2 bottom plow question

[Egon]

They may be harder to use in confined areas. Turning will require more room.

As a farmers plough , in my opinion of 40 years ago, they are more desirable that the three point.

Egon

 

[LoganWildman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">( Around here, you can pick up a 2 bottom fergusson, ford or deere for around $200-$250. )</font> Where IS around here Logan? thanks, John )</font>

Logansport, IN

 

[sassafraspete]

This post brought back memories. As a kid, I would help my dad prepare the garden in spring each yr. We had a 2 bottom Ford plow. We were not always faithful about greasing or painting it after finishing up the previous spring, and we always started with a trip to a small creek that ran through our place. The water was shallow, there were plenty of gravel bars of our local sandstone. We would find a nice gravel bar with small gravel and plow away until the rust was scoured off the plow. Then it was a trip to the garden patch to start. I remember fiddling with the top link and lift arm adjusters to get that thing plowing right . Seemed like it always took us an acre just to get the thing working like we wanted...and then it was over. Typical things would be that one side would be digging deeper...so you got this up and down look to the top of your plowed field....then it would either be too deep or too shallow...or the bottom of the furrow was not flat , or sod was'nt cutting cleanly and balled up in your plow... and on and on. After many years...I realized that plowing is an art form....and admire those who can make a beautiful plowed field shine in the spring sunshine. As an 8 yr old....I remember reaping the bonanza of earthworms by walking behind the plow as my dad drove. I too, will soon be on the search for such a plow....for use on my small acreage.

sassafraspete

 

[Soundguy]

I'll have to go out and look in the morning.. I honestly can't say.. though I've never plowed 1" deep either...

Soundguy

 

[Egon]

There is one advantage to a drawbar plough. Once it's set up it stays that way unless you wish to change the depth. Only adjustment usually required is pinning the swinging drawbar into the proper position.

Egon

 

[Laminarman]

Three questions: First, I've never seen a drawbar plow, only 3PH plows. Where is a photo of an example to look at online? Second, should I explore this avenue. Some posts have suggested it's easier than a 3PH plow; what are the drawbacks? And finally, C, what do you "grease" a plow with? Seems anything would scrape right off mighty quick.

 

[Soundguy]

I've seen everything from mower deck underside coating..
( silicone spray? ) to pam cooking spray... to help it scour. Sandy soils aren't a problem.

Soundguy

 

[kensfarm]

I've been really having fun this spring w/ my refurbished McCormick-International 2 bottom moldboard plow.. the auto-trip capability saves the tips of the plow blades from being bent.. once tripped.. you just stop.. back up.. and they reset themselves back in position. It also has a landslide wheel.. what I call the "depth quide".. this helps keeps the blades at a constant depth when plowing. It has brackets for the coulters.. but I don't have these.

Adjusting the plow isn't that hard.. this is what I do for a 2 bottom plow.

Hook up the plow.. on level ground.. bring the tips of the plows down until one or both tips almost touch the ground.. then use the top link to raise or lower the back blades tip level w/ the front blades tip.. then use the side link adjustment to level the blade tips from side to side.

Try one pass.. if the blades go too deep.. adjust & lower the landslide wheel. The first pass.. in either direction.. all 4 tractor wheels are on level ground.. on the second pass.. the tractor's right side wheels will ride in the plows trench from the first pass. Before the second pass.. drive into the trench and adjust the side link to level the blade tips from side to side. This is why one of the bottom links on the plow is lower then the other.. and is adjustable on some plows.

After I'm done.. I use gear oil on a rag and wipe the blades down.

 

[Soundguy]

Try some spray on cooking oil.. works great for me.

Soundguy

 

[Laminarman]

I just saw some stuff at TSC that is a paint on type of coating made of graphite. Says it will dry hard and is used to help materials slide off metal. I'd assume this is meant for plows as well?

 

[MMILLER]

The object of grease or cheap spray paint is to keep the plows from rusting. To much rust causes the plow to gather dirt in a sticking fashion. This causes many headaches when trying to plow.

 

[djradz]

Neighbor and I (another wannabee farmer type) usually spray all the bare metal with Rustoleam's "rusty metal primer" which can be bought reasonably cheap in bonus-sized cans for a few bucks.

Soundguy, or anyone else for that matter, have you looked at your two-bottom plow to see if there is some distance, say and 1" or 2" between where the leading plow covers and the second begins. I looked at mine again last night, and wonder if the whole moldboard/share has been replaced such that there is now this small distance between the two. Essentially, as I said in my earlier post, would leave a stripe between each if I was plowing shallow. Maybe they're supposed to be set up this way, essentially kind of keeping the land "anchored" for the second moldboard/share? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[higgy]

$10 bucks, come one man live a little, go for it! It would be worth more as scrap, use it enjoy it or put a mail box on top!

I would.

Just my 0.02

Dane

 

[PineRidge]

I used my 2-bottom Dearborn plow this past week to help out a friend that needed about an acre plowed. When I started the plow had some rust on it and 20 minutes into the job the rust had been scoured off by the earth. It started turning the ground much better at that point in time. I coated mine with bearing grease when I put it to rest.

 

[Soundguy]

Yikes... this plow thread has revealed alot of greased plow posts.... can't help but think that is alot of petro going into the soil. Perhaps a food grade grease might be a tad easier on mother nature... We used case upon case of that stuff in a water meter factor I used to work in.. used it to grease o-rings before meter assembly. can't rememebr number.. but it was a chevron product.

Soundguy

 

[beenthere]

djradz
You are right about the ~2" tab that acts like a hinge when laying over (turning) the plowed land into the furrow. If this isn't there, the plow will lift the dirt and just slide it over, sometimes not getting a good 180 degree flop, which is what makes for good plowing. You want the green side to be down, and the trash to be at the bottom of the furrow. Good plow adjustment will take care of this.


Soundguy
One doesn't keep greasing the plow share while plowing. That would maybe be a lot of grease. Only time the plow share needs to be greased is when you stop plowing, and put it away for a spell. The amount of grease in the soil is less than a tiny, tiny spit in the ocean (ahh yess, but it is still a 'spit').

My son couldn't get a final inspection to move into his house because the garage floor wasn't poured yet (the ground was frozen because of delays in sub-contractors coming on time). The reason given by the inspector for the 6 month delay (extend the construction loan, possibly miss the better interest rates, etc.) was that the car might drip oil on the gravel base, and contaminate the water supply. Get real. What if the car drips oil when it is sitting outside the garage?

Go figure. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Soundguy]

Yeah.. but they are looking at a 'point source' which is completely preventable..

Plenty of 'oops!' contamination happens... hard to prevent and we live with it. It is the deliberate pollution that we CAN prevent, and should, when possible.

I realize we are only talking about greasing the unit for storage after use.. but like I said.. a food grade grease would be a tad easier on the environment.

As for a drop in the ocean... think on this one... 2 tablespoons of fuel oil can contaminate over 2000 gallons of potable water..

( Guess this is all those eco/environmental science classes 'taking effect' on me from CE college. )

Soundguy

 

[Egon]

Souns like some good old lard may be the ticket. Course the rodents may lick it clean.

Egon

 

[djradz]

beenthere, thanks so much. I'll have to post some pictures of the old Fergeson-Sherman because it is a real beauty, although not really all original. Seems sometime in the past fitted it with Oliver parts (actually improved it I think) such that probably only the frame and coulters are original.

I've also been told that although the shares measure something like 14" to 14-1/2" long, the plow is probably only considered something like a 10" or 12" plow. Does this sound legit, as plows are typically measured by the swath they take rather than the length of the share? Your expertise is most appreciated. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Finally found a disc plow that shows it well. Ebay auction