Furrow bending top link please help

[tractorwookie]

My 3 blade furrow plow is bending my top-link during use. I am unsure if I have it set up correctly, because from what I have read before some people say to have the sway bars loose so if you hit any large rocks the blades can glance, and others have said to keep your sway bars tight to keep it rigid so it doesn't wander. any help and experience would be greatly appreciated

 

[Leejohn]

Picture sure would help. How do you keep your rows stright if the sway bars are loose?

 

[jeff9366]

If you posted your Branson model number in your profile we would have some idea if tractor and three bottom moldboard plow are reasonably matched.

It would be helpful if you specified your tractor's horsepower and weight and whether you have 2-WD or 4-WD.

It would be helpful if you posted your plow size, 12", 14", 16" or whatever.

If you posted your location in your profile we would have some idea of your soil type.

Stabilizer bars should be slightly loose. It is improbable adjustment of stabilizer bars is causing Top Link to bend. Most likely you have Top Link grossly maladjusted or do not have right tractor tires running in a furrow. It is also possible tractor wear parts are not sharp or moldboards are rusted, increasing draft force friction.

Is the Top Link running straight back from the center of the tractor, so the plow is centered behind the tractor?

Rock collisions should be ameliorated by plow trip mechanism (or plow shear bolt protection) and/or tractor 3-Pt. Draft Control, not stabilizer adjustments.

 

[tractorwookie]

The tractor is a 6530c branson, 65hp, 5800 lbs and 4-wd. As for the plow its 12". I'm here in southern ontario.
my stabilizer bars have a channel and pin that allows for some play but not much. the plow was set up centered behind the tractor. The moldboards are in good shape just a few specks of rust nothing major, also would coulters

 

[jeff9366]

Tractordata.com says your Branson 6530 has a Category II, Three Point Hitch. I have never heard of a Category II, compatible 12" plow, although you may have one. How have you adapted the (presumed) Category I plow to the Category II Three Point Hitch on your Branson? Bushngs?
Your Branson Category II Top Link is significantly longer than a Category I Top Link.

((It is possible your large rear tires will not fit deeply enough in the furrow left by a 12" plow for the plow to be properly adjusted. Tractordata.com specs Branson 6530 rear Ag tires @ 14.9-30. Industrial tires are wider than Ag tires. Are your tires flat in the bottom of the furrow, or wedged in above the bottom? In a perfect world your right side tires would be 6" below grade level.))

You have a powerful tractor, relative to a three bottom, 12" Moldboard Plow. Assuming you have the OEM Top Link, my first guess would be that you have Top Link too short, so the plow wants to "suck" deep but your tractor is so powerful that instead of the tractor being stalled by the plow, it continues to brute force the plow through the soil, bending the Top Link.

Moldboard plows are inflexible as to plowing depth. A 12" Moldboard Plow will turn soil properly only when adjusted to run 5" to 7" deep.

When you have the front and rear tires of your tractor IN A FURROW (tractor canted to the right), the plow must be adjusted level both right to left and front to back. USE A BUBBLE LEVEL TO ADJUST. ((Pull, stop, adjust; Pull, stop, adjust.) You really cannot adjust by eye without a lot of experience. The left to right adjustment is made with your Right Lifting Rod on the Three Point Hitch. The front to pack adjustment is made with the Top Link on your Three Point Hitch. The first furrow is known as the "Dead Furrow". You produce the Dead Furrow just to get your front and rear right side wheels down into the soil 5" - 7" so plow level adjustments can be made.

Once the plow is properly level it only requires SMALL adjustments of the Top Link to change depth plow will run.


Have you read about Three Point Hitch Hydrualic Draft Control in your Branson Operator's Manual? How do you have your Draft Control adjusted? Properly adjusted Draft Control will raise your plow automatically when plow encounters too much resistance.

Do you have an Operator's Manual for your plow? What brand of plow is it?


PLOW ADJUSTMENT LINK: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...oard-plow-wisdom-farmwithjunk.html?highlight=


Why not enter your complete tractor data and location in your TBN profile?

 

[jeff9366]

1) The plow was set up centered behind the tractor.

2) My stabilizer bars have a channel and pin that allows for some play but not much.

1) When the plow is being pulled, does the Top Link point STRAIGHT behind the tractor, neither to the left nor to the right?

2) If the plow is centered when it is being pulled, "some play" is enough.

If the plow is dynamically centered and correctly adjusted level, it will not wander even if the stabilizers are completely slack. It will deflect, however, if consistency of soil changes within the field.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Keep in mind too that once something has been bent and straightened it will bend again easier the second time as the metal weakens and to get the top link perfectly straight is a real challenge. I'm assuming that this is what you did.

If you go and buy a replacement try to purchase a sturdier top link. It could also be that use on a previous implement bent the top link the first time.


Just a few thoughts

 

[jeff9366]

It could be that use on a previous implement bent the top link the first time.

GOOD POINT!

 

[Coyote machine]

Wow! You guys really know plows.
Here's my observation: If the OP could provide pics of his tractor/plow/ top link and ground being worked, possibly with the tractor and plow 'in action', it might give some real clues beyond what is able to be surmised currently.

 

[jeff9366]

Nah. Where would the challenge be?

Did Shakespeare have pics?

Someday I want to advise non-English speaking people on plow adjustment from space, where gravity will not interfere. Wearing mittens. One eye, patched. Ear plugs. 1/2 oxygen. One leg in a cast. Unshaven. Hallucinogenic. Challenged.

I asked the OP to tune up his TBN profile. Don't want to put OP out further.




5,787 posts? Wow!

 

[Coyote machine]

Don't remind me- the posts #; my wife and kids keep telling me I don't have a life. I let them know, oh yes I do have a life, and part of it is learning from and trying to contribute back to those who've helped me immensely, here on TBN. Hear me roar! The King is alive, and he's NOT in Vegas!:dance1:

 

[jeff9366]

I am with you. I learned to plow from reading FARMWITHJUNK's threads, for which I had to search individually. Searching and practicing "the plow" was a slow process.

 

[MHarryE]

My 3 blade furrow plow is bending my top-link during use. I am unsure if I have it set up correctly, because from what I have read before some people say to have the sway bars loose so if you hit any large rocks the blades can glance, and others have said to keep your sway bars tight to keep it rigid so it doesn't wander. any help and experience would be greatly appreciated

I assume you have a standard top link with spherical bushings at each end. Engineering wise, that means they can only be loaded in pure tension or pure compression unless the bushings reach their limit or the bushings are frozen. That being the case, your link is bending due to exceeding its compressive load limit. Therefore I assume your plow is similar to the 2 old Ferguson plows I have sitting around - no bottom trip mechanism. If you hit a rock dead on something has got to give. That's why mine are now lawn ornaments. I used them for plowing some small fields where it was too difficult to maneuver our larger equipment. I damaged a top link - failed a swivel bushing - along with breaking a share when I hit a rock. At that point I decided I may as well find a plow with trip bottoms even though we don't have a lot of rocks. Slop in the stabilizers will allow it to slip around some but a good solid square on hit and something's got to give.

 

[jeff9366]

If you hit a rock dead on something has got to give. I damaged a top link - failed a swivel bushing - along with breaking a share when I hit a rock. At that point I decided I may as well find a plow with trip bottoms even though we don't have a lot of rocks. Slop in the stabilizers will allow it to slip around some but a good solid square on hit and something's got to give.

Harry Ferguson patented hydraulic Draft Control as part of his tractor Three Point Hitch in the 1930's. Draft Control is engineered specifically to automatically raise the plow if it encounters too much resistance, such as a boulder or a rock ledge. Sensitivity is set by 1) Draft Control lever position and 2) pin-set inboard position of the Top Link. Usually there are 3-4 pairs of holes, one pair above/below the next, for Top Link inboard pin.

Draft Control does not always prevent plow damage, but more importantly it prevents the tractor from going VERTICAL in 1/2 second. I personally got a John Deere 750, without Draft Control, VERTCAL, and it was just too, too, exciting to do more than once. Had I not had the seat belt tight, I might be dead.

After that experience I pull a Ford Series 101 Trip Plow in addition to having the ($250 optional) Draft Control on my Kubota 'Grand L' properly adjusted.

And, YES, that big Branson can get vertical too. Bent Branson Top Link was a warning from God to use Draft Control with the plow.

Periodically you must clean and lubricate any Trip Plow mechanism.

 

[tractorwookie]

So I did some reading in my tractor manuals and both my tractors are equipped with draft control. Yes the 6530c is a cat II and the plow does appears to be cat I, does the difference mean that the spare play between pin and link will cause to much movement, and result in a sloppy plow or damaged link?
I never re-used the bent link because I didn't want to bend it back and have the paperclip effect on it. I have a short cat II top link its just about equal to my cat I

My plow is an international,no manual for it. You mentioned adjusting the left to right adjustment by using the lifting rod on the three point hitch, my furrow has the crank on the horizontal offset pin shaft, what about that is it better to get that set in and just always use the lifting rod on the three point hitch?

I read an article on the web awhile ago that stated you want 18 hp per furrow blade, and you work them 1/3 of your moldboard size in depth, after reading that I thought i shouldn't use my 4220 because it was under the required horsepower and then I defaulted to my larger tractor, Is the 18 hp per blade true or should I be using my smaller tractor?

 

[jeff9366]

Yes the 6530c is a cat II and the plow does appears to be cat I, does the difference mean that the spare play between pin and link will cause too much movement, and result in a sloppy plow or damaged link?

YES

Plows have to be adjusted precisely. Unless the pins are bushed, to take up all the slack, you cannot adjust precisely and therefore you cannot plow.

The bigger issue is the 14.9" width of your Branson 6530 rear tires, relative to the furrow width of a 12" plow. I do not know any way to compensate for this.

It is possible your large rear tires will not fit deeply enough in the furrow left by a 12" plow for the plow to be properly adjusted. Tractordata.com specs Branson 6530 rear Ag tires @ 14.9-30. Industrial tires are wider than Ag tires. Are your tires flat in the bottom of the furrow, or wedged in above the bottom? In a perfect world your right side tires would be 6" below grade level.


My plow is an international, no manual for it.

If you start a thread in ATTACHMENTS seeking a manual for your International Plow, someone will likely respond with a web site where correct International Plow Manual is available gratis. Be careful to precisely identify your plow.


You mentioned adjusting the left to right adjustment by using the lifting rod on the three point hitch, my furrow has the crank on the horizontal offset pin shaft, what about that is it better to get that set in and just always use the lifting rod on the three point hitch?

The object is to have the plow level, when the tractor right wheels are 6" deep in a furrow. I have no experience with an adjusting crank on a moldboard plow but so long as the plow is level left-to-right after making the adjustment my guess is you will be fine adjusting either method.


I read an article on the web awhile ago that stated you want 18 hp per furrow blade, and you work them 1/3 of your moldboard size in depth, after reading that I thought i shouldn't use my 4220 because it was under the required horsepower and then I defaulted to my larger tractor, Is the 18 hp per blade true or should I be using my smaller tractor?

Branson 4220 has a Category I, Three Point Hitch and 12.4" rear tires so it is compatible with your Category I plow, which your Branson 6530 is not.

Tractor to plow considerations: horsepower, tractor weight, tire type, tire width, 2-WD Vs 4-WD, soil type, plow condition, plow size.

Branson has 42-hp and weighs (tractor only) 3,795 pounds. I trust you have 4-WD on the Branson 4220. You can pull a three bottom, 12" moldboard plow "no sweat" even through clay. For plowing, tractor weight and 4-WD are more important than tractor horsepower.

The parameters in which a 12" moldboard plow will properly turn soil: 5" to 7".

A 12" plow will move soil, but not flip it, pulled at other depths. Moldboard plows are not very flexible.

If you work a 12" plow just 4" in depth the furrow will be too narrow for your 12.4" right tires to roll 6" below grade level.

 

[tractorwookie]

Thank you so much Jeff for clearing all that up for me! I'm going to start using my 4220 to do my plowing, I will also work on getting that manual for my plow.

 

[jeff9366]

Thanks for filling in your profile. Now you can see how practical profile information is resolving problems.

If you cannot find a model number on your plow, post 3-4 pictures and someone here will almost certainly identify the model number for you.

jeff9366