Is there a right or wrong type of plow?

[sweettractors]

When it comes to turning plows, always go for the older name brand plows with the 3 piece setup. The only time you would need a disc plow if for soil with lots of roots or rocks otherwise stay with a moldboard plow to turn the soil and organic material upside down. Just below is a partial listing of our plows. Ken Sweet
Plows

 

[johnrex62]

I picked up a Dearborn 10-28 2 bottom middlebuster today for $275. It appears to be in excellent condition to my inexperienced eyes. There are not cracks or repairs that I can find, the edges are sharp and smooth (but do not appear to be recently sharpened), It is missing one of the bolts holding one of the beams to the toolbar, but the other three are still in place and that one would seem to be a very minor cost to replace.

I have not been able to locate any documentation on this model, I did locate a parts document for the 10-27 frame and the 10-29/10-30 bottom assembly that seem to be the same as what I see on the 10-28 (that is how I knew the name of the beam and tool bar ). Nothing like an operator manual or guide to making adjustments. Does anyone know where I can find a good primer on using this middlebuster correctly?

 

[johnrex62]

Ken, Here is a pic of the bottom and the badge....are parts available should I break something?

 

[Kioti Tom]

If you will google "Dearborn model 28" it will come up with a number of places selling the manual.

Good luck

Tom

 

[Botabill]

There is no right or wrong way to plow. You need to determine what you want to achieve and based on that some methods work better than others. I use a single bottom or double bottom plow when I want to break up sod or bury trash. A middle buster leaves a surface that looks less finished also I don't think you can avoid leaving compacted tractor tire imprints using a middle buster as it is mounted in the middle of the tractor rather than off to the working side as a mold board plow is. For a garden it really isn't so important as you really just want to break up soil prior to tilling. The advantage to a middle buster is you can also use it to dig potatoes.

Yesterday I was doing some work with my mini excavator at a job site and the owner asked me to use it to break up a sodded area where he was planning a new garden. I simply ripped the sod and flipped it over in a area about 15 feet by 30 feet with the bucket. When I was done it looked like a plowed garden. Roots from nearby trees were ripped out and the bigger rocks moved to the side.

 

[sixdogs]

Bobabill---we mostly use chisel plows around here because of the clay but I sure do like your "vee" style middle buster. That is a keeper.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

The key to good plowing is having a well designed plow and making sure that it's adjusted correctly. Here's a video of us adjusting and testing our compact tractor single bottom plow for the first time.
Our plows are built heavy like the older antique plows on the market, priced right and designed to last a lifetime.

 

[oldballs]

I'm a newbie to gardening with a tractor. So far my experience has been that a moldboard plow really turns things over, but it leaves the really large furrows that are hard to till with a walk behind. The middle buster breaks up the ground deep but the furrows aren't so deep for later tilling. That's where BP Fick's disc would come in handy. But better yet, a tractor driven tiller might do that even better. At this point I don't have either (disc or tiller). And so far, the expenditures make each potato or tomato cost about $50 each.:shocked:

 

[Qapla]

We use a single or double bottom plow depending on which field we are plowing. Then, either a 3PH disc set or a 3PH tiller, again depending on the field.

On the 10 acres, we use the disc set. On the smaller areas we use the tiller. In some of the areas and depending on what we are planting, just the tiller.