New Plow - Hope to use it this weekend

[Luremaker]

I bought this plow last weekend at a local auction for $150 CDN. Anyone know what it is? I think is is a MF but that is all I know! I hope to give it a try Saturday on a little bit of my the pasture. I am hoping to plow about 400' by 300'. Any before you start tips or you should do some kind of adjustment. I am very new to this. Any suggestions wouldbe appreciated. Steve

 

[Luremaker]

Here is a picture of the pasture.

 

[Bird]

I have no idea about a brand, but of course it's a two bottom moldboard or turning plow. I'm only guessing, of course, but unless you have pretty loose easy soil to plow, it just might be a little too much for your tractor unless you run it pretty shallow. I'm not at all confident that I could describe in words how it needs to be adjusted. Do you have a neighbor nearby who has used one and could show you? On the first pass, or first furrows, you can have it level (side to side) and almost anywhere behind the tractor, but you'll need to adjust the depth it runs by adjusting the length of the top link on your 3-point hitch. Then after that first furrow, you'll be running with your right side wheels in the furrow, so with the tractor tilted to the right, the plow needs to be adjusted to be level with the ground. How much that tilt is depends on how deep you're plowing. And the plow needs to be adjusted so that the right side plowshare is the appropriate distance inside your right rear tire track (distance determined by the size of the plows). And for the plow to roll the soil over in the proper manner, you need to be moving at a pretty fair speed. Does that make any sense? Or help any? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[dberg]

Luremaker,
I'm not familiar with you tractor how many HP is it? Does it have rear tire weights or filled tires? I was a newbie at plowing just a few weeks ago. I plowed 9 acres with a 3 bottom plow and a Ford 4000. I was told by an old farmer and some people from this site to go down the middle of the field on the first pass then on the second pass turn around and plow the opposite way, so the plow is throwing the dirt towards(or really on) the plowed up ground from your first pass. When you get the first two passes done pull you right side tractor tires in the open furrow and adjust your plow so it is level, my plow has adjustable pins where the 3 point hitch mounts but it was easier to use the crank adjustment on the right arm of the tractors 3 point hitch, also you will have to play with the top link to get the both plows plowing the same depth. After that just keep going down and back throwing dirt towards the the middle until you reach the fence on each side of your pasture, leaving room on the ends to turn around then just plow your end rows. There are several way to do it, some probable better than this, but this how I did it. Oh forgot to tell you that you will have a "hump" in the middle of the field where you started and dead furrows where you stop. The disc filled in the furrows a little, but I ended up using a grader blade to fill the in. Then if you decide to plow again in a year or whatever just reverse the process plowing from the outside edges toward the center. This will prevent the pasture from being high in the middle and low on the edges.

IndyDirtfarmer could probable ID the plow for you, just hope your tractor is big enough and has enough weight to pull..

 

[Luremaker]

Bird & dberg,

Thanks for your help. I think I understand what you are saying. My tractor is 32HP HST with loaded R4's. The manual says it will pull a 2 12" bottom moldboard. My soil is full of rocks 1" to 6". I do not believe it has been plowed in 20-30 years. It has been used for hay and cattle pasture. I'll know tomorrow morning how it going to work out. Steve /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[beenthere]

Those are great plows. It has the lift points for the arms that look like 'cranks' and by rotating this cross piece, you can adjust the plow level right to left for best plowing. The fore and aft adjustment will be with the top link.

What you may not have is draft control, and that will give you some fits if you don't have it.

You have probably the best plow set-up you can buy. The ones sold now are have fewer adjustments possible, and are made with more short cuts. Hope you get it set up good to plow that field. Have fun.

To set the plow up, I would park it on a flat surface and run the left wheels (front and rear) up on 6" blocks. The lower the plow to the flat surface and level it so it sets flat right to left and front to back. This will duplicate the plowing when the right wheel is in the furrow.

 

[Luremaker]

BeenThere, that's seems like the way I'll try to do set the plow up. After reading about draft contol I do not think my tractor has it. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[PineRidge]

Might be wrong but it looks like a Dearborn to me. Check out this info on setting them up and see if it may be of help to you. plow setup

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

Parts of that plow look like an early Ford, but those are Ferguson (or Massey Ferguson) coulters. Just a guess, but I's say mid to late 50's Ferguson....

They look to be in decent shape.

Happy plowing!

 

[Theowegian]

I also bought a plow about a week ago. I had no experience either with it, but managed to get it to work pretty good. A couple things my dad told me to do:

1. Shine up the plow mouldboards with a power wire brush, it will pull easier,
2. Run the tractor up on blocks, I used a railroad tie, on the left side on level ground. Then I took a carpenters level and leveled it up.
3. Off to the field, I messed with the toplink until the plow wanted to find its own depth (which would be the same as the height of the rr tie, in my case)
4. While you are doing your set up plowing, stop the tractor and view the plow from the rear. See if the lift arms and top link are straight back from the plow, while it is in the dirt of course.
5.check the sod on the left and the right of each rockshare edges to make sure both the cuts are the same side to side.
6. I had to take the drawbar off because it hit the plow, be careful while raising it the first time to make sure it doesnt bind against anything.

obtw, I was using a kubota L3130 hst also, R4 tires, unloaded. I had to keep the FEL on to give me more weight on the front to get traction. My plow was a JD 2-14"....virtually identical set up as you. I could pull at 2.4 mph steady, uphill 1.8 mph.

enjoy, thanks for posting.
dwight