Diagnose a bottom plow

[Haywire]

Bought a used plow today. What it seems to be doing is this.

If I shorten the top link enough that it will dig in, it wants to dive straight to the bottom. Lengthen the top link a little and it skips along the surface. Prior owner said it did the same with him.

Would a worn share cause that or is it more likely that the beam is tweaked?

Ian

 

[gwdixon]

With a BX it must be a single bottom plow. They are not that easy to adjust to run just right.

Look at the video on "Everything Attachments" on how to adjust a plow. Although theirs is a two-bottom it is generally the same.

A photo of the plow, shares, shins, and land slides (rolling and attached to the frog) would help to diagnose the issue. Also, post a photo of it hooked up to the tractor.

Someone here will help figure it out.

 

[Haywire]

Yes, It's a 12" single. I'll take some photos tomorrow and get them up.

thanks,
Ian

 

[Farmwithjunk]

EITHER worn shares OR ground that's too dry/hard.

A plow should NEVER have that "nose down attitude". If it takes that to get it in the ground, there's another problem.

"nose down" tends to make a plow "porpoise". (ie digs in deeper, then raises back up, then digs in again, and so on...)

 

[Egon]

Try and set it up so the plough is level when it is at the proper ploughing depth.

 

[MIKE R]

The plow should sit level. Watch the video from "Everything Attachments" on plow set up. If you have the time just play around until you get the setting right. I set my plow up once and then measured the length of the top link so the next time I only have to extend the top link out to the right length and I'm ready to go.

 

[bigtiller]

Our small plows are fun but can be frustrating especially in hard ground. I found that a 30 pound weight placed on the beam and behind the share helped some in getting the plow to get into the hard ground. But then other problems arose like drifting to the left and traction.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Our small plows are fun but can be frustrating especially in hard ground. I found that a 30 pound weight placed on the beam and behind the share helped some in getting the plow to get into the hard ground. But then other problems arose like drifting to the left and traction.

Plow drift to the left can be remedied by putting more pressure against the landslide. That's accomplished by rotating the offset drawbar (if possible on your plow) to skew the rear of the plow towards the furrow wall. Most of the smaller CAT 0 or CAT I single bottom plows I've seen tend to lack that adjustability.

And on the weights....Look at plows used in "Match Ploughing" competition. They'll almost always carry weights to get that instant soil penetration, as well as to help hold a more constant depth (prevents plow from riding up when it encounters a hard spot)

 

[Haywire]

Here's the pics. Looks like the frog under the share is bent back and there is a good bit of wear on both. The previous owner guessed that it was an older Howse but really didn't know. What do you think? --Ian

 

[Farmwithjunk]

IIRC, Howse plows use a Ford frog. (Ford wear parts fit them) There is some sort of issue with the frog, and how the share is not tight against it. Also looks like the share is wider at the heel end than at the point end, although that may just be an illusion.

Typically, Ford shares aren't terribly expensive. I'd start with a new one and see how it fits, as well as how it WORKS. There should be a bolt through that hole towards the point end of the frog. I'm assuming there's a hole in the share that lines up with the one in the frog?

Possibly someone replaced the original share with one that doesn't fit so well. (????)

In any event, the share SHOULD extend a bit below the bottom of the frog. Looks like it doesn't. I'm betting that's your problem.

 

[Haywire]

There's only 2 holes in the share that's on there. I took it off and straightened the frog with a few whacks of a 3lb hammer. I'll see about getting a different share. Need some more bolts too, had to take them off with a cutoff wheel.

thanks,
Ian

 

[Haywire]

I don't think it uses a ford share. This Leinbach says it uses Ford parts. Notice how the 3rd bolt is offset from the other 2? On mine, they are all in a straight line.

 

[bullbreaker]

The previous owner guessed that it was an older Howse but really didn't know. What do you think? --Ian


You can tell it was made for a sub-compact tractor because it does not have the protruding beam in front of it to mount a coulter wheel.
By that wrap around design frame at first "glance" I thought it might be an old Buhler Farm-King. :confused2:

Boone

 

[gwdixon]

The Ford 101 shares have three holes in a line. See pics below.

Your plow looks fine just as it is. It should plow in decent soil just fine.

The way it sits on the tractor also looks OK in the photo. A bit tilted perhaps.

The first pass should have the share parallel to the ground. Then it needs to be re-adjusted to be parallel to the ground with the tire in the first furrow (and all further furrows). Once again, Everything Attachments has a visual.

With a small, light tractor it will react to seemingly minor adjustments so it may be a matter of messing with it until you find what works.

Plow bolts almost always get trashed and new ones needed with a new share or shin. Usually their heads are almost gone by the time a replacement is needed.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I found an old "Adams" plow parts manual from the early '70's. Allis Chalmers had a couple plow models with offset hole near point, similar to the share on the Leinbach plow.

Not all Ford shares were 3 hole. 101's were, but Ford sold semi-mounted and larger CAT II plows (among others) that had 4 and 5 bolts.

Also, some Ford plows DID have offset holes. (Models 150, 151, 152, 154, which was actually built by Oliver) The link below will show several White, Oliver, MM, Ford , and David Brown plow shares with the offset bolt holes.

http://www.wieseindustries.com/lol164-plowshare_v_2671_-1,79,226.cfm

The pictures show your plow is NOT "just fine". As you apparently already realize, there should NOT be a gap between share and frog. And there is OBVIOUS wear on the leading edge of the share. 99 times in 100, that'll be the cause of a plow not wanting to "suck" into the ground.

Once you find out what share will fit your plow, look for a "rock share" or "deep suck share" to fit it. They'll have a little "nose" on the point that starts the share to digging in under tough soil conditions.

 

[Haywire]

The frog is stamped "Brazil Tatu". Seems that Tatu is a Brazilian city.

Ian

 

[gwdixon]

My "just fine" comment was based on Haywire stating that he straightened the frog and that the share is not completely worn out. The plow should work.

Here are some pic of a worn out plow that was being used regularly by the owner before it was rebuilt. It had sat out over winter and was purchased for spring plowing.

The worn out/broken shin was on the front frog as you might imagine.

 

[Chilly807]

I've got a link to a plow manual if you want to have a look at it. It's for a Ferguson plow, but may help you a bit with setup. Not the easiest thing to read, you have to open a link to each page as you go. I ended up printing a manual in the end.

Ferguson Moldboard Plow Service Manual

Sean

 

[Haywire]

thanks for the manual Chilly.

Took the plow to the New Holland/Kubota dealer today and he said the bolt pattern wasn't anything he'd seen before and the old share didn't match up to anything he had in the back. He suggested trying Tractor Supply. They didn't have anything and didn't list any 12" plow parts at all in their printed catalog.

The JD dealer took my share into the back and came out with a 14" JD share that fit the 2 bolt pattern on the old share and said to just cut off the back 2". For $15 I thought I'd give it a try. Think it'll work? Thought I'd mark where the 3rd bolt would go and see if the machine shop could drill and countersink it for a full head plow bolt or a regular countersink bolt. I doubt any of my drills could cut hardened stuff and I know my countersinks would just round off.

Here's a pic of them bolted together to show the difference in the profile. --Ian

 

[BrianR]

I pull a Howse single 14" with my BX2200 and it sucks itself right into the ground (yellow/brown clay) in my gardens. It looks similar to your plow. Mine is designed to be used with a compact series tractor, but I modified the drawbar to use with my BX.

If it weren't for the fact that the plow cost me nearly nothing, I would probably have bought the Leinbach plow for Sub Compacts and went with a 12" moldboard.

If I can find a couple of older brinley plows I want to make a 2-bottom 10" plow for my tractor.