Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts

/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #41  
Carriage bolts are a poor substitute for plow bolts. The underside of the head is flat rather than tapered.
So when, as you say, the dome head wears off there's little or nothing holding the bolt tight. ,,,,,,,,,,

Well back in 1980, the last time things got tough, we had to substitute baling wire for plow bolts,,
the baling wire would last about 50 acres, then we had to replace it before we lost the shares,, :eek:

We would have loved to have had some Grade 2 carriage bolts,, (y) which would have lasted longer than the baling wire,,


:ROFLMAO:
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #42  
Well back in 1980, the last time things got tough, we had to substitute baling wire for plow bolts,,
the baling wire would last about 50 acres, then we had to replace it before we lost the shares,, :eek:

We would have loved to have had some Grade 2 carriage bolts,, (y) which would have lasted longer than the baling wire,,


:ROFLMAO:
At least you had wire. Twine didn’t last long at all!
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #44  
Our TSC has gone down some as well. But they are faced with the same issues as other business. Good help is hard to find. Ever increasing expenses and lack of revenue drives them to look for a bigger market. So they do lawn and garden stuff which works as my wife loves to go there get some of that crap all the time.

She used to pick on me about going to TSC all the time and called it my favorite store. Now she is the one that goes all the time and I hardly ever go. Lol
Good help is always hard to find when you wage scale sucks.
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #45  
I have to add that Shoup is, by far, the least expensive on sheet plastic for lining skid shoes as well. Have a roll in the shop. About 1/5th the cost of the 'yellow' liners that JD sells.
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #46  
Good help is always hard to find when you wage scale sucks.
I have found it does not matter what I pay anymore. I had one interview just last week wanted $40 an hour as a technician and did not have a drivers license because of a DUI. The pool of quality people is getting smaller every year. I don’t mind paying $40 an hour but the average rate is about half that for my industry. Then there is the I am not doing that mentality that drives me crazy. If I can and will do it why not them?

I have 98 employees and trust me it is a daily challenge.
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #48  
Our local store does handle them, but doing a search of their site, you'll not find them under plow bolts, when typing in the description. They're just listed under "bolt". https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/bolt-7-16-in-x-1-1-2-in-2-lb?cm_vc=-10005 I reckon you'd have to blame that on whoever enters the data on their site. I'd have to guess they've never heard of a plow bolt, or have the slightest clue what they are used for.

I know several years back at our local store, they had them marked down for clearance. The manager happened to be close, and I questioned him on them. He said they were going to discontinue them, so if I wanted to stock up, now is the time. Within a year, they were back on the shelf, at a lot higher price than I got them at the clearance price. Apparently enough people raised a ruckus, they got them back in stock.

I doubt many of you remember the TSC stores from the 60's. The closest one we had then was 25 miles away, but they had everything imaginable on shelves. Piston/sleeve sets of the more popular brands, bearing sets, water pumps, generators, and other consumables for rebuilding tractor engines. My Uncle would buy tractors at a monthly farm equipment auction in London, OH. Take them home, tear them down, to see what was needed. Call that store to see if they had the piston/sleeve kits in stock. If not, they'd order it, and either ship, or have it waiting for him on the next trip. Some he would use on the dairy farm, others he'd flip for extra money. 5 lb. boxes of cotter pins of different sizes, and other items like that on shelf you used around the farm. Not blister packs of 2-3.

I'd have to guess they've evolved into the store they are today, because of the small family farms of that era disappearing, and now serving the small 5 acre suburban properties. It didn't help in our particular state, that the gub'ment invoked a inventory tax. So anything left on shelves after the new business fiscal year, is subject to a tax. More than likely why you see year end clearance sales on many items.

I don't know if they still have them, but several years back, they had hard copy master catalogs, that still listed items such as engine kits for tractors, but had to be ordered out of a central warehouse somewhere. 2 years ago, I ordered a 50# bag of sulfur to spread on the potato patch, for $20, the least expensive place I could find around here. Had to order it, but was here in 3 days. I was supposed to pick it up at the local store, but to my surprise Fed Ex delivered it to my door, for that price. Went to order another bag last Spring, only to find they don't carry it anymore. Quite a disappointment, but thank goodness for a small local feed mill/fertilizer dealer handles it. I buy my bulk fertilizer there for the hay field and pasture, and Barry is kind enough to let me get 5 gal. buckets of Sulfur, N, and K for the garden, at bulk price, when they aren't loading out of the bins. Not many places around like that anymore...
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #50  
Always keep in mind where a high stress fastener like Dome Head Plow Bolts and nuts are made at, always.
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #51  
Carriage bolts are a poor substitute for plow bolts. The underside of the head is flat rather than tapered. So when, as you say, the dome head wears off there's little or nothing holding the bolt tight. The remnants of the head will recede into the tapered counterbore and whatever you are trying to hold tight against a support or frame will be loose.
Plow bolts are either grade 5 or 8. Carriage bolts are usually grade 2, if you are lucky they can be found in grade 5.
I agree.

I looked for a pic but don't have a good one. The Grader I run uses "plow bolts" to hold the cutting edges on. Flat head, tapered back side. Additionally the holes in the cutting edges are shaped so the head of the bolt never gets any of the shear wear. I use them for years without replacement.
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #52  
I think with the modern so-called farm store chains, they've all gone Hollywood. That is, they're run as a maximum efficiency business the way you would expect those lessons to be taught at a high-end MBA business college. That means pay as little as you can, efficiency everything possible from inventory turnover to reducing every cost as much as possible. No wasted anything. The goal of some seems to be to keep 100% of every dollar you spend as gross profit.

Executive management is paid and bonused, as well they should, on what they bring to the bottom line and how well the stock does. The whole company works for, and answers to, the shareholders. That's life. If a 5/32" cotter pin can't pull it's weight, it's not there. The efficiencies of modern management is what we don't like.


In contrast, the mom and pop shop we all find so welcoming is filled with operational inefficiency. They carry those 5/32" cotter pins because someone might need one and what the heck is $2 for a bag full and some shelf space? The clerk might be older and shuffle around but we like him. Hardly a go-getter at the cash register.

Our problem with the chain stores is that we--us--are all smarter than anyone in those modern stores because we have the skin in the game of our own equipment and vocation or avocation is at risk. That's partly why internet shopping has taken off is that we are smarter than the people that try to sell things to us and we don't have the hassle of driving 40 miles to have our intelligence insulted with a tool made in Sri Lanka or an wiseacre 17 year-old.

I shop at the mom and pop places, mail order from them find niche businesses that sell what I want or need. My own life gets run that way to in that I operate with inefficiencies and might do something for an older or broke person to help out. I might not charge or just for free help a widow woman because she needs help. That kind of thing. I stay out of the places I don't like because it only encourages them and my behavior of going in there says is all OK. It's not with me.
 
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/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #53  
Was just there for bird seed and guess what... No Rotella T6. In fact, all there was was the cheapo Traveller brand of mouth wash.
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #54  
I agree.

I looked for a pic but don't have a good one. The Grader I run uses "plow bolts" to hold the cutting edges on. Flat head, tapered back side. Additionally the holes in the cutting edges are shaped so the head of the bolt never gets any of the shear wear. I use them for years without replacement.
Actually, Dome head plow bolts are neither Grade 8 or Grade 5. They are if correctly made, ASTM Grade A325.
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #55  
Actually, Dome head plow bolts are neither Grade 8 or Grade 5. They are if correctly made, ASTM Grade A325.
Not all plow bolts are dome head. It would not be a stretch to say most are flat headed.
Edit: Apparently not all dome head plow bolts are A325. The ones I used to source from Trinity and Imperial were Grade 8 as are these.
 

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/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #56  
My TSC is almost worthless. Mainly dog and cat food store. yep, a handful of propane hoses, (I was needing to connect tank to new house. Just wanted a 6 foot hose with a damn fitting to connect to half or 3/4 pipe. Not a thing in stock. No pipe fittings except for some scrap. The one closest to me is actually the closest store that might stock more than food. But I usually don't walk out with what I need. Maybe 10% of the time. Nuts bolts, yeah, some, pipe or fittings? of any sort, just not worth looking. You couldn't put together a spray rig. Dog food and even chicken feed, sure
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #57  
plow head bolts are all of the above grades (Grade 5, grade 8, grade A325 and more), a Mechanical Engineer specifies what grade to use for what application.
I have a 6' Landpride back blade with grade 5 plow head bolts. To add a rubber horse stall mat to plow snow in the winter I had to get longer plow head bolts to make up for the 3/4" rubber mat. Fastenal had the longer length in stock but were grade 8. They work and were available, your mileage may very.
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #58  
If you can't find those bolts use grade 8 they will hold up I had to use them in a pinch 👍
 
/ Tractor Supply doesn't have plow bolts #59  
As the inventory of the local TSC has changed over the years have got good bargains of the old stock on the clearance shelves. Old stock suits me just fine.
 

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