Trip Mechanism, Ford Series 101 Plow

[jeff9366]

I was plowing this morning when the protective trip mechanism on my Ford Series 101, 2-12 plow tripped for the first time. The forward plow tripped.

The Series 101 Plow Manual says to leave the plow in the ground and reverse until mechanism re-latches. I reversed but the final 5/8" of the trip arm did not re-enter the housing, so the trip did not reset. With the trip not reset, the plow "trips" and rotates just from normal draft force.

I wire brushd and lubed the visible part of the trip arm; no improvement. I gave the 5/8" of exposed trip arm a few raps with a dead-blow mallet, no improvement.

Tuesday, when I have more time, I will unbolt one half of the housing to take a look. I speculate dirt, dust and rust are the problem.

Can I expect any surprises in the disassembly?

Anyone had a duplicate or similar problem?

There are a lot of Series 101 Ford Plows out there, I am hoping for any helpful warning before I unbolt the trip housing.

THANKS!

jeff9366

 

[gwdixon]

Here are what the insides look like. Mine were gummed up with decades old grease. After cleaning it out with solvent, adjusting the spring, and re-lubing it worked perfectly.

 

[jeff9366]

Thank you, gwdixon.

So, when I take off one side of housing, no part is likely to fly into the heavens?

Did you degrease with anything unusual?

Did you use a special dust resistant lube?

 

[gwdixon]

The plate comes off easily and the working parts don't fly everywhere. You will see that it is a very simple, but effective, design.

With the plow tripped you will see how it is supposed to reset. After cleaning, it should go back to set by hand.

I used diesel and a stiff parts brush to clean out the old grease after using a putty knife and a screwdriver to dig out the bulk of it. The grease was like window putty and stunk to high heaven.

I just use the same grease on the plow as is used on the tractor. Fluid Film was used on the non-greased parts. One could use fancy lube but I didn't.

 

[jeff9366]

Thank you, again. I will be on it Tuesday.

 

[jeff9366]

I have the plow trip mechanism apart. No grease, just dirt, dust, rust and insects. I have soaked all the insert bearings in penetrating fluid, will grease refreshed bearings tomorrow.

When you reassembled the trip, did you insert the trip arm separated from the ground contact parts?

I hate to take the plow further down, but the trip arm is awfully heavy with the moldboards, etc., attached.

 

[gwdixon]

Since I had new shins, shares, and landslides to put on the plow was fairly disassembled already by the time the trip mechanism was tackled. In the rebuild, about 90% of the standard bolts and plow bolts were replaced. They were in terrible shape and some had to be cut off with a torch.

So the plow trip mechanism was at the point that you see in the manual photo in post #3. It would be bulky to deal with otherwise as you have apparently found.

 

[Ford850]

You should be able to easily reset it by lowering to the ground and backing up. Let the weight of the plow and the leverage do the work for you.
Be sure the grease fittings are clean and clear so you can keep it greased in the future too.
You'll probably have to readjust the trip tension when you start plowing the first time after the clean and lube.

 

[jeff9366]

Be sure the grease fittings are clean and clear so you can keep it greased in the future.

I do not think this plow, which I have had for a year, has ever been greased. The two zerks are totally clogged. I have not decided if it is worthwhile for me to replace the zerks with new ones, even though the Ford recommended lube interval is every four hours. I only plow, on average, 5 acres per year, for food plots and in other areas for fire protection. My soil is sand.

I am 67 years old and have some inflammation in both elbow and shoulder, so fitting all those heavy, close fitting, pinned, parts back together will be a heavy task. I do have PLENTY OF TIME.

 

[gwdixon]

I do not think this plow, which I have had for a year, has ever been greased. The two zerks are totally clogged. I have not decided if it is worthwhile for me to replace the zerks with new ones, even though the Ford recommended lube interval is every four hours. I only plow, on average, 5 acres per year, for food plots and in other areas for fire protection. My soil is sand.

I am 67 years old and have some inflammation in both elbow and shoulder, so fitting all those heavy, close fitting, pinned, parts back together will be a heavy task. I do have PLENTY OF TIME.

Zerks are cheap, grease is cheap, excessive wear is expensive. Your choice.

Do it correctly the first time and a second time won't be necessary.

OK, that is enough canards for now.

I, too, am 67 years old with the accompanying pains. At this age, one starts to wonder if one will be around long enough to benefit from the necessary repairs. Just know that, in ten years, the repairs are going to be far more difficult to achieve than they will be now.