Pet Peeve-Videos on Moldboard Plowing

npalen · Mar 6, 2010

I see videos of guys "plowing" with what is sometimes referred to as a "turn plow" and it almost makes this old farm boy sick. Nine times out of ten (it seems anyway) the moldboards are no where near "in the ground". There are few things neater that a moldboard plow running correctly and laying up beautiful earth. I understand that someone growing up in other than a farm community would probably not have a chance to experience a correctly working moldboard.
(Stepping down off soapbox now)

Oleozz · Mar 6, 2010

How does this look to you? This was thick, heavy sod that hadn't been turned over for about 25 years. I was using a 4 btm IH 720 plow with sidehill hitch and was pulling it with an IH 1066.

Oleozz · Mar 6, 2010

Or maybe this one, completely different type of soil here, very flinty, almost all stones but grows great corn. This ground had been in CRP for 20 years, contract ran out, so put it in sweet corn.
( All the land on my place will be no-till in the next several years starting with this spring. Most folks in this area do no-till and cover crops are becoming very important. Hopefully we are becoming better stewards of the soil.)

TripleR · Mar 6, 2010

Oleozz said:
Or maybe this one, completely different type of soil here, very flinty, almost all stones but grows great corn. This ground had been in CRP for 20 years, contract ran out, so put it in sweet corn.
( All the land on my place will be no-till in the next several years starting with this spring. Most folks in this area do no-till and cover crops are becoming very important. Hopefully we are becoming better stewards of the soil.)

Love the pictures, we still have an old three bottom plow, but went no-till several years ago. We did use the plow this fall to work up an old pasture; brought back memories. In my area, most big plows have been sold for scrap.

wedge40 · Mar 6, 2010

Maybe some photos or better yet a video on how you think it should be done?

Wedge

milkman · Mar 6, 2010

How about this one.

YouTube - Plowing with BX2200

Or this one.

YouTube - Plowing with BX2200-2

gwdixon · Mar 6, 2010

The videos on Everythng Attachments show both a two-bottom and single bottom plow in use. Anything more to add to what is said or done on those videos?

Everything Attachments - Skid Steer Attachments, Tractor Attachments, 3 Point Hitch Attachments, Farm Tractor Implements.

npalen · Mar 6, 2010

YouTube - 61 Cub Cadet Plowing
Those are all good plowing examples.
The video above is an example of what hurts my eyes.

D7E · Mar 7, 2010

npalen said:
I see videos of guys "plowing" with what is sometimes referred to as a "turn plow" and it almost makes this old farm boy sick. Nine times out of ten (it seems anyway) the moldboards are no where near "in the ground". There are few things neater that a moldboard plow running correctly and laying up beautiful earth. I understand that someone growing up in other than a farm community would probably not have a chance to experience a correctly working moldboard.
(Stepping down off soapbox now)

Not sure what you mean by this . A lot of the farms i've ploughed on the land determines how deep you plough but it's possible do do a very nice job at 5 inches riding on a layer of gravel if you have the right boards .And standing furrows up in the air is'nt always desirable in certain soil types. We don't plough any more but heres a few from when we did.
7 inches deep in the first pic and 13 inches deep for potatoes in the second !

milkman · Mar 7, 2010

npalen said:
YouTube - 61 Cub Cadet Plowing
Those are all good plowing examples.
The video above is an example of what hurts my eyes.

Here's the one that affects me like nails on a chalkboard, the narrator even says "good job" at one point, if you can watch it that far.:laughing:

YouTube - 1974 Ford LGT Plowing The Garden

Iplayfarmer · Mar 7, 2010

Plowing is a talent I simply don't have. I think my biggest problem is that I've never had the right match of plow to tractor. I have another little plow that I bought this winter from a guy who needed the money. I'm going to try it with my Massey 1215 SCUT.

The collective wisdom here as to what is good advice and what is not is very helpful.

aczlan · Mar 7, 2010

milkman said:
Here's the one that affects me like nails on a chalkboard, the narrator even says "good job" at one point, if you can watch it that far.:laughing:

Looks more like furrowing (ie: making rows in the garden to plant something like potatoes in) than plowing.

Aaron Z

Bob Ha · Mar 7, 2010

Interesting that is thread came up. I'm in the process of searching for a 4 bottom plow. I have about 20 acres that I'm going to sprig this spring with Midland 99. Having a hard time finding what I want. There are more 3 point bottom plows available but would prefer something a little better but better comes with a price and I have a wife and budget.

powerpace · Mar 7, 2010

Milkman and npalen your right it is sad they are just scratching the ground. But with the small size of power units that's about all that can be done.
I haven't plowed ground for years but last time I worked ground we used a subsoiler to 3' for the hardpan after disking then went straight to a 6 or 7 bottom plow. Loved it.

pitt_md · Mar 8, 2010

I'm thinking about planting another field for hay when my current field runs out of gas. I have a nice tiller but thought it might be better to plow it up first. After looking at the video of the 50 hp tractor I was thinking that would be perfect since that is the exact tractor that I have. Then I saw the price!!!
I had no idea they cost so much. By the time I put colters on and shipped it here I would be looking at about $1400-$1500.

Lots of people say that boats are black holes that suck up money...I wonder if they ever tried their hand at farming?

D7E · Mar 8, 2010

A good one
YouTube - Leistungspflügen - Ploughing Match - World Ploughing Ireland 2006

flusher · Mar 8, 2010

pitt_md said:
I'm thinking about planting another field for hay when my current field runs out of gas. I have a nice tiller but thought it might be better to plow it up first. After looking at the video of the 50 hp tractor I was thinking that would be perfect since that is the exact tractor that I have. Then I saw the price!!!
I had no idea they cost so much. By the time I put colters on and shipped it here I would be looking at about $1400-$1500.

Lots of people say that boats are black holes that suck up money...I wonder if they ever tried their hand at farming?

Look around on craigslist and I'll bet you'll find something you can use at a lot lower price. I found this old JD 2-14 plow with coulters on CL for $200.

The 3pt hitch on the plow was shot (wouldn't hold adjustment) so I rebuilt it in a more modern style (cost about $60 for steel and a few hours with the welder)