The art of plowing

[N80]

"We" do, just not common.

Which is exactly my point. "We" are very unlikely to find one behind Uncle Bob's shed or even on a mega-auction web site or even ag equipment web sites.

(As an example, Deere still offers a reversable plow. It's tailored to high horsepower tractors)

And a very nice looking implement and I suspect quite pricey too. Never seen one before, thanks for the link. Seems to be pretty complex and requires hydraulics. Solves the weight issue since it uses the same bottoms for both directions.

Since plows in general aren't big sellers in the US, there aren't many new 2-way plows.

I guess that is the main issue, and since from an agricultural perspective moldboard plowing is no longer 'in' due to compaction there's just no market for them. But, I personally think plowing is under utilized in food plot applications. I find plowing to be nearly as effective as herbicide pre-treatment as far as weed and grass control goes. I also don't find disking to be sufficient for prepping a seed bed in previously unplowed soil. Single and two bottom plows are still pretty popular around here for medium and large gardens. All of which is to say that there seems to be a market for plows, just not for serious ag applications. And there don't seem to be many good options for new plows. As you've mentioned before, the available ones just aren't all that great. (Keep reading to see where I'm going with this ramble.)

Back in the day when the were used, generally speaking, they weren't popular in areas where they weren't NEEDED.

Exactly. As someone mentioned, not that much need for one when you have tons of room for turning around, etc. But when it comes to food plots it sure seems like the perfect thing. Plots like mine are often small and even with larger ones, the ideal shape is long and narrow. A reversible two bottom just seems ideal and the one the OP showed us is really pretty simple in its design and construction.

I'd suspect that was due to cost as much as any single factor.

Yep it would be more expensive (if available here) than a basic KK two bottom, but probably not as expensive as one of those JD's. I imagine Leinbach or someone like that could make or import one for 2 grand maybe? Wishful thinking probably, especially since there doesn't seem to be a big market.....but hey, put an ad in the deer hunting mags and TV shows and it just might catch on.

Also to be considered, reversable plows are heavy.

Yep, for some CUTS that would be a problem, for the larger CUTS, like mine, I think it would handle a two bottom okay. A new 2-14 KK weighs around 400 pounds. The one in the OP's picture has a more substantial frame, plus two full bottoms, frogs, etc, plus rotation mechanism, but still probably not more than 1000-1200 pounds.

Anyway, just daydreaming I guess unless I want one flown in from Portugal. It sure would be ideal for tight places though. I'd love to find a used one for sale.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I went to see my friend i mentioned earliers son and he reminded me of the 2 way plow his dad made out some pipe and part of a farm store 2 bottom breaker he found at a sale. He just made a pivot for the plow frame and added a set of bottoms to the top. His son told me it had a pipe collar with a slot cut in it to do the locking. He said I could have it if its still out there. It worked good but it left and unturned strip in the feild on the factory side like alot of backyard plows do.

 

[Egon]

Back furrow....Plow going both directions, rolling dirt toward the middle.

There are also other ways. Take a strip one way and another offset strip going back. The strips being separated by a reasonable turning/separation distance. When the strips meet up a new strip is started.

 

[WarrenF]

Rollover or two way plows are as common as dirt out here in my country, and generally where gravity irrigation is used. The reason....two that I know of. First of all when you plow with a one way plow, there will always be a dead furrow somewhere in the field. That causes or did cause problems when putting your furrows in to irrigate. Water tends to follow the dead furrow. I recognize with all of the new ground working equipment now days, that probably is not as important today. Second reason, when you gravity irrigate, with siphon tubes and furrows, you need to turn the trash under. Otherwise, you end up with tremendous problems getting water down the furrow.

Farmwithjunk....I was at an auction back in April. I was going to buy a model 55 Massey Ferguson two bottom roll over plow. I thought I would get it for about $275.00. Silly me, it went for about $400.00. Also remember if you find one for sale that comes from the "west," the plow will probably be larger than 12 inches. Most of the plows out here....old and new plow about 14 to 16 inches.

If you will look on the John Deere website, you will see their "newest" version of a plow. Out here they are called switch plows....or at least that is what they call them at auctions. The plow moldboards are square, yet when they plow, the ground rolls over just like a regular plow. Just interesting, nothing more.
John Deere Ag - New Equipment Features for 995 Reversible Plow

 

[N80]

Rollover or two way plows are as common as dirt out here in my country,

With just 2 bottoms?

I was at an auction back in April. I was going to buy a model 55 Massey Ferguson two bottom roll over plow. I thought I would get it for about $275.00. Silly me, it went for about $400.00.

Wow, I'd love to find one for $400. Does anyone have a picture of that Massey plow? I'll see what I can find on the web.

 

[N80]

Here's one:

They want $1500 for it, which doesn't sound bad to me. It looks to be in good shape.

 

[N80]

The plow above is in Colorado. Here is a JD for $950 in South Dakota:

It appears to be hydraulic.

These really seem to be decent prices, but so far these are the only 2 I can find for sale in the US. Both west of the Mississippi. This has really got me interested. I'll keep searching.

 

[N80]

Here is one east of the Mississippi:

Its an International and looks to be massive, very complex and its $2600!

 

[bjr]

I've a local , Yakima WA, made Edwards Plow, 2 bottom flip. Parts are missing and I'm not able to replace with original equipment. It had 2 small hyd. cylinders and a chain acuated axle flip. The tips (shins?) tripped with a kinda "j" hook looking bolt. I've toyed with the idea of maybe putting a hyd. motor on it to flip it over, but so far money has been an issue. It plows just fine with a Jinma 35 hp tractor, but, I have get off and manually flip it over and lock in place with a home chain contraption that made up. I do small garden plots. bjr

 

[Carlos_Silva]

The ones on those pictures turn hidraulic,

here in portugal people tend to avoid those, as for turning speed they can't match the conventional (spring) type !

Also, the less complicating parts it has, less will break, also the normal ones are cheaper !

Greets Carlos Silva