measuring plows

[bkc]

I just bought a set of 3pt hitch plows, hitch pins are cat 2.The guy said they were 18'' ford plows, got them home with a tape measure cant measure 18'' any were. what is refered to when speaking of 12'', or 14'' or in this case 18'' plows.Just for referance the plows stand higher than waist level sitting on the ground.I thought "the" measurement was a horizontal measurment from the point across the width of the lowest part of plow. Or otherwise the width of the cut. Any info is always appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian

 

[Egon]

It should be the width of the cut

 

[Keith_B]

The distance is measured beam to beam.

 

[sweettractors]

I just bought a set of 3pt hitch plows, hitch pins are cat 2.The guy said they were 18'' ford plows, got them home with a tape measure cant measure 18'' any were. what is refered to when speaking of 12'', or 14'' or in this case 18'' plows.Just for referance the plows stand higher than waist level sitting on the ground.I thought "the" measurement was a horizontal measurment from the point across the width of the lowest part of plow. Or otherwise the width of the cut. Any info is always appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian

Measure horizontally from the inside of 1 beam to the outside of the next beam. This will give you ther plow size.--Ken Sweet

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Measure horizontally from the inside of 1 beam to the outside of the next beam. This will give you ther plow size.--Ken Sweet

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.... Here's 3000 words.

These are 14" John Deere (model 416A) plows. 2 different ways to measure, both work. Measuring beam-to-beam is simplest.

Picture #1 is sort of decieving. It shows 14-5/5", but trust me, these are 14" plows...

 

[bkc]

Thanks for the pictures,they are always useful. I was measuring across the face of the "cutting edge" not sure of correct name,instead of perpendiculer like in the last picture.I just went out and measured again and they are indeed 18" plows.If you haven't figured it out yet I haven't played with plows before.Any pointers to setting them up.Trying to get some food plots started.I will be looking at a set of 10' disks tomarrow.Thanks again for the info, this site is very informative.
Brian

 

[oliver28472]

Somewhere on tbn there was a good thread about setting a plow. Search all posts or threads. Many of the Ford plows were made by Oliver. They were good plows. Does yours have a tall adjustment lever on the left side? That adjusts the width, and/or how the plow tracks behind the tractor.

 

[CharlieTR]

Here is a good document.

http://www.worksaver.com/Manuals/plow.pdf

Setting it up right will take lots of patience and time. Also I would check with County Agent or someone that can tell you how long it will take to regain the top soil you are about to plow under. I was told if I moldboarded, it would take two year to regain top soil.

NO TURNING while engaged with soil!