Trip Mechanism, Ford Series 101 Plow

[Ford850]

I do not think this plow, which I have had for a year, has ever been greased. The two zerks are totally clogged. I have not decided if it is worthwhile for me to replace the zerks with new ones, even though the Ford recommended lube interval is every four hours. I only plow, on average, 5 acres per year, for food plots and in other areas for fire protection. My soil is sand.

I am 67 years old and have some inflammation in both elbow and shoulder, so fitting all those heavy, close fitting, pinned, parts back together will be a heavy task. I do have PLENTY OF TIME.

I never disassembled mine to get it working. I sprayed it out to clear the loose dust/rust, replaced the zerks, and greased it. I also sprayed the inside parts with a penetrating oil. Then you can relieve the spring tension temporarily with a wrench from the back side. You would normally do that to adjust the spring, but you and use the wrench as a lever to move the internal parts and free them.

 

[jeff9366]

I will be spending time with the plow today. I will see if I can clear the existing zerks with an ice pick and compressed air. I am going to use a slightly abrasive flap-brush in a drill to polish the trip beam, as trip beam is the worst friction/drag point inhibiting trip reset.

So far all nuts have come off clean, albeit using all the physical strength I could muster. (Some very odd-sized, large nuts I had to remove with a big Crescent Wrench.) Bolts are fine. I have purchased new Grade 8 lock washers for those that were "spread" on removal. Obviously, this all original plow did not see much use before it came to me.

[When Ford adapted Ferguson's tractor design, and later implement designs, I wish Ford had maintained Ferguson's policy of being able to torque every nut/bolt with just two wrenches.]

I have inured myself to reassembling trip mechanism by inserting trip beam solo, without the ponderous ground contact parts attached.

I purchased plow from Ken Sweet, Sweet Tractors in Kentucky, who I have had other satisfactory dealings with.

I will take additional pictures.

 

[gwdixon]

I will be spending time with the plow today. I will see if I can clear the existing zeros with an ice pick and compressed air. I am going to use a slightly abrasive flap-brush in a drill to polish the trip beam, as trip beam is the worst friction/drag point inhibiting trip reset.

So far all nuts have come off clean, albeit with all the physical strength I could muster. ( Some very odd sized large nuts I had to remove with a large Crescent Wrench.) Bolts are fine. I have purchased new Grade 8 lock washers for those that were "spread" on removal. Obviously, this all original plow did not see much use before it came to me. I purchased plow from Ken Sweet, Sweet Tractors in Kentucky, who I have had other satisfactory dealings with.

[When Ford adapted Ferguson's tractor design, and later implement designs, I wish Ford had maintained Ferguson's policy of being able to torque every nut/bolt with just two wrenches.]

I have resigned myself to reassembling trip mechanism by inserting trip beam solo, without the ponderous ground contact parts attached.

I will take pictures.

Sounds like an excellent plan. Plus, we all love photos!

Removing the Zerks should be fairly easy with a small socket. Then you can insert the Zerk onto a grease gun and blow grease through it to clear it out.

If that fails then digging the old grease out of it from the rear and depressing the ball from the front with an ice pick, or similar, should work to free it up. Penetrating oil may help if there is rust. At that point you can decide if a replacement is needed. Take the Zerk to a real auto parts store (like NAPA) an have them match the tread and size.

Also, with the Zerk out you can spray some penetrating oil in the empty hole and stir up whatever is in there with the ice pick or a screw driver to loosen things up.

Enjoy!

 

[jeff9366]

Enjoy!

I don't know about "Enjoy!".

How about: May God give you strength, endurance, patience and mechanical sense above what you have on average days????

Or, shorter: Suck it up!

 

[gwdixon]

I don't know about "Enjoy!".

How about: May God give you strength, endurance, patience and mechanical sense above what you have on average days????

Or, shorter: Suck it up!

Ahhh, you'll do just fine! Don't sell yourself short.

 

[jeff9366]

Further thinking about trip mechanism reassembly and the potential to strain some body part, I called Suwannee River Kubota and had their ace mechanic, Allen Byrd, come out. I thought we would work together but it soon became evident I was slowing down the reassembly, so I just polished parts and fetched tools as necessary. Allen reassembled and tested the forward trip mech in 45 minutes. He then disassembled the rear trip mech and reassembled it in an additional 45 minutes. BOTH FORWARD AND REAR PROTECTIVE TRIP MECHANISMS NOW WORK PERFECTLY.

Two of the zerks were serviceable after cleaning. Two were corroded beyond redemption and replaced.

Photo #1 Mechanism ready for cleaning and polishing.

Photo #2 Mechanism assembled on bolts as pins.

Photo #3 Allen Byrd at work.

Photo #4 Finished.

 

[Ford850]

Very nice! Your plow is in great condition too.

 

[Ugarte]

An older thread, but thanks jeff9366 and others for your generous posting of just the type of info a newbie with a new toy needs. Bought a single bottom 101 off of CL this morning, also with a sprung spring-trip mechanism (I'm slightly ashamed of how little I paid; had to dig the plow out of the earth; gives one pause to buy and cart home a dead man's gear). Thought at first that it was too big for my L2501 and that I may have to re-sell it as a back up battleship anchor, but am happy to report that the coulter arm just clears the 3pt gear and after I clean and lube it should be just the ticket.

 

[jeff9366]

Congratulations on finding a Ford Series 101 with coulters and a Landing Lever. Your photos show a plow in very fine condition but with surface rust. I am a little surprised you have no rust pits on the moldboard, considering your location in COASTAL Maine. Maybe your salt air is less corrosive than our humid, salt air in Florida. Just so you know, I paid $1,295 for my 2 X 12".

I am glad to know the Ford Series 101 fits the L2501 without beam interference. I was discussing Series 101/L2501 fit with Greg Leggett at Suwannee River Kubota, Chiefland, Florida just a week ago and we guessed the fit would be fine. I am glad you confirm from real world experience.

Plowing with a single bottom is easier than plowing with multiple bottoms but ALL moldboard plowing requires learning fairly advanced implement skills, which takes time.

When you plow, you do not want to mix sub-soil with your good top soil, which may be a significant issue in Maine. Dig a pit on your land and try to determine the depth of your top soil.

Even with your Series 101 having a trip mechanism, fasten your seat belt, lest the plow encounter a boulder and the 'trip' not release. I once had a John Deere 750 completely vertical when skidding a tree trunk. That experience taught me always to buckle up when there is a possibility of encountering an immovable object with an implement, plows being notorious.

Have you ever used a plow in the past? Are you going to break virgin land or a fallow field? Do you have a Disc Harrow for secondary tillage?

Good luck.

 

[Ugarte]

Thanks, jeff9366, for the words of encouragement. I consider myself very lucky to have found such a complete and quality plow right in my backyard (paid $150.00, quickly and gratefully). I think we may well live in a less corrosive environment up here. We live within sight of the ocean, but the humidity is seldom high (and sometimes so low as to require artificial help indoors). Long winters, but with the recent and seemingly growing risk of violent weather in the South and Mid-West we begin to regard our cold ocean as more of a blessing than we thought.

I can report the coulter beam clears the pto shield by just an inch or two, but of course the shield could be removed. With R4 tires and the highest factory setting of the 3pt hitch the bottom of the plow clears the ground by only about 2 inches, but I have yet to adjust the various lift arms into holes that will allow for more clearance. Will do so when I set the plow up for action, which is made infinitely easier by the online documents available for this particular plow (operators manual with plowing guide, salesman's guide, the goodwill of the people who own and contribute to TBN).

Thanks again for the plowing tips. I'll definitely be putting the ROPS up and the seatbelt on for my first wack at plowing. A weekend hobby for now on one acre of long-fallow farm field so I plan to putter about and possibly take the whole summer to prepare a half acre or so and plant next spring. Although I may not be able to wait that long to fire up my new tiller.

Have a great summer. (BTW, my first tractor was also a B3300SU.)