Ploughing with my 4wd Truck

[Anonymous Poster]

Anybody every tried this? I have to think that my truck with 5000lb towing capacity would out-haul most compact tractors in low range 4wd. I only need to do this once a year after all.

Some well traveled friends of mine pointed out that the British Land-Rover was designed to be able to do this originally (not what I have) back in the 40s. They have actually seen this done in Kenya. Those were low powered vehicles compared to what we have today.

Really not bothered about what it looks like. I'm all about saving $$$ and having fun experimenting. I know the hitch would have to be modified, but can't think of any other problems.

Anyone have experience or constructive comments?

 

[Will]

I've heard that after WWII farmers were buying cheap Jeeps and using them to plow. It's hard to imagine that you'd get very good traction/pulling power on loose dirt, no mattter what the truck is rated on pavement.

 

[RobS]

I did some surfing on Jeep FC pickups some time ago and found that a three point hitch was available on Jeeps years ago. I think traction would be a problem for pulling a plow as well as manueverability.

There is a Diamler Benz vehicle called a Unimog sold in Europe. It's kind of an oversize Hummer with more gears than most ag tractors. PTOs everywhere and hydraulics galore. Used for just about anything on a farm, but still not much for plowing. I want one /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I don't think it would be as easy as you might think. Towing 5000lbs on smooth pavement where the rolling resistance is minimal is a lot different from pulling a plow through the ground. Old Willys CJ-2 and CJ-3 Jeeps were used to pull small plows, but they were geared a lot lower than modern 4X4 trucks. Traction is going to be a problem, especially if you don't have a locking differential in at least the rear axle. I'm assuming this a full size truck you're talking about? I'm also assuming you have a pull behind type plow, since making a 3pt hitch for your truck would be pretty hard to do. What size plow do you have? I have a 2 12" bottom plow for my New Holland TC29D which is a FWD. I haven't tried it yet. I got it from my brother who tried it with his Satoh 650 and it couldn't handle it because the tractor was too light. It would be interesting to see how a 4X4 truck compares to a compact tractor. I saw a commercial a few years ago with a Chevy truck pulling a plow, so it can be done, but I don't know what size plow it was and what type of soil they were in.

 

[dmccarty]

This is a real good question I too have thought about but I still don't have a good answer!

I have a K2500 diesel 4x4 with a 5 speed manual tranny. The first gear is low, I mean LOW. You don't use first unless you have a lot of wieght to move or poor traction. Put the truck in 4WD low and this thing is unreal. I have driven the truck on ICE, uphill without slipping a wheel. I pulled a Wrangler out of a snow bank during last years snow storm by going in reverse up a hill that was covered in a thick sheet of ice. No wheel spin. Just pulled him out like I was driving normally. I'm still not sure HOW the idiot made it into the snow bank or why he could not get out but he did not have a clue about a few things.. But I pulled him out since I'm a nice guy!

The engine has 190 HP and I forget how much torque but it certainly exceeds my tractor....

The only problem I can see with using the truck to pull is traction. The tractor R1s certainly have more grip than the truck tires. The truck weighs in about 6500 pounds. The tractor is around 3500 pounds to start but add on tire ballast, FEL with 4n1, and a backhoe and I think the wieght is getting to 7-8000 pounds. SOOOO, the tractor should have more traction.

Even with all of this if I put the FEL near the ground and hit a little old 2 inch stump the tractor will stop and spin its tires in most places. Especially on the road.

So I still ponder the question while scratching my head. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Curious,
Dan McCarty

 

[RobS]

The main differences between tractors and trucks are the tires (both size and tread) and suspension.

Ag tires can generate incredible grip due to the bar configuration and the large size increases the contact patch substantially. Firestone has some neat info on thier ag web-site and the Nebraska tractor test site is interesting as well (sorry, I don't have the links handy).

The other factor is suspension. A tractor has relatively constant weight on the tire due to the lack of suspension. A truck's suspension will cause variation in the tire load which will cause loss of traction and spinning. Once the tire spins, it moves from static friction to dynamic which is quite a bit less. The tire has to return to ground speed to regain the static friction and higher traction. About the time that happens, another tire has "hopped" with the suspension and is now slipping. Watch a tractor or truck pull sometime. When the pulling vehicle starts hopping is usually when the pull ends.

The name of the game with grond engaging implements is traction. That's why older tractors were rated not by horsepower, but by how many plows it could pull.

I've had 4X4 trucks for nearly all my licensed life and always wondered about this too. Now that I have a tractor, I'll let it handle the tough stuff /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[alexcocco]

Re:unimog

i rode in one a few years ago in south africa, wow what a vehicle, the chasis is twistable to 90 degrees and the drive train still works, everything is field repairable, the farmers in rhodesia used them, with many attachments etc... yes the folks on this board would love to drive one of these things.

alex

 

[RobS]

Re:unimog

Alex, I couldn't resist a quick search. Surprising number of these in the US. You could probably by a high end JD, NH AND Kubota for the price of a well used Unimog.

Unimog

 

[RobertN]

Dan,
Be careful pulling in reverse. It is common to break spider gears doing that. For some reason, they are strong one direction, but not the other. Did it in my Jeep a few years back; broke the front axle spiders while pulling my Brother-in-law out. The gear shop said it happens pretty often, and is not limited to one model of differential.

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[RobertN]

Swamper Boggers would probably give you plenty of traction. However, they are noisy and don't ride well on the street.

with a pickup, you could throw some weight in the back to get the power to the ground.

Unless it is a pull behind plow though, there would be no way to lift it, unless a custom 3pt like they used in Jeep CJ2 and CJ3 was used.

I wonder how much crank HP my Farmall A has; as you mentioned, it is only listed for drawbar HP. It's funny, because my Kubota does not list drawbar hp...

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif