My first day of plowing

[Birdbrain]

And now...the rest of the story (insert Paul Harvey impression)

So I found a pair of 2-14" Ford 101 plows for $375. I chose them over other similar used plows from information I read here (thanks FWJ). The points are worn down and one coulter is bent and worn, but I figured it was a good starting point.

We had some issues getting it mounted. First, the right coulter hit the lower arm. So we had to break it loose and turn it inward a half inch. That required WD40, borrowed socket set, and lots of grunting. Then the end of the frame rubbed against the vertical part of the arm (sorry, don't know the proper name...still learning). Adn trying to shorten the top arm so the plows were level made this worse. We thought this was going to be a show stopper and were considering getting out our ancient set of pull type plows. But after doing a couple other things, I came back and realized that I could tighten the turnbuckle on the left, pull the plows over so they would clear. This improved the situation, but it was still a very tight fit and the end of the frame would rub the knuckle that held the pins.

With this set up, I jumped into plowing. I had 2 fields to do:
1. an acre garden (plowed last year)
2. a 2 acre field destined to become food plots. It has been farmed up until '06 (mainly no till); fallow in '07, but disked in the fall; and probably has not been turned over in 10, maybe 15, years.

The garden went fairly well and I fiddled around with speed, throttle and depth to plow. I settled in around 2200 rpm in mid range. Around 3.5 or 4 on the position control got me a 6" furrow (I think, did not measure). I had some small issues with it digging in, but not too bad. I was able to play with the depth and keep it reasonably even.

The field was another story. The low end was hard as a rock and I could barely scratch 3". The other end had a couple inches extra fill spread over it from the recent pond construction. It dug in really bad. I wound up with lumps and bumps and hills and ruts. My solution was to straddle the furrow with all wheels on fairly even ground and it would level out. But a few more rounds and it was back to lumps and bumps. In the end, I think I can even it out with the disk.

So what did I learn:
1. Plowing is an art
2. I cannot plow a straight line. The field started as a bow and only got worse.
3. If I turn, the plow goes the opposite.
4. I need to read more about plowing, esp. how to control the depth.
5. I need to rehab the plow to see if that helps

Questions:
1. Should I plow at a different speed or in the low range? How does going faster or slower affect it?
2. There seems to be about 3" extra frame beyond the bolts holding the coulter. Can this be burned off to avoid the conflicts?

Other comments:
HST was absolutely the way to go. When I got in the corners of field or garden, it was so easy to manuever.

Somewhere on the steep part of the learning curve,
Glen

 

[sunspot]

3. If I turn, the plow goes the opposite.

Would a stabilizer bar help? I ask because I'll be trying my hand at plowing tomorrow. There is a first time for everthing.

 

[ChuckinNH]

When you start a furrow, pick something that is in the distance that is in line with where you want to go, and just focus on that when you are making that important first furrow. That will help keep you straight. Looking too close to the tractor will result in a crooked row every time.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Plowing IS an art. It's NOT brain surgery though. It can be mastered with practice. As mentioned, look for a "target" in the distance and head for that. DON'T keep your eyes on the plow (as hard as that may be).

NO to stabilizer bar(s) when plowing. The plow needs to be able to move. With a solid, "stabilized" plow, you won't be able to make even the slightest steering corrections. (Dog wagging the tail)

Worn plow shares will make a plow difficult to get to operating depth and difficult to KEEP at a constant depth.

If that "horn" where the lead coulter mounts is in the way, it won't hurt anything to trim some of it away.

The 101 is what would be considered a "high speed" plow. They work best at 4 to 5 mph. You can go a LITTLE slower, but much slower will usually result in the dirt not rolling completely over. That problem will be compounded as you get deeper. Up to a reasonable point, plowing faster will actually seem easier on the tractor. Momentum helps in tough spots.

Fight the urge to shorten the top link. Plows need to run level at operating depth. Even the SLIGHTEST hint of nose down attitude will make a plow tend to dive and/or pull like a boat anchor.

 

[Birdbrain]

When you start a furrow, pick something that is in the distance that is in line with where you want to go, and just focus on that when you are making that important first furrow. That will help keep you straight. Looking too close to the tractor will result in a crooked row every time.

I did try to do this. I think I looked back at the plow to see how deep it was cutting. The straight line was history.

 

[sunspot]

I did about a half acre yesterday before I got stuck. I feel my rows were fairly straight for a new guy. I did sight on a land mark on the first row. After that, I kept the tire in the furrow from the row before and the tractor went nice and straight.
I hit quite a bit of roots of various sizes and a big old piece of buried pine heartwood. It was 6" X 6' and must have weighed 100 lbs or maybe I was tired.

All in all, it was a good day. I got a workout and slight sunburn and I'll get more exercise digging out the tractor.

FWJ, thank you for all the advice. It really came in handy.

 

[N80]

I plowed again yesterday too. Just making a very small area to try my hand at some sweetcorn. Took me a good 3-4 tries before I got it set up right, a little frustrating, but as little as I do it looks like trial and error is going to be how I have to do it. Once it was right, it worked great.

I can't plow straight because I can't get my eyes off the plow. But for now, at least, thats a necessity because I'm mostly plowing new ground. Have to watch for stumps, big rocks etc. Plus, straight isn't an issue for my little plots. Just as long as I cover all the ground, it gets disked up anyway.

However, a local fella has gotten permission to make some fairly large dove fields on my B-I-L's farm (next door to me). He's a new tractor owner. Got a used, Korean JD 5400. Got a big heavy disk. An old, heavy duty looking chisel plow. Has a serious looking disk plow as well. He's in love with this old chisel plow and he gave it a try last week. Well, either he doesn't know how to us it or it isn't enough plow. All he did was scrape the fescue off the top of the soil. No penetration and its been fairly wet here. So, we've recommended he try the disk plow, but it probably isn't going to do the trick either......but it might.

In any case, I'm going to offer to plow it up with the 2 bottom plow. The plow is 'community property' but it is old and that 5400 is 65 hp and he's a little reckless. I'm afraid he'll destroy the plow. So hopefully he'll let me do it, which I want to cause 1) its fun 2) I want to dove hunt and 3) I don't want hin to wreck the plow. Its probably a good 4-5 acres of grazing pasture. Pretty compacted and there shouldn't be any stumps, rocks, etc. So maybe I'll be able to try my hand at straight rows. We'll see.

My B-I-L, who owns the land (and wants to dove hunt too) is just watching the whole process with amusement. He can't fathom why I want to plow it since he's already said I can hunt there. I think for him the less time one can spend on a tractor the better........which is why I like doing this as a hobby and not a job!

 

[Doc_Bob]

3. If I turn, the plow goes the opposite.
Glen

I assume you lift the plow when you turn?
Bob

 

[Texashayman]

I assume you lift the plow when you turn?
Bob

It might look like a yard sale if he didnt!

 

[Texashayman]

Reminds me of a story, a guy down the road about ten months ago bought a couple hundred acres next to mine,he came driving up in a new chevy truck complete with full leather and sunroof..introduced himself and asked if i new anything about plowing..i responded.."a little bit." anyhow we travel down to his place and sitting behind a new 5425 deere is a 10-12 foot "disc" new paint but the bearings are all out of it..i asking what happend,he said they sold him a bad plow..which i corrected him and said disc..in which he replied "whatever" turns out when he got to the end of the field instead of picking the disc up we would try and make a turn (actually was making the turns)with the disc still in the soil...true story folks..