Bottom plow for a 24 HP tractor

[N80]

I've used a middle buster for, um, maybe you'd call it renovation.....I imagine this land was plowed before me since I find plow parts in the soil all the time, but its been 50 years or more. In any case, a middle buster is not ideal, but when it was all I had it worked pretty well. Very tedious. But, you dig a furrow, circle around and dig the next furrow right beside the first one, including the mound you threw up. Then, I ran perpendicular to those rows. Very bumpy. But it worked. Hope I never have to do it again.

 

[flusher]

jester, scrub forest? Roots? Stumps? If you have those you may wish to run through it with a single shank subsoiler first to pull them out. Regardless the plow you use if you have stumps either drive very slow or have shear bolts or trips on your plows and wear seatbelt.

How do you use a middle buster? It throws dirt to each side so where do you come back to it on next pass? Not saying it does not work, don't understand it. Only ever seen or used them for bedding, digging such as potatoes or a trench.

I used a KK middle buster with my Kubota B7510HST (21 hp engine, 17 hp pto, probably 15 hp drawbar) when I was landscaping my new house.

I just plow the first furrow, ran in reverse to the start of the next furrow and continued to plow. No problem. Used my Yanmar RS-1200 rototiller to bust up the clods and level the plowed area.

 

[Barneyhunts]

I use a 2 bottom 12" Howse on my Kubota B7800. It has loaded AG tires and a loader. My initial attempts in heavy sod really taxed my tractor, but I didn't have a gauge wheel to control the depth of the plow. I removed one bottom and plowed without much trouble. This year I plowed plots (which I had worked last year) using two bottoms with a gauge wheel and it went well. The B7800 is a 30 Hp compact 4wd. Our soil is not real heavy, but has lots of rocks.

 

[TUG HILL ADDICT]

I use a 2 bottom 12" Howse on my Kubota B7800. It has loaded AG tires and a loader. My initial attempts in heavy sod really taxed my tractor, but I didn't have a gauge wheel to control the depth of the plow. I removed one bottom and plowed without much trouble. This year I plowed plots (which I had worked last year) using two bottoms with a gauge wheel and it went well. The B7800 is a 30 Hp compact 4wd. Our soil is not real heavy, but has lots of rocks.

Here is a tip to deal with sod...if you can plan ahead and hit the field with Round-Up in the Fall...come spring when you want to plow the sod will break up real easy

 

[Foton404]

I'm jumping in late here, but I had a 254a Foton and did manage a 3pt double bottom 2-16" moldboard plow. I am talking about good Iowa loam soil which is easy to work. I traded up in tractors, but if I kept the 25 horse, I was going to find a 2-14" or even a 2-12" to be safe. The Kubota is heavier, so traction would not be as much a factor. 3 bottom? No way!

 

[Foton404]

Coming back in to address schism's comment about plowing half as deep as the moldboard's width. 8" is pretty deep. Regardless of each moldboard's witdth, a 16" can work o.k. at 6" or 7". My early youth was spent on a Super H Farmall, about 25 hp and pulled a 2-16" pull type plow in all going. This included gumbo and hard clay soil. 25hp is enough. Traction is the problem. FWD is a must with a compact tractor.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Coming back in to address schism's comment about plowing half as deep as the moldboard's width. 8" is pretty deep. Regardless of each moldboard's witdth, a 16" can work o.k. at 6" or 7". My early youth was spent on a Super H Farmall, about 25 hp and pulled a 2-16" pull type plow in all going. This included gumbo and hard clay soil. 25hp is enough. Traction is the problem. FWD is a must with a compact tractor.

Plows are MEANT to plow @ 1/2 the bottom width. (ie, 8" deep for a 16" bottom.) Generally there's a + or - of 1". (ie, 16" plow works well at 7" to 9" deep) 6" deep with a 16" bottom is far too shallow. That'll result in a thin ribbon of dirt that often rolls more than 180 degrees, ending up with "green side up" again.

25 HP will pull 2X16"'s with enough weight and at a VERY slow speed. Most plows designed and built after the mid 50's are "high speed plows", meant to plow at speeds above 4mph to as much as 5-1/2mph. 25 hp will not pull 2X16"'s at those speeds in anything short of peat moss or sand. The result of pulling a high speed plow at slower speeds is incomplete turning of the plowed strip. You'll end up with a ribbon of sod/dirt turned 90degrees up on its edge.

 

[MCCORMICKW9]

An old Farmall M is rated for three bottom. An old W9 will pull 4-16's in fourth gear. I to have a b7610, single bottom at best. I also have a W9 and my dads 400 sitting in the shed. Those are 6500 lb tractors. The W9 was a beast for its day nothing could touch it for a number of years. The old tractors were built to plow.

 

[Egon]

The W9 was a beast for its day nothing could touch it for a number of years. The old tractors were built to plow.

Back when I was a youth those were a very common tractor in the area with which I was familiar. The main tractor on many a farm.

 

[Mac2411]

I just last weekend broke what was essentially virgin ground (hadn't been broken in decades at least) which was covered in rough grass. I used an old two bottom Ferguson plow (14 AO 28) I picked up a few weeks ago. It did great, but there were a few times I ran out of traction with my MF 1742 (42 engine horsepower and approximately 3700 pounds in weight w/o FEL). Although I removed two small walnut trees before starting , there were no roots to speak of-the land was just grass. It helped when I put a load of dirt in the FEL and raised it up so it was centered over the front tires. The point for the OP is that you'll likely not move a two or three bottom plow in the soil conditions your describing. I think you'll have at least occasional traction problems with even a one bottom-especially if it's a 14 or 16. Attached is a photograph of the Ferguson plow sitting at the place where I bought it.