chisel plow HP required?

   / chisel plow HP required? #1  

bdog

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Kioti RX 7320
I had a neighbor give me a 7' 3 pt chisel plow. It has 7 shanks. With my 47 HP, loaded tires, and a bucket full of dirt I can not pull it at a depth of greater than 3 inches or so. I have power, but run out of traction. From what I understand they are typically run at depths of 8 inches. I was going to remove some shanks and see if I can pull it better, but I was just wondering if there was a certain HP recomended for a certain number of shanks. Just guessing by the way it loads up my tractor I am guessing I will only be able to pull 3-4 shanks. I am sure it all depends on soil type but I was wondering if this seems right.
 
   / chisel plow HP required? #2  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I had a neighbor give me a 7' 3 pt chisel plow. It has 7 shanks. With my 47 HP, loaded tires, and a bucket full of dirt I can not pull it at a depth of greater than 3 inches or so. I have power, but run out of traction. From what I understand they are typically run at depths of 8 inches. I was going to remove some shanks and see if I can pull it better, but I was just wondering if there was a certain HP recomended for a certain number of shanks. Just guessing by the way it loads up my tractor I am guessing I will only be able to pull 3-4 shanks. I am sure it all depends on soil type but I was wondering if this seems right. )</font>

And if you didn't run out of traction, you'd run out of POWER.....

We chisel farm land at an average depth of maybe 10" to 12".... (Deeper than the "plow pan")

Depending on the style of sweeps, and the type of chisel plow itself, you will need anywhere for a minimum of 10HP to as much as 20HP per shank. (Once again, depending on depth also)

My last chisel plow was an 11 shank DMI, that I pulled with a 130 HP (rated) (Actually dyno-ed 155) 4440 Deere. It was ballested to around 14,500lbs, and it pulled like a BIG boat anchor in our hard clay soils, at around 5 MPH, and a depth around 10"...
 
   / chisel plow HP required?
  • Thread Starter
#3  
So I guess if I am lucky at the 10hp/per shank I can pull 4-5 shanks. As far as sweeps go it does not have any. Just the chisel points. If I need 20 hp/per shank then I guess I only can have 2. I will remove the outer two shanks today and try again and see how it goes.
 
   / chisel plow HP required? #4  
Are you talking about chisel plows or subsoiler plows? I've been calling the type plows they have on what they call "cultivators" as chisel plows because other people have called those big shank things with a 90 degree bend at the bottom subsoilers.

I've an old soil ripper from a JD M (18 hp) with 7 chisel plows on it. I can pull it at 6-8" depth with my JD 4010 18.5 hp 4wd HST tractor in already plowed soil (no grass).

Ralph
 
   / chisel plow HP required? #5  
My understanding is a chisel plow has a shank made of about 2x1 inch steel that forms a "C". A chisel point is just wider than the shank (>2"), is hardened, and serves as the wear point for the implement, since it is replaceable.

A chisel plow can carry Sweeps, which bolt to the shank in the place of chisel points. The sweeps won't dig as deeply, but they do tear out the weeds better. Most of the farmers I grew up with used points a time or two to break up the wheat stubble, then disked and/or used sweeps to knock out more of the weeds prior to planting.

Ralph, your M JD "chisel" is fashioned maybe half way between a chisel plow and a cultivator. The shanks are not as heavy as a chisel plow, and they are a coil spring variety, that allows for more flexing in the ground.

Hope this clarifies.......
ron
 
   / chisel plow HP required? #6  
<font color="red">I have power, but run out of traction. </font>

Try it without the dirt in the bucket. I used to pull a 8' offset disk with a 574 IH. I installed a FEL on the tractor and couldn't pull the disk like before. That loader takes a lot of weight off the rear wheels. I expect you'll have to remove 3 shanks but you should be able to pull it with 4 shanks. But you gotta get some weight on the rear wheels. Might have to take that loader off.
 
   / chisel plow HP required?
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I removed two shanks for a total of 5 on the plow. It did better than with 7 on there but I still had difficulty pulling it. There is no way I could get it going 5mph unless I was running it really shallow.

I tried pulling it with and without a bucket full of dirt. It seemed to do better with the dirt as I was in 4wd and the front tires were getting better traction. My rear tires have 240lbs of liquid in them each. My tractor weighs around 5,500 lb with the loader and the filled tires. I did some experimenting with different gears and rpms and I definitely run out of traction before power. I acheive maximum hp at 2600rpm. I can be at around 1800 rpm, and spin the tires and never bog down the engine.

I guess I need more weight. I find it strange because in purchasing my tractor I specifically chose the Branson because it was the heaviest per HP that I saw.

Right now with 5 shanks they barely cover my tire tracks. I would remove more but I don't really want a 3' plow. I mainly was going to use this to break up the hard ground before I ran over it with the tiller.

Attached is a picture of a chisel plow. It is not the one I have, but similar. It is like a cultivator, but it shanks are heavier, and it has chisel points instead of sweeps.
 

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   / chisel plow HP required? #8  
You must have some pretty stiff soil. My neighbor has a 510 Long and pulls a 5 shank. The tractor is 2wd and 52hp. I don't know the tractor weight but I have a 2610 which was the 610 and it's about 4,800 pounds. So that 510 Long will be a little lighter in weight(4,300-4,500??). With 4wd I'd have thought you could pull it.

Check your rear tires air pressure. If they have to much air in them it'll cause it to spin easier.
 
   / chisel plow HP required? #9  
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( So I guess if I am lucky at the 10hp/per shank I can pull 4-5 shanks. As far as sweeps go it does not have any. Just the chisel points. If I need 20 hp/per shank then I guess I only can have 2. I will remove the outer two shanks today and try again and see how it goes.

)</font>

Sweeps...Chisel points.... Same thing in my world.... Some chisel plows use "straight" points. Some use left or right hand "twisted" points. The twisted ones pull harder than times in '29....

Wider "sweeps" are generally found on field cultivators or row-crop cultivators.
 
   / chisel plow HP required? #10  
"Wider "sweeps" are generally found on field cultivators or row-crop cultivators. "

That's what I was thinking too.. don't think they'd hold up on a chisal plow.
 
 
 
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