Optical Confusion

[MFL]

Morning Guys,

Saw something a few days ago that I just had a chance to research, and I'm not sure what I saw makes any sense. Wanted to see what ya'll thought.

I'm driving through a rural area I don't normally travel, and as I'm shooting past farms, I see what I think was a B7100/B7200 on the side of a plowed field with a three shank chisel plow hooked to it! There was no one around, and I didn't have time to stop, but I'm sure it was a Kubota of that size range and era. It had no ROPS, a stand up muffler/exhaust, and was a faded Kubota orange color. So I go to TractorHouse to check on HP for that type of tractor and I see that the tractors that look like the one I saw are in the 16-20 HP range.

Is this possible? Can a 20 year old, 16 HP tractor really plow a field with a THREE shank chisel plow? It had R1's, but even then it seems like it would be WAY underpowered to cut into our GA clay. Am I missing something?

I'm curious because I've been thinking about getting a one bottom turning plow to cut in a small area of my pasture for some corn. I've been worried my B7800 wouldn't have the moxie with 30 HP.

As always, all comments would be appreciated.

MFL

[Bird]

I'm not sure anyone can give you a "good" answer to your question about a little tractor like that pulling a 3 shank chisel plow, but yes, it can be done depending on how deep you try to go, type of soil, moisture content of soil, etc.

As for a one bottom turning plow or moldboard for your B7800, I wouldn't hesitate at all to buiy a 12" one and I really think you can probably handle a 14" plow. If you go up to a 16", I'd expect you to have a hard time pulling it. Of course, I'm just giving you my opinion without knowing what kind of soil you want to plow, so my opinion (or guess) might be worth about what you paid for it.

[MFL]

Thanks Bird! 12" is what I'm looking at. I've seen the Leinbach (SP) line at several dealers in the Atl. area, and the company seems to have a decent reputation. I've seen the one bottom 12" from them, and it seems pretty hefty. I'd like to buy used but the only ones I ever see locally usually weigh as much as the B7800.

I've been wondering if I could pull it because depending on the moisture content, our red clay can be like concrete to get through. But who knows...as you said it depends on the specifics. Maybe the little Kubota I saw did the field in multiple passes, or the field had been previously plowed, or maybe the M7040 that did the field is kept in the barn and the farmer just leaves the little tractor with the chisel plow out to mess with the neighbors!