Furrow bending top link please help

[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