Plowing stony field

[L3650]

I have been asked to plow about 15 acres of fallow field. It has not been plowed for at least 30 years. The part of eastern Wisconsin this land is located has a lot of glacial debris. Endless stones range in size from golf ball potato to basketball to the size of a car. And there are alot of them.

The gentleman living on this farm today has an old pull type 2 bottom Oliver plow and a Farmall M tractor. He states that it was the set up used to operate the place for years, but the tractor is too tired to pull the plow. I know the Kubota L3650 will pull that plow with ease.

My question is what if I hit a large rock? I have never plowed a furrow in my life.

Do I use the old Oliver plow? It has a trip mechanism to release the plow should it become hung up. I had been thinking of buying a 3pt, 2 bottom that would be used to put in food plots. None of the new 3pt setups appear to have trip mechanisms.

I would like to plow the field, but I don't want to harm the old plow or my tractor. Any thoughts on how to approach this is appreciated.

 

[Birdman]

Part of my hay field is very rocky like you describe. I have not plowed it yet with the new tractor but in the past using the Jubilee and a 2 bottom 3 pt. plow it would mostly jerk to the side or come up out of the ground, occasionally it would grind to a halt and start to spin. I keep my foot lightly resting on the clutch pedal so I can get stopped quicker. The lift arms on the jubilee have a lot of play in them and I think this allows the plow to go around some rocks (don't help much for straight furrows). The new JD has very little, if any, play in the arms and might make for a very rough ride. Just hold on and stay alert. The plow with the trip mechanism sounds like the way to go.

 

[Syncro]

Our old place had ground like that and its sure hard on equipement. We used a Farmall H with a similar pull type 2 bottom plow that also had a release mechanisim. There is no way I'd use a nice tractor with a 3 pt plow for that rocky ground. Some rocks were so big we couldn't move em with the stone boat.

 

[BarryinMN]

Tighten your seat belt it's a rough ride! Rocks, roots, & 30 years of everything else. You need 3-5 mph to make a furrow flip, otherwise it just falls back /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I use a modern spring loaded 4x18 with on land hitch so all the shock loads are on the drawbar and wide spacing to clear the trash. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Old plows will simply load with trash & pop out of the ground.

If the grass is more than knee high mow it first to help see obstructions & holes.

15 acres of rock picking will take awhile /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Egon]

Use the old plow. Make sure the trip mechanizim is working.

A farmall M could pull lots more than two bottoms.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[gabby]

Have you thought about declining the job? It sounds like one of those jobs that will be hard on your equipment, take way too long to finish, and still not end up with good results.
gabby

 

[teddydo]

We use to have what is known as disk-breakers. Big disk blades about 2 foot high spaced maybe 14 inches apart. they work great on groun that had just been cleared, you now that have some stumps hidden in places. They are just to be pulled and not picked up. That would be something to lood at if available...........luck to you teddydo

 

[johan3400]

Use the old plow or as suggested, get a disc plow. I just purchased a two bottom Dearborn Disc Plow. It worked well on the stumps and brush I had to remove. The suggestion of walking away is not too bad. This could be a chore.

 

[BobG_in_VA]

If the land had been plowed/tilled even 30 years ago, most of the "big" rocks will have been removed already. If the plow was the original used on that field, look at it. It will tell you the conditons. I will assume its probably a "Little Genius" IH plow. Suggest you get a picture here of the plow, particularlly the points/shears, shins, etc. Does it have colters?. As mentioned earlier, cut over the field with a brush hog: twice--once at about 6 inches to save the hog and then again somewhat closer. to beat the stubble up and get a real look. Oh, even a "tired" M will still have as much HP as your Kubota. They were rated between 40-couple and 50 HP. It will pull the plows easily. Check the tires for dryrod and if the wheels have weights--as that will tell you if its gonna pull thru the "stuff" you will encounter. Good luck. Sound like a Neat project to me. BobG in VA

 

[mikeschwister]

I grew up in WI and have experience plowing these kinds of fields. I would use the old oliver plow (we have an old 3x16). If you hit a stone that is too big, the moldboard will trip over backwards, just backup and lift over the rock. I would definately use the kubota. An M should pull 3 x16s, but traction is more of a problem and fuel use on the M will be 6-8 Gallons per hour for plowing. You could get a newer type with spring resets, which will will only speed you up a little. Your choice, but I would use the old plow. You will need one pair hydralic remotes and a ram.

Good luck
Mike