Something I don't understand about applications of below 40hp tractors

[Luke McGluke]

Growing up, we had four farm tractors, two John Deere's, and two Farmalls, only one of which was over 40 hp. Weight is a big factor in pulling a plow. The two Model A John Deere pulled a 3 bottom plow and the Super M Farmalls pulled 4 bottoms. We added wheel weights and they all worked well.

 

[JWR]

Yeah, will say there is a difference in pulling power between the two, plus the difference torque wise between a diesel and gas. Biggest problem with the B6000's PTO is that it turns backwards. I had forgot about that.

Yes, and that wrong direction PTO did more to hurt Kubota business than all other factors combined ! You will find biased John Deere dealers to this day still talking about Kubota wrong-way PTOs -- as if they all ran that way. The other thing that has hurt Kubota in serious farming and hilly areas is that the Japanese never seem to get it through their skulls that the USA is not all flat and that many users need to get far wider rear wheel separation than they offer on most models. This has gotten better but is still a Kubota disease. Witness the market for wheel spacers for Kubotas ! You do not find people buying wheel spacers for other brands.

 

[jeff9366]

You could plow with an old 9n Ford which was likely less than 20 hp.

See Post #7.

 

[jeff9366]

So all those farmers in Thailand who plow their field with a single Ox (I read that an average ox develops about .6 hp) aren't really plowing their fields?

 

[California]

...t the Japanese never seem to get it through their skulls that the USA is not all flat and that many users need to get far wider rear wheel separation ...

We think of tractors and we think of dry-land farming. With hills sometimes.

In contrast Japanese designs assume its going to run half-submerged for the life of the tractor and design accordingly. Plenty of hp, light weight, good ground clearance.

Photo I copied off of Yanmar-Japan's corporate website long ago:

One point that may not be obvious in that picture: you don't need 4wd when the rototiller - the main use of Japanese tractors - provides plenty of forward push. Like 32wd drive.

 

[Learning2Tractor]

After talking to y'all and now knowing what to look for and why, I'm glad I didn't run out and buy something. The weight factor is something I had no idea about. Those old farm tractors must weigh a lot.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Vigo327]

How much weight you need just depends on what kind of work you want to do. I have a B6100 and a B8200 with a small hp difference and a large weight difference (the backhoe on the 8200 weighs as much as a bare 6100 tractor) and while the 8200 is an absolute pulling machine by comparison, it gives up so much in maneuverability that I find the 6100 a lot more enjoyable to use for anything that doesn't max out its capabilities.

 

[Martin Roper]

Completely agree with jeff9366 except to add the HST tractors ( tractors with hydraulic drive ) require horsepower along with weight because the engine does not directly drive the wheels. The engine drives a hydraulic pump which then drives the wheels, so the more horsepower you have the bigger the pump can be driven, the greater the drawing or pushing power of the tractor.

Weight is really important because it causes the tires the engage the ground and the better the engagement the more the tractor can do.

The above does not apply to tractors using gears, belts, chains to drive the wheels.

I do not understand how you consider the type of drive eliminates the need for weight on the rear wheels for traction. The whole point of the Ferguson system was to transfer the weight of the plough onto the rear wheels thus giving traction regardless of how the wheels are driven. This allowed much smaller tractors to do the same work as much larger machines that where simply towing.

 

[RalphVa]

I read you don't plough with any tractor under 40hp. At least maybe not on a new unworked field. Don't know if that's right, but it is what I have been reading on more than one site.

If you don't have a front loader or a lawn cutting pull behind implement, what do you use them for? For example, I found a good price on a Kubota B6000e. It is only the tractor. I can only cut the grass with it?

Are all the old tractors over 40hp?

Edit:. I read the Kubota was 10.5 hp. My jd L110 is 17.5, but no pto. I don't know what I'd do with the Kubota.

I plowed my big garden along the creek in 2000 or so with a 12 hp Gravely using a rotary plow.

I'll bet most MCUTs could pull a single bottom plow. Too bad they don't make a rotary plow for any of them. Even a 1500 BX could probably plow with a rotary plow.

A friend's JD M was 18 hp gasoline. He gave me the soil ripper from it, which I converted to 3ph with his help doing the welding, per my design. I plowed the big garden again with it in 2004 using the soil ripper and bought 2 big discs that I put onto the tool bar and removed the cultivator tines. Made raised rows with the 2 big opposed discs using my 18.5 hp JD 4010. The JD with 4wd could do the work of the 2wd M: 4wd vs. weight.

 

[HighTwelve]

Jeff9366 has largely beaten me to the punch about plowing with a 20 HP tractor - the Ford 9N, 2N and 8N. Now, I’m a tractor collector and not a real farmer, but tractor shows often have plowing demonstrations and I always wade in with one of my N tractors. Back in the day Ford farmers used either a 16” one bottom or a 12” or 14” two bottom plow. There are three secrets:

Weight: Farmers loaded the rear tires.

Setup: Plow share bottom is flat on the ground with left rear wheel up on a 4” block, EXCEPT point is tilted slightly downward. If this sounds slightly contradictory it is. You have to make adjustments, especially with a badly worn plow share.

Technique: separate left and right rear wheel brakes are there for a reason. You will probably have more problem with the left wheel spinning than the right. My Kubota L3010 has a differential lock which would do the same thing if I ever tried to plow with it, which I have not. I’m not a real farmer and the gray market (oh no!) Yanmar rototiller on the Kubby tills the garden just fine.

A long time ago a now deceased collector and old time farm boy named Zane Sherman posted on his website the best treatise on plowing that I have ever seen. It was called “Plow A Little Now”. He covered every aspect of setting up the plow. Zane is gone and the website is down but you may find a copy in the data section over on the www.Ntractorclub.com website. I haven’t checked so no guarantee. I’d gladly post my copy if I could figure out how.