A plowing newbie survives!

[bsbrum]

Okay, this is what it has all been for ... The years of searching and saving, the months of struggles, and this weekend it all came to a wonderful climax - I plowed with my (new to me) 1959 MF65, and it did great!

Thanks to our great neighbors who let me borrow their implements!

First I knocked down the old garden rows with a row crop cultivator on Saturday:





Then on Sunday I plowed the new corn bed with a 3 bottom plow - and the MF65 couldn't even tell it was there!







Now I need to disk the corn bed, which I'll do next weekend after I pick up the 3-point boom that I found online, so Incan literally pick up the disks and get them over to my place.

Once I am past all the cultivating, I will try to machine a new hydraulic pump drive rod and get the front loader mounted.

I am still smiling a mile wide!

 

[stapleford]

Very nice
You tend to feel more attached to the job on an old open cab tractors when carrying out field tasks. No aircon, radio, quite cab, just raw power, dust and heat:thumbsup:

I used to do all sorts of cultivations on a 35, 135 and 165 in the late 70s working on a farm and then along came the 565 with Q cab and power stearing
My baptism of fire ploughing was as a student for a farm in 81 when i had to plough the 8 acre field by the village pub, while all the local farmers stood watching in the late summer evening sun with their pints of beer looking up and down the furrows, which of course had to be straight and perfect

 

[bsbrum]

My baptism of fire ploughing was as a student for a farm in 81 when i had to plough the 8 acre field by the village pub, while all the local farmers stood watching in the late summer evening sun with their pints of beer looking up and down the furrows, which of course had to be straight and perfect

Luckily I didn't have the pressure of salty farmers watching me, and this is such a small plot!

We're starting small, to make sure we don't go too overboard, but we've had such miserable luck with sweet corn in our actual garden, that we figured that we'd expand out, and actually dedicate some land to corn this year.

Ultimately we want to convert some more grass to crops, but since we're A. Transplanted city folk, and B. new at this, we figured we'd eeeeease into it. ;-)

It's amazing to have the support of our neighbors, near and far, it has made all the difference in the world.

A local friend who has a family farm said these words to me just moments before I let the 3-bottom touch the ground,
"You can't screw anything up. The worst you're going to do is make a mess ....... So what!? Your family won't starve if you do something wrong. Just get out there and do it!"

So I did.

 

[frankroberts]

Congratulations on the plowing. I am looking for a plow for my MF 230. It's about 40 hp which is about the same as your 65 (I think). How big are those three plows you used? Did you plow enough for the plows to shine up? Did you think about taking some sandpaper to the plows before you started?

I'm a transplanted town guy so just trying to gather info. Answers appreciated. I have been hanging around Craigs List looking for a plow.

btw my 230 is here...

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/massey-ferguson-buying-pricing/237782-my-new-mf-230-a.html

cheers.

 

[bsbrum]

Congratulations on the plowing. I am looking for a plow for my MF 230. It's about 40 hp which is about the same as your 65 (I think). How big are those three plows you used? Did you plow enough for the plows to shine up? Did you think about taking some sandpaper to the plows before you started?

I'm a transplanted town guy so just trying to gather info. Answers appreciated. I have been hanging around Craigs List looking for a plow.

btw my 230 is here...

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/massey-ferguson-buying-pricing/237782-my-new-mf-230-a.html

cheers.

Frank - sounds like we're in a similar boat. I grew up in big Metro cities and relocated my family to the country five years ago.

The MF65 is a 4-cylinder, approx 50hp tractor - which I think is a smidgeon bigger that the 230.

I am not quite sure how to describe "how big" the plow is, it's a 3-bottom, and it's pretty big. It's wider than the tail end of the MF65. It did shine up the moldboards, but I did not sandpaper them. I did grease them up when I was done power washing it though.

I'd think a 2-bottom 3-point plow would work well with the 230, maybe a 3-bottom depending on the soil. New it would have probably handled a 3-bottom, but now being 30+ years old ... you might not want to stress her that bad. The MF65 could pull a 4-bottom new, but I don't know that I'd try it.

I've seen 2 and 3 bottoms on Craigslist in the $250-$450 range.

Best of luck buddy. Make sure you post those pictures when you get around to plowing!

 

[frankroberts]

:drool:

I am not quite sure how to describe "how big" the plow is, it's a 3-bottom,

In my limited experience a plow is called a 3/12 or 3/14 or 3/16 or....

The 3 being the number of bottoms (plows) and the second number being the width of the furrow that plow will turn.

But what do I know?

 

[bsbrum]

But what do I know?

More than me! I have no idea, but when I get home this weekend, I'll take some measurements and let you know.

I do know that the family used a big Ford, probably a Jubilee to drag this thing through the soil, back in the day.

This weekend I am picking up a 3-point boom arm, and then I'll be swapping the plow with some disks, and I'll disk up the joint - since the soil has had a week to dry out.

Fun, fun, fun!