3 PT MoldBoard Plows, New or Used?

[allen in texas]

A lot depends on the brand of plow. I pulled a 3 - 14" bottom xxxxx plow for about 10 years and my tractor stayed in a strain about all the time. I added wheel weights, front suitcase weights, maximum tire ballast on the tractor and trash boards and moldboard extensions on the plow. Plowed with coulters installed and without. Made no difference.
Then one day, I bought a XXXX brand 4-16" bottom plow to resell. It was in the spring and I had about 40 acres to turn, so I decided to see if I could even budge the 4-16" behind the same tractor that I had used on the 3-14" for 10 years. I not only pulled it, I ran with it. The tractor seemed to not even know it was back there. The fields looked excellent. I learned a lesson that spring that there is definitely a difference in how each brand of plow pulls. Ken Sweet

Hey Ken,
What brand pulled hard?



PS I have watched a ton of the You Tube plowing (ploughing) videos. BIG tractors going real fast sometimes. You can see smaller tractors plowing slower too.
I like 'em too.

 

[idaho2]

I have an old 3 x 16's Ford/Dearborn 10-209 3pt pulled by a 5530 Mahindra (55hp) 4wd plowing 8" deep. A properly adjusted plow to the tractor being used is a must and the rest is relative to what your soil conditions are. Sharp plow shares, nicely scoured mold boards, correctly set coulters, depth of plowing using your 3pt float options (if its on your tractor) correctly set, and what your plowing. An old alfalfa field will test any ag tractor plowing it. As Ken Sweet stated a lot of variables come into play. In my opinion plowing is an "art form" to master. When I look a my plowed field and I cannot tell that I'm plowing with three bottoms then I'm happy. I find it the most enjoyable time on any tractor. RedNeckRacin, buy a good used three point 12, 14 or 16", you can always remove the rear bottoms to make a two bottom if your tractor is lacking the power needed.

idaho2

 

[sweettractors]

Hey Ken,
What brand pulled hard?

Allen, From personal experience and customer and neighbor feedback over 50 years of farming and selling. I can tell you how they rank:

1. Ford 101 Trip Beam, Shearpin type, if no rocks or Roots
2. Oliver Trip Beam, White Trip Beam
3. Pittsburgh Trip Beam
4. Massey Ferguson Trip Beam, Dearborn solid beam, Ferguson solid beam
5. IH trip Beam
6. John Deere Trip Beam
7. Allis Chalmers Trip Beam
8. Any new plow built since the majors stopped building plows.
9. Forget all of the above, If Daddy had a certain brand plow on the farm when a customer was growing up and Daddy really liked it, That is the best brand.

Ken Sweet

 

[allen in texas]

Allen, From personal experience and customer and neighbor feedback over 50 years of farming and selling. I can tell you how they rank:

1. Ford 101 Trip Beam, Shearpin type, if no rocks or Roots
2. Oliver Trip Beam, White Trip Beam
3. Pittsburgh Trip Beam
4. Massey Ferguson Trip Beam, Dearborn solid beam, Ferguson solid beam
5. IH trip Beam
6. John Deere Trip Beam
7. Allis Chalmers Trip Beam
8. Any new plow built since the majors stopped building plows.
9. Forget all of the above, If Daddy had a certain brand plow on the farm when a customer was growing up and Daddy really liked it, That is the best brand.

Ken Sweet

So I guess my Oliver ranks right up near the top at #2 ('cept it's a shear bolt plow) and my Ford, although it is a 102 (cause it's a two way) is #1
Cool!

 

[idaho2]

Nice to see that my Ford/Dearborn solid beam is in the top 5. Olivers were ranked top of the list by the farmers I knew when I was a youngster 50+ years ago as it is still with my brother on the home place dairy farm.

idaho2

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Well fellas, I appreciate all the feedback. I have a 11 5083E deere (83 hp, 69 pto) An art form is about the best way I have ever heard it put, you can certainly try and muscle a plow along but it sure takes alot of muscle to do it. If you finess(sp?) it along it pulls so much easier. I guess it comes down to I have no idea how to even set a plow up correctly except to pull the left rear tire up on a 8"-10" block of wood and set the plow up so that its sitting with all the bottoms flat on the ground? I know your supposed to adjust the wheel widths so the right one falls directly in the furrow right? Other than that I'm almost completely clueless!

Allen, Excellent video btw.I always loved the smell of fresh dirt in the morning!

 

[idaho2]

RedNeckRacin,

Post a pic of your plow if you can. What are you pulling with the JD now 12, 14, 16 or.... Is it 3 pt hookup or tandem. Your maximum depth for plowing is usually 1/2 of share width. 12's = 6", 14's = 7" 16's = 8". With your JD you should be able to handle a minimum of 4 x 16's, I would even go with 5 x 16's.

idaho2

 

[Reyer Farms]

Nice video!!

 

[RedNeckRacin]

RedNeckRacin,

Post a pic of your plow if you can. What are you pulling with the JD now 12, 14, 16 or.... Is it 3 pt hookup or tandem. Your maximum depth for plowing is usually 1/2 of share width. 12's = 6", 14's = 7" 16's = 8". With your JD you should be able to handle a minimum of 4 x 16's, I would even go with 5 x 16's.

idaho2

Well thats just it. I'm not pulling anything with it now. :confused3: I was hauling hay the other day and a gentleman offered to sell me a 3 bottom roll over at a decent price and it got me to thinking about plowing (and wishing for spring time!) My FIL has a 4-16 sitting in my parking lot now that he plowed last year with his 4020 and seemed to do just fine with it. I guess I sort of got to day dreaming about plowing this spring and wondering how to correctly set-up a plow for doing so. I think its an old John Deere plow but I'd have to run over to go look at it. Maybe I can get a picture of it tomorrow. I do know that I'm probably going to have to use a 3pt though if I want to use the draft on the tractor since it is top-link sensing. Otherwise, I'm going to have to get pretty quick at running the 3pt and the tail wheel if I want to pull the 4-16 since its semi-mount.

I think I should apoligize to the OP for de-railing the discussion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TczQZUboe0

One of my favorite plowing videos! I dont think I know of anywhere else the tail wheel actually slings mud from taking a corner!!:shocked:

 

[cheoah]

Here's a picture of our Ford 104 today. It has 3 16's, and we use fresh steel all over. We pull it with a JD 6330, but I do no think I want a bigger one for our heavier soils. We only plow alfalfa ground for corn so it doesn't get much use. I added the trash plates about ten years ago, but I still dont get total coverage.

Also a picture of plowing one field last year. Should I be happy with this or press on towards plowing perfection? I don't plow that much so I'm sure I could use some pointers. I did not plow this, but I did try to straighten it out for them. Driving straight is something you either got or not.

Thanks