Ford 101 Plow Operation?

   / Ford 101 Plow Operation? #1  

Eric_Phillips

Platinum Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
706
Location
Rochester, NY
Tractor
FarmTrac 270DTC
I have aquired a 3 bottom Ford 101 plow. My question is about setting it up. How do I adjust the depth? What is the lever for on the font of the plow? I noticed it adjusts the relationship of the lower links, but why? Are the shears supposed to be flat on the ground side to side when I lower the plow? I assume all the shears from front to back should contact the ground at the same time. Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks,
Eric
 
   / Ford 101 Plow Operation? #2  
Eric_Phillips said:
I have aquired a 3 bottom Ford 101 plow. My question is about setting it up. How do I adjust the depth? What is the lever for on the font of the plow? I noticed it adjusts the relationship of the lower links, but why? Are the shears supposed to be flat on the ground side to side when I lower the plow? I assume all the shears from front to back should contact the ground at the same time. Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks,
Eric

Put the plow on the tractor you intend to use it with...If you intend for the plow to dig about 8" put a 6x6 and a 2x6 in front of your left rear tire. Now drive up on the 8 in tall (nominal) blocks. Yes, you will be leaning to the right (as you sit on the tractor. This is the attitude that the tractor will be on while plowing an 8" furrow. Look at the plow. If it is tilted to the right you need to raise/lower your adjusting arm till the plow is level with the ground (ie. you now will have a level cut with the plow even though your tractor is tilted. If I'm not mistaken, you can help accomplish this with the lever on the plow once you are up on the block. Good luck. The 101 Ford plow is one of the best plows ever built. BobG in VA
 
   / Ford 101 Plow Operation? #3  
BobG_in_VA said:
Put the plow on the tractor you intend to use it with...If you intend for the plow to dig about 8" put a 6x6 and a 2x6 in front of your left rear tire. Now drive up on the 8 in tall (nominal) blocks. Yes, you will be leaning to the right (as you sit on the tractor. This is the attitude that the tractor will be on while plowing an 8" furrow. Look at the plow. If it is tilted to the right you need to raise/lower your adjusting arm till the plow is level with the ground (ie. you now will have a level cut with the plow even though your tractor is tilted. If I'm not mistaken, you can help accomplish this with the lever on the plow once you are up on the block. Good luck. The 101 Ford plow is one of the best plows ever built. BobG in VA

One other thing: If you are on level ground (concrete floor is best) once you have the plow bottoms level to the ground (up on the block) lower your hydraulic lever till the plow is just touching the ground. Lock in your position on your draft control. Voila! You should be ready to go. BobG in VA
 
   / Ford 101 Plow Operation? #4  
Eric_Phillips said:
I have aquired a 3 bottom Ford 101 plow. My question is about setting it up. How do I adjust the depth? What is the lever for on the font of the plow? I noticed it adjusts the relationship of the lower links, but why? Are the shears supposed to be flat on the ground side to side when I lower the plow? I assume all the shears from front to back should contact the ground at the same time. Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks,
Eric

That lever is called a "landing lever". It will control the plows tendency to want to move right or left. When plowing, it should run with the draft arms more or less centered. Find the center of the plow. (Plumb down from center of top link mast) On a 3X14" plow, the inside edge of the RIGHT draft link should run 14" to 15" from centerline. Adjust the drawbar right or left to get that adjustment. The inside edge of the left tire should run 25" to 25-1/2" from that same centerline. Adjust wheels to get THAT. Set right wheel to match left. That gets the "draft line" centered on the tractor. At that stage, your "load" should be just about the same on the left of center as the right of center. The landing lever adjustment will make the plow pull left or right slightly when adjusted. Some manuals will also refer to it as "width of cut" adjustment. By shifting the plow left or right, you do adjust the width of cut for the front bottom. As was already mentioned, you want the plow level left to right with the right wheels sitting on a block. Plows should be set 1/2 as much depth as width of cut per bottom (i.e. 12" plow=6" deep. 14" plow=7" deep. 16" plow= 8" deep) A 14" botom plow needs to have a 7" block under BOTH right side wheels. (Tractor needs to be level front to back in order to get adjustments spot on) Then use the top link to adjust the plows level front to back. Coulters, if so equipped, should run 5/8" to 7/8" to the right of the leading edge of the plows "shin". They only need to penetrate the ground a few inches. Set bottom edge of coulter 3" to 4" above lowest point of share, with attention paid to coulter AXLE. It shouldn't be too close to the ground (due to worn coulters) They will drag in crop residue or sod and clog up if they're too low.

Clear on all of that?

A plow that is set just right, and is scoured clean of rust will pull MUCH easier than one that's NOT set right or rusty.

The Ford 101 plow was built by Ford at first, then produced under contract for Ford, by Oliver (White) at a later date. (If it was originally painted BLUE, it was probably made by Oliver) They are about as good as a 3-point plow can get. All the wear parts are still available. (Mostly aftermarket parts, commonly "Herschel" parts)

I've got a few manuals on the Ford 101 plow. I might be persuaded to sell one. PM me if you're interested.
 
   / Ford 101 Plow Operation?
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thanks for the help. I have one clarification. When I get it all adjusted with the wheels up on the right side I set the depth by lowering to where the plow just touches the ground? I unfortunately do not have draft control so will it still work at that setting? When I was out just playing with the plow it seemed to pull out of the ground when I went over bumps. I was wondering if there is a way to just let the hitch float?

Eric
 
   / Ford 101 Plow Operation? #6  
Eric_Phillips said:
Thanks for the help. I have one clarification. When I get it all adjusted with the wheels up on the right side I set the depth by lowering to where the plow just touches the ground? I unfortunately do not have draft control so will it still work at that setting? When I was out just playing with the plow it seemed to pull out of the ground when I went over bumps. I was wondering if there is a way to just let the hitch float?

Eric
Not sure about your tractor. Call your dealer/read your manual for how to set your particular draft control. Do a search on Dearborn and Ford plows. I know for a fact there are some manuals on line and the 101 may be there. I know the Dearborn plow have manuals out there in computerland. BobG in VA
 
   / Ford 101 Plow Operation? #7  
Eric_Phillips said:
Thanks for the help. I have one clarification. When I get it all adjusted with the wheels up on the right side I set the depth by lowering to where the plow just touches the ground? I unfortunately do not have draft control so will it still work at that setting? When I was out just playing with the plow it seemed to pull out of the ground when I went over bumps. I was wondering if there is a way to just let the hitch float?

Eric

Farmwithjunk gave you some great advice, however, if you block the right side tires when adjusting, you will be way off. You need to block the left side tires which tilts your tractor to the right.

With that said, there is one way to adjust a plow and that is while plowing!!! Left and right tilt of the plow keeps all three plowing the same. Front to rear tilt makes the plow tend to cut deeper or come out of the ground.

The lever moves the plow right to left to get the proper width cut depending on how your furrow tires are set. That adjustment makes it possible to get this plow to use it's maximum width cut with a large variety of tractors. To know when you have it right is by setting the plow in the ground, in operation, then stop and get off the tractor. Standing behind the plow looking toward the tractor see if the front plow is cutting a full width cut. You may have to move the dirt off the moldboard to see this. If the right/tail end of the plow lathe is sticking out into the previous furrow, you need to move the plow to the left. If the right/tail end of the plow lathe is to the left of the last furrow edge you need to move the plow to the right. My Dad always looked at this closely. His theory was after plowing all day, cutting less than a full cut, how many more trips thru the field did it cost him to get the job done??

I am not familiar with your tractor. Most CUTs do not have draft control. Sounds like maybe yours doesn't either?? Without draft control you are going to face the problem you are describing unless plowing on flat ground. Very hard to plow without draft control. Not saying it's impossible, just saying you are going to have to be the draft control and constantly be adjusting the lever over uneven ground.

A finely tuned plow is a classical thing to watch. It will enter the ground to maximum depth within three feet of letting it down. It will glide thru the field without jerky movement up and down. After plowing several passes, it will become impossible to tell where you drove. All of the plowed rows of soil will be even in size. If your plow is too far to the left there will be a gap between the row of turned soil produced by the first plow and the row produced by the tail plow from the previous round. If your plow is too far to the right, the rows will all contact each other but the row produced by the first plow will be smaller because it isn't taking a full cut.

When I was a kid I won several plowing contests with a Ford 641 Workmaster tractor and a 3-14 Dearborn plow. Made my Dad proud. Made the Farmall, Oliver, Allis-Chalmers, John Deere neighbors jealous. :)
 
   / Ford 101 Plow Operation? #8  
ovrszd said:
Farmwithjunk gave you some great advice, however, if you block the right side tires when adjusting, you will be way off. You need to block the left side tires which tilts your tractor to the right.

With that said, there is one way to adjust a plow and that is while plowing!!! Left and right tilt of the plow keeps all three plowing the same. Front to rear tilt makes the plow tend to cut deeper or come out of the ground.

The lever moves the plow right to left to get the proper width cut depending on how your furrow tires are set. That adjustment makes it possible to get this plow to use it's maximum width cut with a large variety of tractors. To know when you have it right is by setting the plow in the ground, in operation, then stop and get off the tractor. Standing behind the plow looking toward the tractor see if the front plow is cutting a full width cut. You may have to move the dirt off the moldboard to see this. If the right/tail end of the plow lathe is sticking out into the previous furrow, you need to move the plow to the left. If the right/tail end of the plow lathe is to the left of the last furrow edge you need to move the plow to the right. My Dad always looked at this closely. His theory was after plowing all day, cutting less than a full cut, how many more trips thru the field did it cost him to get the job done??

I am not familiar with your tractor. Most CUTs do not have draft control. Sounds like maybe yours doesn't either?? Without draft control you are going to face the problem you are describing unless plowing on flat ground. Very hard to plow without draft control. Not saying it's impossible, just saying you are going to have to be the draft control and constantly be adjusting the lever over uneven ground.

A finely tuned plow is a classical thing to watch. It will enter the ground to maximum depth within three feet of letting it down. It will glide thru the field without jerky movement up and down. After plowing several passes, it will become impossible to tell where you drove. All of the plowed rows of soil will be even in size. If your plow is too far to the left there will be a gap between the row of turned soil produced by the first plow and the row produced by the tail plow from the previous round. If your plow is too far to the right, the rows will all contact each other but the row produced by the first plow will be smaller because it isn't taking a full cut.

When I was a kid I won several plowing contests with a Ford 641 Workmaster tractor and a 3-14 Dearborn plow. Made my Dad proud. Made the Farmall, Oliver, Allis-Chalmers, John Deere neighbors jealous. :)


Oooops! Got my left and right mixed up. Did the same at my wedding. When the priest told my wife to take my left hand and place the ring on it, I offered her my right. She asked me if that was my left hand, and I completely freaked. From that point, I was right on the verge of passing out from fright. NOTHING ever makes me nervous. Some reason, the prospect of being married for the rest of my days sure did though.

For certain, block up the LEFT side of the tractor.......
 
   / Ford 101 Plow Operation? #9  
Farmwithjunk said:
Oooops! Got my left and right mixed up. Did the same at my wedding. When the priest told my wife to take my left hand and place the ring on it, I offered her my right. She asked me if that was my left hand, and I completely freaked. From that point, I was right on the verge of passing out from fright. NOTHING ever makes me nervous. Some reason, the prospect of being married for the rest of my days sure did though.

For certain, block up the LEFT side of the tractor.......

Now Junkman,,, you and I both know that's the best decision you ever made!!! ;)
 
 
 
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