Plowing with a 30 Hp Compact tractor

[vallyfarm]

No disrespect to Milkman, but having several hundred pounds of metal hanging way out in front of the front axle running at 3-5 mph ( speed that most plows are designed to pull at ) WILL put a lot of extra strain and wear on the tractor. Hydros have this reputation because they fail a LOT more often than gear transmissions, adding the job of plowing rocky soil and jamming on rocks, bouncing through furrows will only make the possibility for a problem more likley. The odds of that loader tweaking or cracking the tractor main frame is ZERO if the loader is left by the side of the barn first. Hydro trannys are great, even better for some situations, plowing is not one of them. If Milkman has gone for years with his hydro/loader tractor pulling a 3 bot plow through bedrock without a problem tha is great! I'm sure many people have never had any problems starting their BBQ with gasoline, but that doesn't make it the best way to do it. Again, I don't want to start any fighting here, just give the best information I have to help others out. There are many ways to skin a pig. The importaint thing is to have some bacon when you are done. Mike

 

[fishpick]

So - vallyfarm - when breaking fresh ground with one of the newfangled HST tractors that seem to be everywhere... What's the right tool - in your opinion - to keep the tractor running for years? Pull a plow and then disk it up - or use a tiller and beat it up?

 

[vallyfarm]

Fishpick, If that is all I had to do the job with, I guess I wouldhave to just use the smallest (12") plow I could. Idealy it would have a trip/reset feature, berring that a shearpin. Normally if, in my experience, you try to disk up, or otherwise rip up the surface and then plow that the quality of the plowing is greatly reduced. A rototiller would put probably more strress on the tractor when it is bouncing andd grabbing rocks. With a much wider face in the dirt, and powered to boot, I would only use a 3pt tiller in an area that has already been loostened up so as to provide some cushion and "give" when the tiller grabs a rock. If I was in no great hurry, I would plow shallow...4-5 in deep. disk & pick rocks, plant some buckwheat to grow for a month or ywo, then plow it under going 6-8 in deep, repeating going a fw inches deeper until I've reached the depth I wanted to plow to. I have had to do this in some fields just because so many rocks actually prevented me from plowing to full depth in one pass. Another way would be to chisel plow the area. This would require much more HP to do. Plowing in depth passes allowes many of the rocks to be removed without causing excessive damage to the equipment, creates a better soil for growing in, and can be completed within 1 year if the area is on the smaller side (probably no more than 5 acres). Mike

 

[milkman]

Fishpick, If that is all I had to do the job with, I guess I wouldhave to just use the smallest (12") plow I could. Idealy it would have a trip/reset feature, berring that a shearpin. Mike

I can get a 10" that is a Cat0 that I can adapt, although it doesn't have the trip/reset feature, would that be better than the 12", easier on the hydro?

 

[vallyfarm]

Milkman, I would say yes, if the 10" can be set to pull properly behind the tractor. Also, watch the lower right pin. I have bent many, sometimes 3-4 in one field from hooking a big rock. I have heard of some people using a grade 2 or 5 bolt in the toplink hole to act as a "shearpin" if they hit a rock, but flying metal and flailing toplinks have never been high on my safety list. The smaller the plow, the easier to plow with. I would think a 10' would/should be able to catch fewer rocks. If it were me, that would be the direction I would go. The problem isn't the tractor or the plow, but the rocks in the field. Going unplowed for a long time makes them want to stay put. Rocks in a better worked soil are looser, and won't shock the drivetrain nearly as much. That only comes in handy for next year though. Mike

 

[Tractors4u]

I don't remember you mentioning anything about the type of tires you are using other than them being loaded. I pull a 2-14 or 2-16, can't remember for sure, with my 32 hp Deere. I tend to believe it is a 2-16. The only problem I have is pull with those R4 tires, they will tend to spin a little. It has gotten better since I loaded them. I plow some heavy clay and if I had ag tires, I have no doubt that it would pull with out any problems. Mine is a gear tractor with shuttle shift, Deere 4310.

 

[vallyfarm]

Tractors4u the problem that I am trying to adress is the rocks. Yes, a properly weighted tractor should be able to pull 2 16's fairly easily, mabe even 3 14's in light loam or sand, but with little experience setting up a plow, and rocky soil with a heavy sod, less is often more . Just one good size rock getting jamed between the shares can take hours to fix if you add in the time to replace shares, and trying to bring all the necessary tools to the tractor... sledge hammer, crowbar, wrenches if thebeams need to be seperated, etc. I've been there done that. It is a lot easier to take fewer inches per pass and keep going than the other way around. Mike

 

[Barneyhunts]

Thanks everyone! I've learned a lot from the information you shared. I'm sure I'll learn some more when I plow, though, we have about a foot of new snow, the wind is blowing and it's 25 degrees out side right now. I don't think I'll be plowing too soon.
THANKS AGAIN.