Plowing with a 30 Hp Compact tractor with or without FEL

[schmism]

John,
When I load the bucket it wants to lift the rear of the machine, even with the loaded tires. This is why I thought removing the loader might be better for traction.

An empty FEL is going to weigh more than 275lbs of weight.

so is your goal more weight on the rear, more weight overall....

4wd? - if so id just keep it simple and leave the FEL on plow away.

i know i was short on traction with my TC33 and my 2x14 on R4's. Wished i had some R1's but then i dont when im mowing my lawn in the summer.

 

[builder2]

Weights on the front will not add traction unless you have 4wd. Suitcase weights were used on 2wd tractors to keep the front end down as on older tractors with a tricycle type front end would come off the ground ( this is my recollection as a boy riding with my Dad on his old Oliver, I still remember the day his MF 65 dieselmatic was delivered as we were coming up the crest of a hill with his Oliver (1965) plowing, the front end was always coming of the ground, and seeing the Patys Massey Ferguson deliver truck in the driveway with the brand new MF 65 and a 4 bottom plow, and suitcase weights, Good Times!).

Paul

 

[Egon]

My mistake Barney! A draw bar pull plow would be hard to get.

 

[Sully2]

John,
When I load the bucket it wants to lift the rear of the machine, even with the loaded tires. This is why I thought removing the loader might be better for traction.

I tease a farmer friend of mine about ME plowing his garden for him ( 2 full acres) with my B3030. He has a newer L5030..and he tells me to take the FEL OFF...because the bouncing of it up and down can damage the (?? I forget)

Take it off and ADD as much or as little of front end weight as you need

 

[Toolguy]

I am wondering why you need any weight at all on the front end with only a 2X12 plow on the 3PT. I have a B3030 and I occasionally pull a 2X14 plow. I have used it both ways, with the FEL and without. It works just fine without the FEL. I have turf tires and have plenty of traction in 4WD. Unless you have very stiff clay ground I think your B7800 will handle your plow just fine without any added weight. BTW, the gauge wheel is a good idea. I would put one on my plow if I used it more often. Good luck.

 

[wolc123]

With my 4wd tractor, I prefer to plow with the bucket on. That way, if I get stuck in a mud hole, I have an easy way out. So far however, the 4wd has pulled the plow right through every mudhole I have encountered with out even needing to lift it.

 

[em14]

When I was a very youngman I broke a lot ground with a Ford 8N pulling a Breaking Disk and remember driving with the wheel brakes much of the tme as the front end was bearly touching the ground ....
Leo

 

[neucam]

Another option would be to just remove the bucket. That would balance the tractor some and give more traction to the rear tires. Just put quick disconnects on the front cylinders. But if is a quick disconnect loader,then just take the whole thing off. The plow is light enough that no front end weights should be needed. I feel the same as you on my tractor with FEL, the fronts wheels pick up the traction slack unless I have about 400lbs on the 3pt . Then the traction returns to the rear wheels.

 

[Soundguy]

When I was a very youngman I broke a lot ground with a Ford 8N pulling a Breaking Disk and remember driving with the wheel brakes much of the tme as the front end was bearly touching the ground ....
Leo

Hmm.. 3pt hitch geometry and draft control should have HELPED keep that tractor stuck to the ground... the plow rotating should put the toplink in tension, leveraging the tractor front down, using the rear axle as the fulcrom pivot.

soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Hmm.. 3pt hitch geometry and draft control should have HELPED keep that tractor stuck to the ground... the plow rotating should put the toplink in tension, leveraging the tractor front down, using the rear axle as the fulcrom pivot.

soundguy

That works UNTIL....I've been on a few old Fergies, N's, and the like, with a plow that's just a little too big for the conditions, and then, draft control and/or 3-point hitches and all it wonders just aren't up to the challenge. Instead of stopping the tractor cold in it's tracks like "too big of a drawn plow" would do, too much mounted plow will make that tractor dig for traction even to the point where the front end starts to climb.

The smaller the tractor, naturally, the easier it is to overload, but the phenomenon isn't limited to small tractors.

Back when I had my 5000 Ford, after it was turbo-ed, I tried to pull a 5X14" mounted plow with it. Long story short, the front wheels didn't spend a lot of time on the ground. It was simply too much plow for the tractor, in spite of 3-point hitch, 100 hp, and all sorts of front weights. I went back to 4X14" 's and plowed 1 gear higher with better results.

Too much is still too much, no matter what sort of mechanical advantage you're dealing with. Take draft control out of the equasion and the problems are amplified.




Barney, Without the aid of draft control, it's much easier to exceed the tractors capabilities in certain plowing conditions. While using a gauge wheel on a mounted plow, the plows "suck" (downward pull) is somewhat negated as a tractive advantage. You're carrying that weight/downward force of the plow on the gauge wheel in place of on the rear of the tractor. At that point, you have a "drawn plow" that is attached to the draft arms instead of the drawbar. Now you can see why Harry Fergusons invention was such a revolutionary concept and a giant step forward for heavy draft loads on small tractors.

When plowing, the 3-point hitch system is somewhat less effective without the assistance of draft control. Then you're back to the stone age of mechinized farming with a simple drawn plow. Then you rely on shear weight and brute HP to pull a plow.

In the end, weight is weight. Be it in the form of a front loader or suitcase weights, you probably won't see significant difference.

And one more thought. If the plow has even a hint of nose down attitude, it will tend to dive, causing the tractors front end lift. Even with the gauge wheel to resist the diving, you're creating significant resistance to forward motion with the plow being nose down. Try lengthening the top link ever-so-slightly to see if that helps. When a 3-point mounted plow is adjusted PERFECTLY, and plowing conditions are right, the top link is ALMOST "slack". The more compression applied to the top link, the more likely the draft control is overloaded, or the LACK OF draft control is exagerated.