Importance of coulters?

[remington270]

About to get a plow, I know what coulters do, but how much easier, if any, do they make it to pull the plow? Are there any benefits other than some ease of pull and maybe a better looking field?

 

[rambler]

Marginally eaier to pull the plow, depends on the soil type, but probably not an important difference. Hard dry clay soils probably helps to cut the ground some.

Coulters cut the trash - dead or living plants - on the surface so they clear through the plow, instead of bunching up and plugging the plow. Most of the time it's meeded if you have some sort of straw/ stubble/ grassy multch on the ground. In rare cases, it will plow easier through this stuff with no coulters. Highly subject to soil type, multch type, and moisture of the soil and the multch. But in general, most of the time, the coulters help get the biomass through the plow with less plugging.

--->Paul

 

[sweettractors]

About to get a plow, I know what coulters do, but how much easier, if any, do they make it to pull the plow? Are there any benefits other than some ease of pull and maybe a better looking field?

I don't know where the coulter phenomenon came from? I started noticing it becoming a important accessory for plow buyers about 2 yrs ago. We have just about stopped buying plows with no coulters. Our plows would be $150-200 less money if we could delete coulters. On a side note, I run around 350 acres and I don't want them on my plows. Ken Sweet

 

[remington270]

Thanks for the reply, Ken. Personal experience speaks louder than anything. I have a Kubota M7040 which is 70hp, think it can handle a 3 bottom?

 

[sweettractors]

Thanks for the reply, Ken. Personal experience speaks louder than anything. I have a Kubota M7040 which is 70hp, think it can handle a 3 bottom?

Before we started no tilling our corn, I would plow 40 acres a year with a 65 HP 3020 John Deere with no problem in rocky, tight soil. You should be fine with 3-14 or 3-16's. Ken Sweet

 

[bullbreaker]

"I don't know where the coulter phenomenon came from? I started noticing it becoming a important accessory for plow buyers about 2 yrs ago. We have just about stopped buying plows with no coulters. Our plows would be $150-200 less money if we could delete coulters. On a side note, I run around 350 acres and I don't want them on my plows." Ken Sweet

Ken with your experience and in your line of work I found that comment interesting.


Remmy 270
If you are going with a coulter(s) might wanna read FWJ link # 3 here.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/105470-adjusting-plow-coulter.html

Then also if going w/coulters theres the question(s) to be raised : What type knotched,smooth,etc and or :Where made Brazil,India,USA or Canada.

Being just a food plotter I don't have the experience some of the TBN folks have on here when comes to plowing, but do enjoy reading,learning,listening,etc.

Boone

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Personally, I wouldn't own a plow WITHOUT coulters. Never would, never will be without. They don't do much (if anything) to make plows pull easier.....They make 'em pull with less aggrevation though....When plowing in crop residue (ie stalks) or weeds, they cut a slit where the plow can work through rather than dragging all that residue into a heap under the plow beam. Having coulters set properly makes the difference between working correctly and not seeing any advantage. I also INSIST on coverboards (AKA "trash boards") Until recent years, I wasn't aware anyone plowed WITHOUT coulters. Where I came from, plowing without coulters would make the neighbors start talking aboutcha! (In a not so nice way!!)

Competitors in "Match Ploughing" tournaments set coulters almost as deep as the plow is operating to give furrow walls a clean, crisp, straight look. That's not as critical when you're just plowing the "back 40" for a corn crop.

 

[sweettractors]

If I had my druthers, I would like all coulters to be spring loaded so they would Not ride the plow out of the ground when they hit a rock or root. Some companies did offer that feature, but not many. Here is a example of what they look like. I feel like Farmingwithjunk, Trashboards are really nice. Ken Sweet
Used 3-16 Inch Oliver Turning Plow, Cat 2, WE SHIP "SHOCKINGLY" CHEAP | eBay

 

[gwdixon]

Thanks for the reply, Ken. Personal experience speaks louder than anything. I have a Kubota M7040 which is 70hp, think it can handle a 3 bottom?

I plow with a 3-bottom Ford 101 without difficulty in the power area.

The lightness of the tractor is an issue depending on soil type and condition. Resorting to 4WD, FEL w/bucket and a load of dirt makes it track much better. You'll appreciate the syncro on the front axle.

Ken has seen this photo before but it may be new to you.

 

[Qapla]

My FIL plows 10-20 acres twice a year with a 2-bottom plow withOUT coulters.

He used to use "straight-blade" coulters and did not like them. We were talking about a youtube video we saw that had a "rotary-coulter" (like a smooth disk blade) and he was a bit amazed. He had never seen "round" coulters before (he has been farming for 70+ years) and they never had anything other then the "straight-blade" type".

After seeing the video he did say if he needed them, that is the type he would use. But, since he is plowing soft Florida soil with a decent amount of sand that is plowed twice a year - he can plow just fine without the coulters even when there is weeds and grass growing in the field.

 

[tglass]

Personally, I wouldn't own a plow WITHOUT coulters. Never would, never will be without. They don't do much (if anything) to make plows pull easier.....They make 'em pull with less aggrevation though....When plowing in crop residue (ie stalks) or weeds, they cut a slit where the plow can work through rather than dragging all that residue into a heap under the plow beam. Having coulters set properly makes the difference between working correctly and not seeing any advantage. I also INSIST on coverboards (AKA "trash boards") Until recent years, I wasn't aware anyone plowed WITHOUT coulters. Where I came from, plowing without coulters would make the neighbors start talking aboutcha! (In a not so nice way!!)

Competitors in "Match Ploughing" tournaments set coulters almost as deep as the plow is operating to give furrow walls a clean, crisp, straight look. That's not as critical when you're just plowing the "back 40" for a corn crop.

Well said if ever plowing land in the fall or spring. I can't emagine not using one unless you enjoy backing up alot and cleaning the plow heap and extra power used. Simple adjustment will save alot of trouble and time.

 

[mroldstyle]

Well said if ever plowing land in the fall or spring. I can't emagine not using one unless you enjoy backing up alot and cleaning the plow heap and extra power used. Simple adjustment will save alot of trouble and time.

So what is the proper adjustment?

 

[dougg]

GWDIXON,
On that picture of the blue plow that you posted, there are some X shape welds all along on the plow shares. Do you know what they are for?

 

[gwdixon]

GWDIXON,
On that picture of the blue plow that you posted, there are some X shape welds all along on the plow shares. Do you know what they are for?

Since I put them there I'd better know.

Those are Stoody 31 hardfacing weld lines. They are actually on the landslides rather than the shares.

A lot of heavy equipment uses a welded checked pattern to reduce wear on ground contact surfaces. The little square areas collect material (dirt, sand) and that takes the wear instead of the metal.

Something like 7018 would work nearly as well - just have to re-do it more often. I just happen to like working with hardfacing.

 

[Mace Canute]

Every old plow I have even seen around here has coulters and some of them are indeed very old! Even the newest ones have them too. I've never seen one without except in some videos of new plows and have never seen the "straight-blade" coulters (I believe they are also called "hanging cutters") either but learn something new everyday!

As far as how deep to set them, I've read in an old manual on plowing that you only need to set them two or three inches deep...apparently just deep enough to cut through the trash on top and a shade into the dirt. It should not run more than three and a half inches deep. Under most circumstances it should be set one half inch to the left of the landside. It's not necessary to set them deeper unless you are going for looks such as Farmwithjunk mentioned.

 

[rambler]

I've plowed cornstalks all my life, dad let me put a couple hours in a day when I was 8 with the IHC 300 and 2-16 Oliver trip plow here in the 150-175 bu clay ground her ein southern MN, one knows what a coulter is for in short order.

I also detest having to run a disk or stalk chopper in front of the plow, so try to plow down standing stalks. That's a extra challenge...

Soil type and moisture changes how exactly to set the coulters. They need to be big, large diameter. Smooth is typically best, in real mud the slightly rippled ones can be nice, noched is ok too but never saw any reason for it.

Someone described the cone coulters that JD had as an option for a few decades, they looked like they worked sort of like a covering board, neat idea. Neighbor uses them, dad bought a plow that had them but one was busted so he proceeded to take them all apart and add to the junk pile. Sigh. I think JD stopped support for them in the late 1990's. Cool idea tho, i woulda liked to try them myself.

Really couldn't plow the stuff I plow without coulters, not really an option in my region. Only see one out of 20 or so plows without coulters 'here'. Spring loaded is the way to go, tho shear pin type worked fine for me back when. Plows have had spring loaded coulters since the 1960s as an option?

Hope I find the one my wife lost in the field last fall, and I hope I don't find it with a tire....

--->Paul

 

[hammer54]

I grew up on a 270 acre, 40 cow, dairy farm in what turns into the Champlain Valley in upstate NY and coulters were a necessity. We farmed with a WD Allis and a then new series 3 D-17 Allis pulling 3 bottom 16" mounted plow with trash covers add. Our main corn field was river bottom that flooded yearly, thus the trash part. I lost a coulter one day and finally discoverd their primary use. I woulld consider them trash cutters primarily. I continued plowing with the coulter missing for a short time. I quickly got sick of stopping every few hundred yards to clean the trash, weeds, and corn stalks from the share with the missing coulter. I surmised the coulter wasn't missing that long so I walked the plowed area until I located it. That one missing coulter allowed enough enough trash to build up to lift the other 2 bottoms out of the ground. Also Dad would kick my butt for plowinf over 5 inches deep. Land was loam, gravel, with clay areas. You need then for plowing unmowded fields which was rare. All our hilly areas were good old clay and you needed all the help you could get when plowing blue clay an a steep hill side. Plowing clean, loam, level field coulters would be an option.

 

[vtsnowedin]

On a horse drawn plow there is a sod knife that does the job that a coulter does. It is dead center of the plow beam as the moldboard flops from one side to the other at the end of the field so being offset a half inch isn't possible. The rolling disk of a coulter is more efficent then a sod knife but they are really there to cut the sod when plowing new ground. Without them the sod bunches up until the plow shank tears it and you get ragged edges with grass still sticking up. not good for weed control. One of the postes up thread said that he wanted the coulter spring loaded so as to not ride up the plow when it hits a rock. I would rather have the plow ride up then have the point catch and bring the tractor to a sudden stop. I'm missing one of the coulters on my two bottom plows. It is alright in old ground but I'm going to replace it before I do any new ground.