: 12 Jul 2013
Location: Albion PA
Points: 8607
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Posted: 2 minutes ago at 7:40pm |
Kevin, Sorry for your loss of your father. Sounds like he let you do some work on the farm. Probably a lot more than plowing. I don't know much about setting plows. But have plowed a lot of ground. Was I fighting the wheel. Humm cant remember that being an issue really? Did my dad have them already set? maybe? The Jubilee is a good tractor! Ours does most of the work around here. If you can get out and plow some this spring it will feel real good. Regards, Chris and Cheryl
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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dr p
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Joined: 24 Feb 2019
Location: new york
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Posted: 1 minute ago at 7:41pm |
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Believe or not, when i went to cornell University a very long time ago, there was an agricultural engineering class that dealt with how to set up a moldboard plow. It was taught by a professor and the head of the field crop unit. Just to show off they took a three bottom trailer plow, set it up and then hooked a 50 foot chain to it and drove the tractor off 20 feet to the left so the chain was at nearly a 45 degree angle to the furrow. They started plowing and the plow stayed in the furrow the legth of the field.
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