Plowing newbie looking for pointers

[Kilo69]

Plowed an acre with my CK35 and a dual 12" bottom plow last weekend.

here's a clip of how it looked



Any pointers? To me it seemed the second moldboard wasn't going as deep as the first that is closer to the tractor?

would lengthening the top link get both of them running the same depth?

First time I've ever plowed and man it feels pretty satisfying even though it's just a small bit of the land.

 

[tmeadows]

It could be that you are just letting your lift arms down to low

 

[vjcoppola]

I always thought that plowing is the most fun you can have on a tractor.

It doesn't look too bad the way you have it. You can make the second plow go deeper by lengthening your top link but if you go too far the plow may not go in, just skim on top.

The length of the adjustable lift arm has an effect too. When you are plowing and your right tires are in the last furrow the top of the plow should be level from side to side. Watch the axles of the rolling coulters, they should be the same height from the ground.

Another think to watch, if your tractor has them are the lift arm chains. They should be the same length. If they aren't something is out of adjustment.

I don't know how much you are plowing but it can take a while to get it perfect. When it is it will plow deep and pull easy. When I'm just doing the garden it seeems that by the time I have it set right the plowing is done.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I always thought that plowing is the most fun you can have on a tractor.

It doesn't look too bad the way you have it. You can make the second plow go deeper by lengthening your top link but if you go too far the plow may not go in, just skim on top.

The length of the adjustable lift arm has an effect too. When you are plowing and your right tires are in the last furrow the top of the plow should be level from side to side. Watch the axles of the rolling coulters, they should be the same height from the ground.

Another think to watch, if your tractor has them are the lift arm chains. They should be the same length. If they aren't something is out of adjustment.

I don't know how much you are plowing but it can take a while to get it perfect. When it is it will plow deep and pull easy. When I'm just doing the garden it seeems that by the time I have it set right the plowing is done.

Hi Vince, just saw your from Forestville. Nice to see another local guy on here.

 

[gwdixon]

When plowing the top of the plow needs to be on the same plane in all directions as the land. This is determined when the plow is in the ground. Even a carpenter's level can help.

The first pass will be level with the tractor but the second pass (and all others), with the tires in the furrow, will require a shortening of the right lift arm to make the plow run level with the ground. It will look crooked with the tractor sitting level but not with the right wheels in the furrow - then the plow will be level in relation to the ground.

I think Everything Attachments has a video on setting up a two-bottom plow that describes this with visual reinforcement.

 

[MHarryE]

Like gwdixson said, watch the video on everythingattachments. My plow needs a lot of attention because if you lengthen the top link too much it won't penetrate the ground and too short will give uneven furrow depth. I also found a Ferguson Plow Boo on line, PDF copy, that really helped initial setup. If I remember right it says to set up on a flat, hard surface but since normally your right wheel is in the furrow, run your tractor with the left wheels up on blocks to simulate tractor tilt. Try googling it. People sell that book on eBay but I easily found a PDF version. I have a hydraulic top-n-tilt the makes setting a whole lot easier, and then I can tweak from the cab on the run and watch the results.

 

[schmism]

you need to setup the plow on a flat level surface.

(for the most part) a moldboard plow is designed to plow half as deep as it is wide. so a 12" plow is designed to plow 6" deep.

Start by takeing a 6x6 block and driveing the LEFT tire up on it. (tilting the tractor to the right) this simulates the angle the tractor sits at when your plowing in the field with the right tire in the furrow.

then its a simple matter of aligning the 2 plows to sit level on the ground behind the tractor. The plow share (the front part that cuts the dirt) needs to sit level left and right. Adjust this by adjusting the sidelink on your 3pt.

the front points of both plows should engage the dirt at the same time, You dont want the front one leading the back one because it will have a tendancy to dive the plow to deep. your second moldboard doesnt cut as deep. This is the top link adjustment.

Coulter wheels should be adjusted to be about 2" above the share, and inline with the frog.

the last adjustment is the side to side offset of the set of plows. as looking at the back of the tractor, the far right point of the front share, should be just at the inside edge of the right rear tire. To far right and you arnt makeing full use of your front plow, to far left and technically arnt flipping all the dirt leaving a small patch un-tilled.

Last is the speed at which you travel. If the sod/dirt doesnt want to flip your going to slow, if it wants to continue to roll another 180 deg, (with the face that was org up, up again) your going to fast. for the most part this is roughly 3mph (ive heard a range of 2-4mph)

After a few rows have been tilled, you can fine tune yoursetup. if the bottoms of the furrows arent flat, your side tilt is off slightly. (make small adjustments)
If when looking back and both plows dont seem to be flipping the same amount of dirt, or your constantly fighting the plow nose diveing, lenghten your top link. On the other hand, if you cant get the plow to start into the ground, and it constantly wants to ride up out of the ground, you need to shorting your top link. (again small adjustments)
If your rows dont seem to lay ontop of each other right, your side shift is off.


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIMqPy6DxSw[/ame]

^^^mysetup is almost dead on except my side shift is slightly off, but thats harder to get correct with fat R4 tires instead of classic R1's. mine is a 2x16 dearborn

 

[JMER817]

Growing up on a small hobby farm we used to plow about 15 acres with a Ford 600 series tractor and Dearborn 2 bottom plow. I remember racing home from school to get on the tractor before my Dad did. Loved plowing and and the look of the field afterwards. Sounds like from the two videos that these are hyro's? Any issues with overheating or lack of power? Are you guys in 4 wheel drive when plowing?

 

[TripleR]

I sure can't beat the advice given so far. Laying out the ground and proper plowing is an art and takes practice. As mentioned, one thing some people do is go too slow to allow a good turn over.

 

[schmism]

Any issues with overheating or lack of power? Are you guys in 4 wheel drive when plowing?

Would i like more power? Always, the plowing comps always use about a 60hp tractor for there 2bottoms....

For my 2x16 yes, its the absolute max my tractor will pull in low range at 2400rpm in 4wd with dif lock and plows setup right. its a TC33 so only like 28hp to the ground. The nice thing about it is i GPS'd full pedal in low range and travel speed was about 3mph so i can just floor it set the cruise and go just like a geard tractor.

No issues overheating, but i dont do acers at a time.