3 bottom turn plow

[kacole]

looking to buy a 3 bottom turn plow and just wondering if my tractor will handle it. I have a kubota mx5100 with r-4 tires. tires are loaded

 

[allen in texas]

I pull a 14" three bottom oliver Rollover plow. My tractor is an L5740, 59 engine hp, 50 PTO. I have over 600 pounds of cast iron weight and filled rear tires. I don't have any problem pulling the plow. My soil is sandy loam that resembles concrete when it doesn't have a bit of moisture.
Here's a video of me pulling the plow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdEStYYl1Ts

My avatar is of my smaller tractor with R4's and a 2 bottom 14 inch Ford Rollover plow. That tractor was a 32 engine hp with 25 pto HP. It did well with the plow.

I think you should be able to pull the plow BUT... there are a lot of variables. I have considered selling my 2 bottom but I keep hanging on to it because I worry that I may come across something that I can't handle the 3 bottom in. Good luck with whatever you decide and keep us posted.

 

[idaho2]

Would help if you listed the hp of the tractor, terrain you plan on plowing and soil type. Does your mx5100 have a float control. I pull a Ford 10-209 3x16's 3pt with coulters at 8" depth.

idaho2

 

[allen in texas]

His tractor is 50 engine hp and 44 for a geared tractor and 42.5 for an hst tractor. It is still an old "rule of thumb" that it requires 1 hp per inch of bottom so a 14 inch three bottom would take 42 hp. Now before everyone beats me up, it is just a suggested started starting point and as always, YMMV. (your mileage may vary)

I would like to know his soil type too.

 

[oosik]

Well, lets see. Welcome to TBN. Your tractor will probably pull it if - the bottoms are 12" or 14" and not bigger - you have "lighter" soil and not overly clay heavy - and you don't expect to plow clear to China. Otherwise, I would strongly recommend a two bottom. Oh, your tractor is 4WD?? The loaded R4 tires will not give you the "grunt" that loaded R1 tires do but they are better than turf tires. You will probably be right on the edge of pulling it or digging four holes - because you will be too light and do not have the traction. You have sufficient power. You might find that simply disking the ground first will allow the plow to work fine. OR set the plow to go shallow the first time around then to the final depth on a second go around. I have extremely heavy clay/silt/volcanic ash soil here and have bogged down with my two bottom (18 inch bottoms) when plowing. I've found disking the land first makes all the difference.

 

[allen in texas]

Also,
They say, (whoever "they" are) that a John Deere plow takes more power to pull. A Ford is usually the easiest to pull. That is part of the "variables" I mentioned. Do you have a plow picked out or are you just looking?

 

[aczlan]

We pulled a 3 bottom Oliver 4340 behind our L3830. No issues with it once we loaded the tires (more weight on the front would have helped in a few spots though).

Aaron Z

 

[kacole]

i will be plowing mostly red clay, i'm new to tractors so i don't know what a "float control" is? my tractor is 4x4 and no i don't have a plow picked out yet. My tractor is 50 hp and it is a gear drive transmission.

 

[oosik]

kacole -
I would go ahead and get a three bottom plow - nothing bigger than 12" or 14" bottoms. This situation may give you some problems in a few areas. You will just have to lift the plow a bit and lessen the load on the tractor in these areas - if any. Once the ground is broken subsequent plowings will not be nearly as difficult. Its just the breaking the ground the first time that could give some difficulties.

 

[allen in texas]

"float control" Actually it's "draft" control. You have a position control for your 3 point hitch. It controls the depth the plow would run depending on how far you push the lever. It is not "reactive" You set it and it stays at that depth regardless of the load on the tractor. "Draft" allows you to set the amount of pull or "Draft" that the tractor sees. When the two are set properly together, and you do have to set them together, if you are plowing merrily along at your selected depth and suddenly you encounter a hard spot and the load on you tractor goes up, the "draft" will sense the extra load and lift the plow up but it will only lift it enough to reduce the load to the preselected draft. Once you pass the hard pulling, the draft will automatically lower the plow back down to your selected depth. it is a balancing act and takes a bit of practice to get it right.
If you have draft control on your tractor, you will have two levers for your 3 point.