3 Bottom rollover plow (IH140 plow) questions

THEPARTYHOUND · Apr 4, 2019

cat fever said:
My experience is if the roots hit ground water alfalfa does not do well. Not sure about sainfoin.

My last home I planted 4way. (oats,wheat,barley,peas) This was non irrigated and it did very good. But, I had to plant every year.

Nobody I've talked to seems too sure what is going to happen if the roots find their way into the ground water. That is one reason I chose this part of the field to try it on is that it is a gradual slope down to shallower ground water and if roots find water at one part of the slope, they may not further up the slope. I found a local guy that grows and harvests seed from the Rocky Mountain Remont variety of sainfoin and I will be getting a good deal from him on seed. This is a non-irrigated variety that has been further developed from the original Remont strain that Montana and Wyoming colleges got together and developed in the 70's I believe.
One other thing that I like about the Sainfoin is that it is very persistent. It lasts for a very long time in many cases without the need for replanting. It also does not need fertilizer. Im not too clear on the process but somehow it adds its own nitrogen to the soil even helping plants around it grow better.
I don't have any actual hands on knowledge of the plant as of yet, but from the reading I have done it sounds promising!

cat fever · Apr 4, 2019

My brother plans to plant about 40 acres of sainfoin this year I think. I have had it in the past but was not to happy with it. To stalky on the bottom. Cows seem to not like it either. But if that's what they have to eat....they'll eat it.:laughing:

My guess would be if the tap root hits the ground water the plant will wither and die. So you'll have to let us know in a couple years.

THEPARTYHOUND · Apr 4, 2019

It does have a lot of stalk to it, but they are hollow so even the stalks seem to be somewhat palatable. I have been feeding sainfoin since about December alongside a grass alfalfa mix and straight sainfoin since January. When they had both options, they would choose the sainfoin till the good stuff was gone and mostly stems remained, then they would go back to the alfalfa/grass. Now they will eat it down to stems, then pick at it for a couple days till feeding day.

downslope · Apr 5, 2019

THEPARTYHOUND said:
Downslope, are you suggesting that leaving the loader on will cause more stress on drivetrain components wheras adding iron weight to the front will not? I'm curious as to why that would be the case. Either way puts weight out front. The filled tires definitely add more traction and would help, but with this type of plow much of the weight from the plow itself can be transferred to the tractor via the 3pt hitch to aid in traction where needed.

No, I was only meaning that adding front weight, be it a loader or iron weights without first having adequately loaded the rear will be stressful to the drivetrain. Sort of like the discussions about adding chains for snow removal work, most posters would say to chain the rear first especially with a loader installed.
I apologize, I may have been a little mixed up about which of you guys had the loaded tires and who didn't.

My experience with tractors of this size is that for any kind of tillage work you will need fluid filled rear tires or perhaps good radials with a lot of iron wheel weights.

downslope · Apr 5, 2019

cat fever said:
?? downslope

To be clear "partyhound" is the one with the plow and his rears are loaded. I'm just reading/posting like you.

You're probably right, I was most likely mixed up about who had what and what they were trying to do.
I was using the mobile phone at the coffee shop and may not have accurately gotten the big picture as the thread was taking a few side tangents and I must have missed something.
Thanks.

THEPARTYHOUND · Apr 5, 2019

Sounds good downslope, thanks for clarifying.

THEPARTYHOUND · Apr 6, 2019

Got my wheels widened. Wow, that really made a difference! Kind of a pain in the butt, too! Would have been easier with the right tools, but I loaded up the tools I thought I would need and used the shop here at work. Its a nice place to work on things, but tools are nil. Got it done though. I'm pretty much done plowing, but I might have to plow some more just to try it out!