How do you properly use brakes for turning and why

[stevenf]

Jinman, I still haven't got the hang of it "BUT" I did get a 1/2" of rain on Saturday WooHoo now we're up to 3-1/2" in 9 months. I tried the turning brake thing in both 2wd and 4wd before it rained and I can tell a bit of difference in how tight I'm able to keep the turns but I still haven't gotten the turn down so that I can reach the end of the row and do an aboutface into the next row its always wide. I guess some of the problem is my chisel and disc are both 3pt and 8' wide so that I can get into some of the smaller plots if the implements were wider I can see that it would be perfect. I'll continue to work on the technique as its very close just a little whoopdedoo at the start of the row. Thanks everybody for your help another decade or so and I'll be able to call myself a farmer.
PS I was still grinning like an idiot imagine Ive put in my 8 fields the last 3 plantings by my go down one side of field, drive across to the other side go down it and repeat, my diesel supplier is gonna love you guys I've gone thru almost 250 gallons of diesel this past year and this year it'll probably be closer to 150 gallons instead.
Steve

 

[HGM]

Steven,

Make sure your going slow enought to not roll or throw you, lift the implement, and stand on that brake. It will do an about face....

Just a disclaimer, I use stand on it as a relative term because braking always feels different from model to model.... Press it firmly... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I still haven't got the hang of it "BUT" I did get a 1/2" of rain on Saturday WooHoo now we're up to 3-1/2" in 9 months. I tried the turning brake thing in both 2wd and 4wd before it rained and I can tell a bit of difference in how tight I'm able to keep the turns but I still haven't gotten the turn down so that I can reach the end of the row and do an aboutface into the next row its always wide. )</font>

Steve, I also got about 7/10 in on Friday night to Saturday. On Sunday, when I was going to work more on my pond, I found 6" of water in a puddle at the deepest part. I dug a deep hole along the edge of the puddle and then used the bucket to dip up the water and dump it over the dam. I'm sure I looked pretty funny going back and forth with water sloshing around in my bucket. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I also made a muddy mess of my tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

When you get to the end of the row, you need enough turning room so you can lift the implement and continue on so the rear tires are a little more than the length of the tractor out from the end of the row. Then when you spin around, your front wheels and the entry point can be slightly adjusted as you approach the position where you want to drop the plow and start the next row. If you try to turn just when your rear tires clear the end of the row, you will always be a little off. So if your field doesn't have much turn room at the end of the row, it's a much tighter move. We always had about 20' between the end of the row and the fence. If you have much less than that or a very long tractor and implement, the spin move is hard to negotiate. As HGM said, when you start the turn, turn hard and "stand" on the brake. If you lock that inside tire, the tractor will do an immediate "about face." /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[stevenf]

Jinman and HGM, so what your telling me in your inside voice is tighten up your seatbelt and stand on that brake and your right I was trying to make the turn immediately upon ending the row instead of giving myself some room to correct upon reentering the next row. That makes perfect sense I was trying to utilize more of the field since mine are so small in between trees and other stuff equally as immoveable. I guess what it will boil down to is some fields I'll be able to use the brakes and some in order to keep the size of the field at maximum size I'll have to continue do what I have to do, which in some cases might just be whip out the chain saw.
Steve

 

[djradz]

Steve, you might want to get some advice from others on plowing techniques. Seems to me the guys with the really big rigs do a few circles around the outer edges since they can't get right to the edge of the field either. I know that is what I've done in the past too, partly just to make a nice clean edge/furrow all the way around before I break the disc out.