Moldboard plow?

   / Moldboard plow? #1  

redka

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Middle GA
Why a moldboard plow? I see that it cuts and rolls over the soil from 12"-16" deep. But why does the farmer need to do that? Just trying to learn something.
Obviously I don't farm. Been doing a few acres of food plots for a few years, using subsoiler and disk harrow. Thanks.
 
   / Moldboard plow? #2  
Why a moldboard plow? I see that it cuts and rolls over the soil from 12"-16" deep. But why does the farmer need to do that? Just trying to learn something.
Obviously I don't farm. Been doing a few acres of food plots for a few years, using subsoiler and disk harrow. Thanks.

Moldboards were one of the 1st plows going back before tractors. The plow turns the soil, burries "trash", manure, sod etc. Depending on soil type it may not be needed. I have several friends that farm and haven't used a moldboard in many years. They do have some trouble going from corn to grass only due to it's hard to burry the trash without one.

Your depth is kinda deep, at least around here it may be 8-12" deep.
 
   / Moldboard plow? #3  
Why a moldboard plow? I see that it cuts and rolls over the soil from 12"-16" deep. But why does the farmer need to do that? Just trying to learn something.
Obviously I don't farm. Been doing a few acres of food plots for a few years, using subsoiler and disk harrow. Thanks.

The 12" - 16" is the width of the plow bottom. Average depth is around half of the width. Most do not go deeper than 7- 8".

Depending on the soil type and crop rotation we still see some being used here in northern IL, an Southern, WI.

Roy
 
   / Moldboard plow?
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Thanks.
oldnslo, I had looked at some plows on sale sites out of curiosity, and they always gave measurements..I was thinking depth. Thanks for the clarification.
 
   / Moldboard plow? #5  
"Ditto" what JasG said. In addition, A moldboard plow plowing at 6-12 inches deep, in the fall or early spring before seeding, will hold moisture from rain and snow, thus build ing a bank of subsoil moisture for your crops to pull from during a dry spell in the growing season. Ken Sweet
 
   / Moldboard plow?
  • Thread Starter
#6  
"Ditto" what JasG said. In addition, A moldboard plow plowing at 6-12 inches deep, in the fall or early spring before seeding, will hold moisture from rain and snow, thus build ing a bank of subsoil moisture for your crops to pull from during a dry spell in the growing season. Ken Sweet

Thanks.
 
   / Moldboard plow? #7  
redka said:
Why a moldboard plow? I see that it cuts and rolls over the soil from 12"-16" deep. But why does the farmer need to do that? Just trying to learn something.
Obviously I don't farm. Been doing a few acres of food plots for a few years, using subsoiler and disk harrow. Thanks.

Moldboard plows are great for turning up roots, burying stuff on top the soil and creating the beginning of a seedbed. They also can lead to a hard pan in the soil, if the soil is heavy with moisture when plowed. It is not easy to moldboard plow a field and not change the contour of the land. I still have a few spots 35 years later that hold water from my early plowing, learning days.

One thing to remember on one way plows: the right tire goes in the plow furrow and the left tire goes on the unplowed ground.

That one lesson sometimes didn't take with new hired men who were plowing for the first time. One guy just made a series of ditches on 10 acres that took quite a while to fix.
 
   / Moldboard plow? #8  
Why a moldboard plow? I see that it cuts and rolls over the soil from 12"-16" deep. But why does the farmer need to do that? Just trying to learn something.
Obviously I don't farm. Been doing a few acres of food plots for a few years, using subsoiler and disk harrow. Thanks.

You'll see 12", 14", 16" and 18" moldboard plows. Here's my John Deere 2-14 plow- 2 plow share assemblies, 14" between the plows (i.e. the width of the furrows, or cuts, made by the plow is 14").

DSCF0046 (Small).JPG

The bottom part of the plow is called the share (or plowshare) and is about 20" long on my JD plow. The share attaches to the moldboard

DSCF0047 (Small).JPG

DSCF0048 (Small).JPG
 
   / Moldboard plow? #9  
I was probably about 12 years old when I visited a cousin for a week in northern Oklahoma. My uncle was the old time farmer; 2 or 3 sows and a boar for raising hogs, probably 100 chickens, milked a dozen or so cows and used a separator to extract the cream to be sold, fed the "blue john" (milk after the cream was removed) to the hogs and chickens, had 100-150 head of beef cattle, raised, cut, baled his own hay, and his main money crop was wheat. He had 2 Case tractors and I was there when the wheat fields were being plowed to plant the wheat. Each tractor pulled a 2-bottom moldboard plow and a "section harrow" (spike harrow) was pulled on a chain behind the plows. I haven't seen a real farmer use a moldboard plow in a long time.
 
   / Moldboard plow? #10  
One thing to remember on one way plows: the right tire goes in the plow furrow and the left tire goes on the unplowed ground.

That one lesson sometimes didn't take with new hired men who were plowing for the first time. One guy just made a series of ditches on 10 acres that took quite a while to fix.

This depends on the size of the plow and also does not matter if the plow is a one way or a 2 way (Roll over or swing type). The plow will be refered to as a "in furrow", or "on-land". Usually 6 btm's and less are in furrow which yes 1 wheel is in the furrow from the last pass. These can be 3 point, semi mounted or trailed type mounts.

On-land moldboard plows none of the tractor tires are in the furrow and the ones I have seen the tractor can have duals on the furrow side of the plow due to none are in the furrow. These are usually 5 btms and larger. These can be semi, or trailed mounts.
 
 
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