Tractor HP and using a bottom plow.

[TerryinMD]

After reading the thread "Preparing a field" posted by MikePA, some doubt occured to me about using a bottom plow behind my JD 4100 HST.

I bought a single 14" mold board to use behind my tractor. It is rated at 20HP. What what I have read in this board and others, it appears that a single moldboard would be OK behind my tractor. Now I have doubts.

Some kind advice/guidelines from the TBN brain trust may be necessary.

Terry

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Your tractor should be able to pull it, it mostly depends on your soil, if you have sandy soil it will pull with no problem but if your in heavy clay you might be moving slow. My john Deere M pulls a 1 bottom thru moderate heavy soil with no problem so your tractor should be o.k.

<font color=blue>Robert Turk Jr.</font color=blue>
<font color=blue>Whitetail Splendor Deer Farms</font color=blue>
<font color=blue>Silver Creek, NY</font color=blue>

 

[Bird]

Terry, I don't think anyone can give you a definitive answer. It just depends on the type of soil you have, moisture content, and depth you set it to run at. I guess you know that you set the depth with the top link on your 3-point hitch. The plow will try to run with the bottom of the plow level, so if you shorten the top link (which turns the point on the plow down) it will try to run deeper; lengthen the top link and it'll run shallower. Over do it in either direction and it'll either try to keep pulling itself down until it stalls the tractor, or it'll skim across the top of the ground without digging in. I've pulled a 14" plow behind a 16hp tractor when the moisture content of this clay was right, but the tractor was working hard in 4WD to do it.

Bird

 

[JimME]

Terry,

As others have said, the best way to find out is just try it. I used to have a Ford 8N which is certainly no powerhouse (~25 hp and 2 WD) and used it in all facets of a small strawberry farming operation. It pulled a 1 bottom plow, disc, dragged, planted, etc. etc..

Good luck and let us know how it pulls the plow.

Jim