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!