Zetor power --- shhh!

[BarryinMN]

I picked up a JD 3600 4X18" on land hitch plow to turn over an unused 10AC field. Farmer I bought it from said it was too big for his JD 3020's (2wd) 70+ HP (lots of wheel slippage on level fields) he was going back to IH710 4X16" semi mount. It crabbed my PU (chev 1500 extended cab) pulling it home. Then read in the owners book plow rated for 155HP PTO tractor. Hmm maybe it is too much for my heavy MN clay & weeds. Set it up, hooked it up & headed to the field. Started in 3rd low 2wd, quickly went to 4th 4WD 15-1800 RPM's

Awesome! watching a wave of dirt erupt behind me! Wheel spin was less than 10% even climbing uphill.

Zetor 4341.1SR

 

[sideboiler]

That's good news Barry. I've been wondering how many bottoms my 4341 would pull. Now that you have taken the guess work out of it, I'll look around for a 4 bottom plow. Thanks.

Randy

 

[BarryinMN]

No problem. I did not intend on another plow but our old 3 bottom 14" 3Pt would ball up on trash & pop out of the ground.

 

[sideboiler]

Barry, After reading of your success with a 4 bottom plow with your Zetor, I just bought an old IH Model 140 4 bottom roll-over plow for my 4341 at a farm equipt. auction. Not knowing much about plows, I ask advice from some other people at the auction. They all told me that the plow was too big for my tractor. I think they were basing their advice on the tractor horsepower only. This plow is a 4 x 18 but it is set up to be easily adjusted to a 4 x 16 or even a 3 bottom plow. I have to replace several plow shares, but I am eager to try it out. Initially, I will just plow a garden site and not use the roll-over function. Since the Zetor 4341 has the weight and traction (4wd), I thought that if the horsepower was a little short, I could just gear down. Would there be a problem with plowing at a slower speed if needed?

 

[Woodbeef]

If it is a two way(reversable) plow it will be too big for your tractor. Now maybe a 9540 or bigger might have better luck with it.

 

[BarryinMN]

Not sure what a roll over does but with all the adjustability & variable soil conditions just keep tweaking it! Speed helps flip the roots over. Coulters also take extra power. My fields are not flat so I'm continuously up/down/sideways. A neighbor tills 700 ACs with an 11 bottom IH behind a 300 HP JD on flat easy slopes. The massive tractor makes the plow look small at speed.

I think extra power comes in handy when conditions are less than ideal. Large tractors 200+ HP have torque ratings that rise 40% or more for pulling peak loads. The wheels are constantly climbing uphill plus pulling horizontally.

Once you get the plow working you' may get a bumper crop of rocks to deal with.

I finally had a winning bid on a rock wagon yesterday. See pix.

The rock in the background was lifted on my 3pt bale spear. Nearly lifted the front wheels off the ground. I'll put a full load of gravel in the bucket before picking it up & moving it to it's next home. Lifting my 40' shipping container on the 3Pt had less influence on the front end.

 

[Woodbeef]

If a rollover plow is what I think it is,you can plow both directions with it. Basically you have two plows in one. The one in the ground,and another one on top of it,angled the opposite way of draft. With them you can do continuous plowing in different directions with side by side furrows. Very big following in Europe,but never really caught on over here. They do take a larger tractor to pull though then a normal one way plow would.

Rock wagon,eh? Is it just a flatbed dump trailer? Seems like a good idea,as long as the rocks stay put during transport.

 

[CMunger]

Rollover plows are used in California
Chuck M

 

[higgy]

Use this type of plow all the time in Idaho as well, some refer to it as a tumbel bug plow.

Been around here for years

 

[BarryinMN]

Stumbled across a technical discussion of plowing. Simplified as follows. Don't remember which web site I found it.

Plows take 5 min to 17 max pounds pull per in2. 5+17/2=8.5 average pounds pull per in2.

my plow is 4X18=72"

72X8.5=612 pounds pull per inch depth of plow.

8" depth of topsoil & root system.

612X8=4896 pounds to pull plow at depth.

There was 7-8% wheel slippage assumption with the above.

Don't know what pulling force my Zetor is rated at but it pulls the plow without lugging.

Rock wagon is 5x9