Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor

   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #21  
We have a variety of soils and conditions and through the years it I learned not to boast about what a tractor and set of plows might do until looking at it. Something that might fit here was working with a 85 PTO horsepower two wheel drive tractor and a 130 PTO horsepower four wheel drive in the same field same day with just the sun and no rain!
We started out with a four bottom 16" on the smaller tractor and there was a six bottom 16" plow on the larger tractor. Both could go about four miles an hour and pulled well. The ground was clay, not a hard blue clay but a brown clay with a low amount of sand and the ground had been tilled the year before for corn which was chopped and the stalks were in the 6" height range.
We tried pulling both plows faster and both tractors struggled in a higher gear, with power and wheel slippage. After lunch the larger tractor was put on a chisel disc and sent to another field to work. We put the six bottom on the 85 PTO or 100 engine tractor. It would pull it as comfortably at the same speed as the four bottom! It was more noticable when the bottoms tripped! I guess we had found what it would do! Several people were amazed over the fact of that the smaller tractor would do and to the fact that as long as we stayed in the four mile per hour range both tractors would pull about the same. We did bring in other plows and tractor combo's with wider bottoms as well as larger horsepowers. The part that got me, even with larger horsepower with smaller plows we found that the ground could only be moved at about 4 mph!
 
   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #22  
Red Raider said:
Barry in MN-- Are you plowing already tilled ground?

This was untouched sod for at least 40 years
 
   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #23  
art said:
The part that got me, even with larger horsepower with smaller plows we found that the ground could only be moved at about 4 mph!

Research of a Dutch ploughmaker showed that ploughing twice as fast, increases wear on the plough exponentially.. fuel consumption rose as well.
I think it has to do with the inertia of the ground being moved ?? A typical 4 furrow plough would have about a half cubic yard of soil on its shares... The share continuously accelerates all this weight and throws it against the next furrow where it bumps to a stop. Maybe that explains the waste of power when ploughing too fast, and why the research from Deere i mentioned in a previous post, shows that slow ploughing with a big plough is more fuel efficient.
Maybe with cultivators (that just break up, not really move soil) the story is different. ??
 
   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #24  
Man, I guess I should be thankful for our wonderful WI soil.
3-16s on the old JD 720 in 3rd maybe 4th if everything was going well.
Around here 75 HP should give you 4-16's with power to spare.
 
   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #26  
sammyd said:
Around here 75 HP should give you 4-16's with power to spare.

My family in Canada had a 5x 18" White plough, which their neighbor used with a Case 5120 Maxxum, of 90 hp.

But the plough was designed for 6 inches of ploughing depth, i was told most North American ploughs are.
In Europe most folks plough 10 inch on light soils, 12 inch on heavier soils.
The extra depth quite increases the traction need.

Over here, at 10 inch depth, 75 hp would be a nice match for a 4-16 plough if it had front wheel drive.. if it doesnt.... you can only plough on bone dry sand soil.
 
   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #27  
I have a JD 3830 (or 3930), 3 bottom reversing plow that I have pulled with the TN. A 6610 2wd tractor pulled the crap out of it, probably could have done 4. The TN75 4wd can pull it but it is all that it wants. I thought the 4wd would have pulled it just as well. Its loaded. Anyone have a reversing JD?
 
   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #28  
We do have other soil types here! It just depends on which valley or hill you are working.

The example that I used in the post was a learning experience for all that was involved in speed with different types of soil. We have gravel that we can plow at any type of speed as well as good loam soils.

As speeds go up they do wear out the parts faster in any type of soil!
 
   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #29  
Interesting and informative thread.
BarryinMN--What kind of plow is that in your photo? I've never seen any shares like that!:confused:
 
   / Need advice on Plow for 75hp Tractor #30  
Here is more pix's. Pretty standard JD plow. It has front & rear timed hyd cylinders to dive & surface like a submarine. I have spring loaded coulters for it but don't need them.
 

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