Land plow

tree grower · May 30, 2012

I have a Ferguson single-bottom 16" plow. I have used it with my old Ford 850 and my Ford 1700. I have a copy of the Ford-Ferguson Plow Book, published for N series tractors.

My problem is that the distance between furrows is much too wide. Per the plow book, I have set the plow beam on the cross shaft at 8 7/8", the length of the top link at 25", rotated the cross shaft so the S-turns in both ends all align in a vertical plane, and adjust the bottom links on the tractor to be level when on level ground. The coulter is sharp, and turns freely. When plowing with the right wheels in the previous furrow, the plow leaves about
8" untouched, as if I was using only the left half of a two-bottom plow. Am eager to hear what I am doing wrong. I assume this is operator error, not defective equipment.

thomas9n · May 30, 2012

you level your plow on flat ground for your first pass. then you have to level it for your tire being in the furrow. easyest way to do this is by driving your rear wheel on to a 4x4 and leveling it that way.understand what im saying?

tree grower · May 30, 2012

Thomas- sounds easy to do, but is this going to correct the problem. Even though I have a horizontal problem, the plow sucks into the soil really well. Any chance that the plow share is incorrect ?

Chilly807 · May 30, 2012

When I first started reading your post, I was at a loss as to what could be wrong. After some thought, this is what I came up with... If you have a 16 inch plow, that means it will effectively turn over a 16 inch wide swath with each pass.

So, you need to set up the plow behind the tractor so that the landside of the plow is approximately 16 inches or a little less from the inside edge of your right side tire. When the inside of the tire is up against the left edge of the previous furrow, your plow will turn over the next 16 inches of ground, and so on. From the sounds of it, you have the plow too far to the left side and it's leaving the ground between unturned.

From what I've heard, optimum cutting depth is about 1/2 or less of the plow width, in your case 8 inches or less.

It may take some fine tuning to get it exactly right, but I'd start there and see if it helps. Your right side check chain or turnbuckle is the adjustment you need to make, the left side doesn't do a lot anyway since the plow pulls against the right side only.

Once you get that set right, there will no doubt be other tweaks you'll have to make. Sometimes it gets to be trial and error.

There may be something else I'm missing, I'm no expert when it comes to plowing. I've got an old MF 2-12, incidentally.

Sean

Chilly807 · May 30, 2012

Something else, my lower arm ends are 3 inches different in height when I'm set up correctly, the right side being lower. The idea is that with the right wheel in the furrow, the plow will be level. The cross-shaft ends up being cranked to adjust the plow straight behind the tractor, doesn't have much to do with setting it level or for height. You use the tilt adjustment on your lift arms for that. If memory serves, I think I jacked up the left side of the tractor 6 inches to get the plow set for level. I plow the first furrow that way, but it's not always pretty, the subsequent ones are fine.

Sean

nspec · May 30, 2012

The cross shaft gets rotated to adjust which way the plow will pull, or steer. You need to rotate the shaft so the point on the share is pointing roughly diagonally across to near your front left tire. Ideally, the plow really doesn't pull to one side at all, but tracks straight. This will take some trial and error. It's not really a 'set it by the book and forget it' type thing. Also, you may have to slide the plow horizontally on the cross shaft to get the correct width. Measure over 16 inches from the inside of your right rear tire and that is where the coulter and or point should be.

It's a great plow - I have the exact same one. I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world, it does such a nice job.

nspec · May 30, 2012

This is what a Ferguson 16 is capable of. Play around with it and you'll get it. That's part of the fun!!

nspec · May 30, 2012

One more pic. Here you can see how the cross shaft should be oriented. The plow is taking a proper bite with no pulling to the left or right and tracks completely straight behind my tractor all on it's own with no check chains or anything. I don't have to fight the plow with the steering of the tractor at all.

Note, in this position, my lift arms are roughly level with each when on level ground. You only have to lower the right arm for the first pass when your wheel is not in a furrow yet. Once you've made the first pass and you get the right side wheels down in the furrow, you crank that right arm pack up and try to make the plow as level and flat as possible. I'm not set up 100% in this photo. I need to tweak the right arm up just a tad to level the plow better. It takes me several passes of tweaking to get it just right.

In other words, if I were to drive out of the furrow in this pic and onto level ground, the plow would be angled to the left and not look right. Got it?

PossumHound · May 30, 2012

nspec said:
This is what a Ferguson 16 is capable of. Play around with it and you'll get it. That's part of the fun!!

Mighty pretty work and soil too!

:thumbsup:

PH

nspec · May 30, 2012

Thanks, PossumHound. I'm pretty proud of that. This was a well established oak and pine forest 3 years ago. I cut and stumped it with my little Kubota one year. The next year I grew 3 consecutive stands of buckwheat turning each one under. I followed that with a fall planting of winter rye. Copious amount of manure in February, and those pics are plowing the rye under last month. I just planted the garden last week. Very satisfying to see how the soil structure has improved.

tree grower · May 31, 2012

One more pic. Here you can see how the cross shaft should be oriented. The plow is taking a proper bite with no pulling to the left or right and tracks completely straight behind my tractor all on it's own with no check chains or anything.

NSPEC--that is how I want mine to look, too. I'll study things a little more, and will probably be back in touch.

thomas9n · May 31, 2012

tree growler,nspec explained it a lot better than i did. once you get it set right it just takes a little adjustment each time you plow. i also have a fergison plow and it cuts like a knife threw butter.have fun, don't hit any big roots or rocks, your plow will catch, frontend raises, not fun!

PossumHound · May 31, 2012

nspec said:
Thanks, PossumHound. I'm pretty proud of that. This was a well established oak and pine forest 3 years ago. I cut and stumped it with my little Kubota one year. The next year I grew 3 consecutive stands of buckwheat turning each one under. I followed that with a fall planting of winter rye. Copious amount of manure in February, and those pics are plowing the rye under last month. I just planted the garden last week. Very satisfying to see how the soil structure has improved.

That makes the current condition all the more amazing. How'd you get all the roots and such out so clean? I am impressed. Oh, and that's good advice to the OP on adjusting his turning plow.

PH

blunosr · Jun 1, 2012

Link to the Ford Plow book:

www.wfmfiles.com/download/Ford_Plow_Book.pdf

I figured some might find it interesting, and useful for first-time plowers. Especially at the end where it suggests how to lay out your fields.

Bye for now,

Troy

nspec · Jun 1, 2012

PossumHound: Most of the stumps came out in one piece. There was a lot of roots and such that had to be picked out by hand. I actually plowed it a couple times to turn it all up. Also, I have a landscape rake that I use with every other tine removed. This helps smooth things and grabs bigger debris. What amazes me is the never ending rock picking. I think they're breeding. Somebody once said, "If I could only find an animal that would eat them....."

the6shooter · Jun 1, 2012

EverythingAttachments.com has a how to vidio on this very question.
david

RaydaKub · Jun 1, 2012

nspec said:
Somebody once said, "If I could only find an animal that would eat them....."

Find yourself a *VERY* large chicken... :thumbsup:

nckennedy · Jul 12, 2012

Interesting discussion. I am having a similar problem with my JD5425 pulling a JD 1000 3 bottom 16" fully mounted.
Nice plow but the first plow (right) is not to the right far enough to turn over the soil. It leaves a wide strip maybe 8 inches unplowed. The plow manual says I need to adjust the right wheel of the tractor but I am not sure that is even possible or desirable. I like the wider stance and would loose that by bringing the wheel in closer to the frame. I guess the problem is that the older plow is really not compatable with the new tractor. Any hope in making this moldboard plow work correctly? Do we just need to switch to a chisel plow?
Thanks
nck

MHarryE · Jul 13, 2012

nckennedy said:
Interesting discussion. I am having a similar problem with my JD5425 pulling a JD 1000 3 bottom 16" fully mounted.
Nice plow but the first plow (right) is not to the right far enough to turn over the soil. It leaves a wide strip maybe 8 inches unplowed. The plow manual says I need to adjust the right wheel of the tractor but I am not sure that is even possible or desirable. I like the wider stance and would loose that by bringing the wheel in closer to the frame. I guess the problem is that the older plow is really not compatable with the new tractor. Any hope in making this moldboard plow work correctly? Do we just need to switch to a chisel plow?
Thanks
nck

Not sure how your Deere is made but if you look at the picture of the Ferguson plow, notice that it is held to the cross beam with u-bolts so you can slide the plow a considerable distance to either side to compensate for tire spacing. Also I assume you have some adjustment in your lower links so you can offset it properly. Still 8 inches is a lot of distance to make up. Good luck.

Chilly807 · Jul 13, 2012

MHarryE said:
Not sure how your Deere is made but if you look at the picture of the Ferguson plow, notice that it is held to the cross beam with u-bolts so you can slide the plow a considerable distance to either side to compensate for tire spacing. Also I assume you have some adjustment in your lower links so you can offset it properly. Still 8 inches is a lot of distance to make up. Good luck.

^^^ What he said^^^ :thumbsup:

Sean