My first day of plowing

Birdbrain · Apr 18, 2008

And now...the rest of the story (insert Paul Harvey impression)

So I found a pair of 2-14" Ford 101 plows for $375. I chose them over other similar used plows from information I read here (thanks FWJ). The points are worn down and one coulter is bent and worn, but I figured it was a good starting point.

We had some issues getting it mounted. First, the right coulter hit the lower arm. So we had to break it loose and turn it inward a half inch. That required WD40, borrowed socket set, and lots of grunting. Then the end of the frame rubbed against the vertical part of the arm (sorry, don't know the proper name...still learning). Adn trying to shorten the top arm so the plows were level made this worse. We thought this was going to be a show stopper and were considering getting out our ancient set of pull type plows. But after doing a couple other things, I came back and realized that I could tighten the turnbuckle on the left, pull the plows over so they would clear. This improved the situation, but it was still a very tight fit and the end of the frame would rub the knuckle that held the pins.

With this set up, I jumped into plowing. I had 2 fields to do:
1. an acre garden (plowed last year)
2. a 2 acre field destined to become food plots. It has been farmed up until '06 (mainly no till); fallow in '07, but disked in the fall; and probably has not been turned over in 10, maybe 15, years.

The garden went fairly well and I fiddled around with speed, throttle and depth to plow. I settled in around 2200 rpm in mid range. Around 3.5 or 4 on the position control got me a 6" furrow (I think, did not measure). I had some small issues with it digging in, but not too bad. I was able to play with the depth and keep it reasonably even.

The field was another story. The low end was hard as a rock and I could barely scratch 3". The other end had a couple inches extra fill spread over it from the recent pond construction. It dug in really bad. I wound up with lumps and bumps and hills and ruts. My solution was to straddle the furrow with all wheels on fairly even ground and it would level out. But a few more rounds and it was back to lumps and bumps. In the end, I think I can even it out with the disk.

So what did I learn:
1. Plowing is an art
2. I cannot plow a straight line. The field started as a bow and only got worse.
3. If I turn, the plow goes the opposite.
4. I need to read more about plowing, esp. how to control the depth.
5. I need to rehab the plow to see if that helps

Questions:
1. Should I plow at a different speed or in the low range? How does going faster or slower affect it?
2. There seems to be about 3" extra frame beyond the bolts holding the coulter. Can this be burned off to avoid the conflicts?

Other comments:
HST was absolutely the way to go. When I got in the corners of field or garden, it was so easy to manuever.

Somewhere on the steep part of the learning curve,
Glen

sunspot · Apr 18, 2008

Birdbrain said:
3. If I turn, the plow goes the opposite.

Would a stabilizer bar help? I ask because I'll be trying my hand at plowing tomorrow. There is a first time for everthing.

ChuckinNH · Apr 18, 2008

When you start a furrow, pick something that is in the distance that is in line with where you want to go, and just focus on that when you are making that important first furrow. That will help keep you straight. Looking too close to the tractor will result in a crooked row every time.

Farmwithjunk · Apr 18, 2008

Plowing IS an art. It's NOT brain surgery though. It can be mastered with practice. As mentioned, look for a "target" in the distance and head for that. DON'T keep your eyes on the plow (as hard as that may be).

NO to stabilizer bar(s) when plowing. The plow needs to be able to move. With a solid, "stabilized" plow, you won't be able to make even the slightest steering corrections. (Dog wagging the tail)

Worn plow shares will make a plow difficult to get to operating depth and difficult to KEEP at a constant depth.

If that "horn" where the lead coulter mounts is in the way, it won't hurt anything to trim some of it away.

The 101 is what would be considered a "high speed" plow. They work best at 4 to 5 mph. You can go a LITTLE slower, but much slower will usually result in the dirt not rolling completely over. That problem will be compounded as you get deeper. Up to a reasonable point, plowing faster will actually seem easier on the tractor. Momentum helps in tough spots.

Fight the urge to shorten the top link. Plows need to run level at operating depth. Even the SLIGHTEST hint of nose down attitude will make a plow tend to dive and/or pull like a boat anchor.

Birdbrain · Apr 21, 2008

ChuckinNH said:
When you start a furrow, pick something that is in the distance that is in line with where you want to go, and just focus on that when you are making that important first furrow. That will help keep you straight. Looking too close to the tractor will result in a crooked row every time.

I did try to do this. I think I looked back at the plow to see how deep it was cutting. The straight line was history.

sunspot · Apr 21, 2008

I did about a half acre yesterday before I got stuck. I feel my rows were fairly straight for a new guy. I did sight on a land mark on the first row. After that, I kept the tire in the furrow from the row before and the tractor went nice and straight.
I hit quite a bit of roots of various sizes and a big old piece of buried pine heartwood. It was 6" X 6' and must have weighed 100 lbs or maybe I was tired.

All in all, it was a good day. I got a workout and slight sunburn and I'll get more exercise digging out the tractor.

FWJ, thank you for all the advice. It really came in handy.

N80 · Apr 21, 2008

I plowed again yesterday too. Just making a very small area to try my hand at some sweetcorn. Took me a good 3-4 tries before I got it set up right, a little frustrating, but as little as I do it looks like trial and error is going to be how I have to do it. Once it was right, it worked great.

I can't plow straight because I can't get my eyes off the plow. But for now, at least, thats a necessity because I'm mostly plowing new ground. Have to watch for stumps, big rocks etc. Plus, straight isn't an issue for my little plots. Just as long as I cover all the ground, it gets disked up anyway.

However, a local fella has gotten permission to make some fairly large dove fields on my B-I-L's farm (next door to me). He's a new tractor owner. Got a used, Korean JD 5400. Got a big heavy disk. An old, heavy duty looking chisel plow. Has a serious looking disk plow as well. He's in love with this old chisel plow and he gave it a try last week. Well, either he doesn't know how to us it or it isn't enough plow. All he did was scrape the fescue off the top of the soil. No penetration and its been fairly wet here. So, we've recommended he try the disk plow, but it probably isn't going to do the trick either......but it might.

In any case, I'm going to offer to plow it up with the 2 bottom plow. The plow is 'community property' but it is old and that 5400 is 65 hp and he's a little reckless. I'm afraid he'll destroy the plow. So hopefully he'll let me do it, which I want to cause 1) its fun 2) I want to dove hunt and 3) I don't want hin to wreck the plow. Its probably a good 4-5 acres of grazing pasture. Pretty compacted and there shouldn't be any stumps, rocks, etc. So maybe I'll be able to try my hand at straight rows. We'll see.

My B-I-L, who owns the land (and wants to dove hunt too) is just watching the whole process with amusement. He can't fathom why I want to plow it since he's already said I can hunt there. I think for him the less time one can spend on a tractor the better........which is why I like doing this as a hobby and not a job!

Doc_Bob · Apr 24, 2008

Birdbrain said:
3. If I turn, the plow goes the opposite.
Glen

I assume you lift the plow when you turn?
Bob

Texashayman · Apr 25, 2008

Doc_Bob said:
I assume you lift the plow when you turn?
Bob

It might look like a yard sale if he didnt!

Texashayman · Apr 25, 2008

Reminds me of a story, a guy down the road about ten months ago bought a couple hundred acres next to mine,he came driving up in a new chevy truck complete with full leather and sunroof..introduced himself and asked if i new anything about plowing..i responded.."a little bit." anyhow we travel down to his place and sitting behind a new 5425 deere is a 10-12 foot "disc" new paint but the bearings are all out of it..i asking what happend,he said they sold him a bad plow..which i corrected him and said disc..in which he replied "whatever" turns out when he got to the end of the field instead of picking the disc up we would try and make a turn (actually was making the turns)with the disc still in the soil...true story folks..

mrutkaus · Apr 27, 2008

boy i spent a few hours on a new ridgetop garden with a KKII 5' tiller last few days. garden only about 60'x45'.

many rocks and roots. only thing i've used before is a 3.5hp rototiller, 45 years old (on smaller space).

used 30hp Kioti ck30hst.

i tell you, i would not have wanted anything smaller!!! roots, rocks, ever tilled before. went over it again and again, really slow.

the more i learned the slower i went.

mike

Kendrick · Apr 28, 2008

I hear ya mike. Im gettin ready to put in 2+ acres of never tilled rough rock(maybe i should call boulder) strewen land. im goin to have a hoot with my bh pulling out the foot locker sized rocks...

Birdbrain · May 2, 2008

Birdbrain said:
3. If I turn, the plow goes the opposite.

Doc_Bob said:
I assume you lift the plow when you turn?
Bob

What I meant by that was that my attempts to straighten out the furrow only made it worse. My past experience was with a pull type plow. If the furrow is a little crooked, I could adjust by driving to the inside or outside of the furrow in the part that was going astray. The plow followed along to the minor steering adjustments.

So I tried the same adjustments, but now using a 3ph mounted plow for the first time. But then I learned that if I steer slightly to the left, the plow reacts by going to the right until I straighten out again. Winds up making the wiggle in the furrow worse. Eventually, I gave in and plowed a wavy line.

Glen

Birdbrain · May 2, 2008

Birdbrain said:
We had some issues getting it mounted. First, the right coulter hit the lower arm. So we had to break it loose and turn it inward a half inch. That required WD40, borrowed socket set, and lots of grunting. Then the end of the frame rubbed against the vertical part of the arm (sorry, don't know the proper name...still learning). Adn trying to shorten the top arm so the plows were level made this worse. We thought this was going to be a show stopper and were considering getting out our ancient set of pull type plows. But after doing a couple other things, I came back and realized that I could tighten the turnbuckle on the left, pull the plows over so they would clear. This improved the situation, but it was still a very tight fit and the end of the frame would rub the knuckle that held the pins.

Questions:
2. There seems to be about 3" extra frame beyond the bolts holding the coulter. Can this be burned off to avoid the conflicts?

Glen

Last night, I cut about 2" off of the end of the frame. Over the weekend, I want to try it out again.

I have a new area to work up that will be a berry patch (eventually hoping to make our own jam/jelly). This area was my grandfather's garden many years ago, has sometimes been tilled with the field, has sometimes been mowed as part of the yard.

Wednesday night, I had the middlebuster attached to run rows in the garden. I ran 3 passes through the area to see how hard the ground was. It passes through easily, probably 4-5" deep. Now I want to see what the plow will do.

Glen

LabLuvR · May 6, 2008

N80,

I promise you that with fescue you will want to burn it with Roundup or a similar product first. Take it from a guy who learned the hard way. Mow, and then burn, is the only way to go. Otherwise you will spend all of your life trying to get the ground ready. If you need it sprayed let me know.

N80 · May 6, 2008

Well, apparently he just ran the disk over it and then planted. There's a scarecrow out there now. I don't think the scarecrow is going to be very busy.

There are still clumps of fescue everywhere. I just don't see how that's going to work. But then again, I'm not going to say anything, there's a reasonable chance that he knows more about it than I do and in 90 days there will be head-high sunflowers and flocks of doves.

As for fescue, you are probably right. However, burning has been a problem around here in the past year because of the drought. More manageable now maybe, but would still need fire lanes etc. I don't think my B-I-L (who owns the land this guy is planting) would allow a burn. He has barns and stuff right next to this field.

In any case, I've had success with a turning plow. It turns the fescue 'sod' over and most of it dies. Then I disk it. Some still pops up here and there but it isn't too bad. But as you suggest, it is never really gone this way.

LabLuvR · May 6, 2008

Sorry for not being clear. By burning, I meant to burn the plant using Roundup, not burning as in the normal sense. If you don't kill the plant with Roundup you will pay in time and cost trying to do it any other way. On my land I had 5 acres of the crap to eliminate, finally I listened to others and used Roundup. The roots system of fescue acts like a claw to hold the soil, Roundup kills the plant releasing the soil in the meantime. This in turn makes it a whole lot easier and less timing consuming to work the dirt.

I doubt he will have a field of any kind if we get rain. Money and time down the tubes would be my bet, but I hope I'm wrong for his sake. But again, the only way to really have any chance of eliminating it is through Roundup or equivalent. I love tractor time, but plowing fescue got old fast. My time was much better spent prepping ground for food plots.

With dove fields they have to be kept clean of any weeds or grasses. Doves cannot scratch like a chicken or turkey. That is why most people who have super dove fields hold all the birds. They are providing the right kind of habitat.

N80 · May 6, 2008

You were clear, I just misread.

I'm just going to ride this out as a spectator this time. If its a big flop, which it sounds like it will be, I'll offer advice and assistance next year. My B-I-L has a big boom sprayer and he would not mind spraying as long as someone else bought the chemicals, so that might be the first move next spring.

slowzuki · May 6, 2008

Pigeons (aka Doves 1st cousins) are the bane of our farming! Any tips for getting rid of them? We've been chicken wiring every nesting place, shooting them and smashing all the eggs we see to no avail.
Ken

LabLuvR said:
With dove fields they have to be kept clean of any weeds or grasses. Doves cannot scratch like a chicken or turkey. That is why most people who have super dove fields hold all the birds. They are providing the right kind of habitat.