Followup; Plowing with a 30 Hp Compact Tractor

[wolc123]

I am not at all suprised that someone thinks that tire type does not matter for pulling a plow. Some of the other "interesting" statements I have read here are: 1) Hydro's are as good or better than gear for ground engaging work 2) 2WD tractors always are better on fuel than 4wd 3) Narrow front tractors are more stable than wide, 4) Draft control is better for mowing than Position control. With the shear volume here we get all sorts of opinions.

 

[art]

traction is basically friction. And more weight on a given amount of surface area will produce more traction.

This is tough! I bet that if I had a thousand pounds on a one inch square sitting on concrete I could move it easier then where if I had the same thousand lbs pounds in a 24" square it would be harder to move.

Different soils require different equipment to work effectively. Looser or wet soils require larger or deeper lugs to grab traction.

 

[jbrumberg]

I am not at all suprised that someone thinks that tire type does not matter for pulling a plow. Some of the other "interesting" statements I have read here are: 1) Hydro's are as good or better than gear for ground engaging work 2) 2WD tractors always are better on fuel than 4wd 3) Narrow front tractors are more stable than wide, 4) Draft control is better for mowing than Position control. With the shear volume here we get all sorts of opinions.

wolc123:

Nothing wrong with a little "diversity" . Perception is "reality". Actually TBN is a great resource !. Jay

 

[Soundguy]

traction is basically friction. And more weight on a given amount of surface area will produce more traction.

yes.. however, the surface of the tire will have much to do with the traction.

Put a racing slick up against an r1 tire. the r1 tire will require less weight than the slick to do a given 'set' of work.

Nobody wants to use more weight than necescary as it adds to drivetrain wear and ground compaction.. thus, whatever gains can be had in better tire traction should be used, and then make up the shortfall with weight. hitch and or/ implement schemes like draft control are further bonus's.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[bkheur]

Simple fact of the matter is if you do not have enough weight to make the tire stick to the ground it will not matter if you have 500 hp you will not be able to make the tractor go let alone pull anything.

Yes tires R1, R2, R3, R4 and whatever else there may be all have advantages and disadvantages. My tractor happens to have R4's. Do I plow with them? Yes! Would R1's be better at this task? Yes! However, I only plow maybe a total of 1 acre of ground per year. The rest of the time the tractor is used to mow, landscape, move trailers, and FEL work.

So the bottom line is use what tires you think are best for your needs and make sure you have enough weight to keep the wheels in contact with the ground to transfer engine HP to the tires.

 

[Ford850]

Having the plow adjusted correctly is the main thing in my opinion. If that is not done, you will struggle regardless of the amount of weight or tire type. Been there, done that, and was amazed at how a "piece of crap plow" turned into the smoothest soil turning fool I could hope for, once I got it set up right. Take some time, read some tips on how to adjust it, and experiment a little. Wheel width has a lot to do with this adjustment too. R4's add to this difficulty due to there width compared to the plow bottom width.
The sod issue is also a huge factor. I hate plowing the hard packed clay with sod. Once you work it though, it gets much easier in the following years.

 

[bkheur]

Having the plow adjusted correctly is the main thing in my opinion. If that is not done, you will struggle regardless of the amount of weight or tire type. Been there, done that, and was amazed at how a "piece of crap plow" turned into the smoothest soil turning fool I could hope for, once I got it set up right. Take some time, read some tips on how to adjust it, and experiment a little. Wheel width has a lot to do with this adjustment too. R4's add to this difficulty due to there width compared to the plow bottom width.
The sod issue is also a huge factor. I hate plowing the hard packed clay with sod. Once you work it though, it gets much easier in the following years.

I totally agree

 

[schmism]

I account for my "failer" with 3 things

1) virgin sod
2) an opererator that doesnt know chit about setting up a plow
3) driveing a HST tractor.

I could only pull in low range, but thats 2 slow to flip the sod. and range 2 was fast enough but it wanted to go to bypass most of the time. Ie i had the traction just couldnt generate enough pull.

a geared TC30 (or 8n) would do better im convinced.

 

[Soundguy]

No one mentioned HP.. it's all traction.. traction will be based on the 2 surfaces and the weight. If you have poor traction surfaces.. like slick or turf tires, you will need more weight to get the same traction as a tire that was more agressive. It's all a relationship that has to be ballanced. you reach a point where added weight actually becomes detrimental to the machine and the soil.. reguardless if it enhances traction. At that point you can either modify the traction surfaces.. of which you can only control 1 side, the tire.. OR, yuo can change the equation again by reducing the load thus reducing the amount of traction needed.. IE, a shallow furrow.. etc.. or less bottoms.. etc.

Soundguy

Simple fact of the matter is if you donot have enough weight to make the tire stick to the ground it will not matter if you have 500 hp you will not be able to make the tractor go let alone pull anything.

Yes tires R1, R2, R3, R4 and whatever else there may be all have advantages and disadvantages. My tractor happens to have R4's. Do I plow with them? Yes! Would R1's be better at this task? Yes! However, I only plow maybe a total of 1 acre of ground per year. The rest of the time the tractor is used to mow, landscape, move trailers, and FEL work.

So the bottom line is use what tires you think are best for your needs and make sure you have enough weight to keep the wheels in contact with the ground to transfer engine HP to the tires.

 

[Oleozz]

I was plowing this morning with my 2 bt Howse and I was thinking about this thread so decided to take Art's advice. I have an almost new 7 tine spring loaded field cultivator that was sitting in the shed so I took off the plow and put on the cultivator. The results: On the plus side the cultivator did a good job of working up the ground and I could work up more ground in a shorter time period. The negative was the amount of trash that the cultivator picked up while moving through the field. All in all I was pleased with the results.
Just a side note about the hp requirments for plowing, my Howse operator's manual says that for the 2 bottom 12 requires 36 hp, the 2 bottom 14 needs 44 hp and the 2-16 needs 50 hp.