Year 2, more plow setup issues

[hawkeye08]

Lots of good advice, let me add what Pa told me when I did some plowing as a teenager with a 2 bottom. Doesn't matter what it looks like when lifted up, only matters how it sits when plowing. The first round is tough because the tractor wheels don't have a furrow to follow in, but once you get past that, life gets good if things are setup.

I plowed wrong once and had what you have in your pictures. Turns out 10 yr old younger brother had "played" with plow, turning all the adjustments. It took Pa an hour or so to dial it back in and then plowed awesome. The smell of fresh plowed sandy loam (premium farm land on the farm I grew up on) was almost enough to make me a farmer for life... I still enjoy the smell of fresh plowed dirt when I can.

 

[sweettractors]

I wish I could get 2 furrows, so not gonna get it to the third one for a picture. I can occasionally get one furrow with a real uneven bottom, then I go back around and drop the wheels in there, and then absolutely nothing more times than not. Occasionally I can get it to go down some and then it either stays around 2 inches deep or it will dive to around 7 and pop both back out the ground. (This is without making any adjustments between the 2 extremes)

The plow seems to be in excellent condition, it was practically brand new when I got it. I do hear a pop sometimes coming from somewhere on the plow when I stop and pull it out the ground but can't trace it to where it comes from.

When I had the tractor on blocks, I had the plow completely unattached on the ground, and then adjusted the lift arms and top link to it to attach it. Is doing that going to make my measurements be that far off to work at all?

Here are some pictures. First one is with the plow in the air, second on the ground. Of the 2 pictures showing the quality of the cut, the one with me off the tractor makes the ground look alot better than it really is. The one taken from the tractor does it justice to show how horrible it really is. I'll add too that it still is pulling to left all the way, but my chains stopping it from going further, but the front plow is staying in correct position with where the furrow wall should be.

View attachment 501464

View attachment 501465

View attachment 501466

View attachment 501467

While your right wheel is in the furrow, Lower your right tractor leveling crank until the plow drawbar is parallel with the ground. Then post a picture from the side view. Ken Sweet

 

[hawkeye08]

While your right wheel is in the furrow, Lower your right tractor leveling crank until the plow drawbar is parallel with the ground. Then post a picture from the side view. Ken Sweet

Now we're cooking on gas...

 

[Ivan49]

How old is that plow and what make is it. The first thing I noticed in your picture is your point look like they are wore very heavy. I have a Ford 16 inch and my points are much longer in front of the mold board. To me it looks like you need to adjust the top link and the right side looks like it is trying to cut to shallow

 

[kevin37b]

What have you got for draft control ? Something is not letting that plow get a bite .

 

[Mearntain]

Draft control is "fully off", but I've had my suspicions that something is wrong with that causing it to lift some.

I'm about to be getting back out there now and see what I can do. I'll post back with results. Thanks for all the advice so far

 

[AGRIMAN]

Unless I missed it what are you trying to turn?? and how has that been prepared for plowing. heavy sod will need to be disked in order to get it turned proper.

Agreed. Good advice.

 

[AGRIMAN]

Agreed.

Disc'd or freshly tilled ground dont turn as well. The soil has to hold together.

The plow will turn softer ground much easier. It also makes it much easier to get a flat and level finish. If the ground has been recently worked, you can get by without any prep.

In cases where the ground has not been touched in years or you are trying to turn grass, a good harrowing will help a lot.

 

[LD1]

The pictures I posted in post 6 is of virgin ground that a year prior was untouched for 8 years. Only 3 bushhoggings over the course of a year.

I ran about 400' of tile in that acre and a half. There my trenches were, was bladed, and disc'd to smooth before plowing. Everywhere there was a trench, the plow only cut 3-4" depth. Not the 7-8" that I was getting elsewhere.

So had I done the whole area, I'd expect a plowing depth of 4" rather than the 7" I got. So I am glad you weren't around to advise I do that.

And yes, discing will make the plow "pull" easier, because it's gonna struggle to maintain depth.

 

[AGRIMAN]

The pictures I posted in post 6 is of virgin ground that a year prior was untouched for 8 years. Only 3 bushhoggings over the course of a year.

I ran about 400' of tile in that acre and a half. There my trenches were, was bladed, and disc'd to smooth before plowing. Everywhere there was a trench, the plow only cut 3-4" depth. Not the 7-8" that I was getting elsewhere.

So had I done the whole area, I'd expect a plowing depth of 4" rather than the 7" I got. So I am glad you weren't around to advise I do that.

And yes, discing will make the plow "pull" easier, because it's gonna struggle to maintain depth.

That's an interesting prospective for sure. Around here we are more in line with breaking (plowing) 100's of acres a year with the majority of it flowing a harrow. We don't have issues with plows struggling to maintain depth in harrowed land. To be honest, the only thing I'm struggling with is just how soft ground will make a plow ride up, but maybe your dirt is different.

I did look at the pictures you posted. Obviously, there's a big difference in opinion on what the final outcome of the process should be.

 

[Ivan49]

I wish I could get 2 furrows, so not gonna get it to the third one for a picture. I can occasionally get one furrow with a real uneven bottom, then I go back around and drop the wheels in there, and then absolutely nothing more times than not. Occasionally I can get it to go down some and then it either stays around 2 inches deep or it will dive to around 7 and pop both back out the ground. (This is without making any adjustments between the 2 extremes)

The plow seems to be in excellent condition, it was practically brand new when I got it. I do hear a pop sometimes coming from somewhere on the plow when I stop and pull it out the ground but can't trace it to where it comes from.

When I had the tractor on blocks, I had the plow completely unattached on the ground, and then adjusted the lift arms and top link to it to attach it. Is doing that going to make my measurements be that far off to work at all?

Here are some pictures. First one is with the plow in the air, second on the ground. Of the 2 pictures showing the quality of the cut, the one with me off the tractor makes the ground look alot better than it really is. The one taken from the tractor does it justice to show how horrible it really is. I'll add too that it still is pulling to left all the way, but my chains stopping it from going further, but the front plow is staying in correct position with where the furrow wall should be.

View attachment 501464

View attachment 501465

View attachment 501466

View attachment 501467

If you look at the one picture of the plow while facing the rear of the trac the right hand side looks to be to high and it looks like your plow is swing to the right. Try turning the furrow side adjustor deeper so the plow levels out. The sod in our picture should plow under nicely. The only time I would run a disk over any ground to be plowed is when it had tall grass. I plow some 2 years ago that was a cow pasture and had not been plowed in who know how long. Move your draft control lever up and see if the plow moves up. With the draft control of the plow should dig to China

 

[Catoosa]

I didn't read the whole thread but went through this a couple months ago with a 3-14 on a Ford 3000. My first attempts looked allot like yours mainly because I really didn't understand how my Ford lift worked. I had it in draft control but didn't have the lift lever set low enough. In draft the lift lever sets the depth the plow will go and needs to be almost all the way to the down position. Once I had the lift lever set to the low side the plow dug in and did exactly what it was designed to do. I have hydraulic top and tilt on my 3000 which made making the transition from the first row to the second a non issue.

After I finished, raised the plow then parked it on level ground. I was surprised that the plow was close to being level. Allot more so than the tilt I hear about using a block. All I know is all 3 mold boards were working at about the same depth as adjusted on the fly with the tilt.

All I have to deal with now is the grass that didn't get buried before I figured out how to make it work.

 

[Ford850]

Do you have your position control lowered all the way? Is there a stop on your position control slide that might be stopping the lever from going all the way to the lowest setting?

 

[kevin37b]

From the pics the poor old feller aint gots no furrow to get in ! YOU NEED that dc full down if it works ? You cannot have the draft control fighting the plow . I think I mentioned that earlier ? That system was designed so those little tractors could pull a plow . If it got tough it raised the plow , huge marketing strategy but not what is needed .

 

[countrybumpkin]

Well any updates today? Hope you were able to figure something out.

 

[Mearntain]

Sorry to take so long to get back here. Had one thing after another come up around the house and forgot about getting back here.

I never got things running at 100%, but got it moving in the right direction. I feel like I understand the concept better than I did so hopefully that'll help me understand the adjustments I'm making better. I finished this spot that I was turning now, but do have another 2 acres or so to do in a week or 2 and hopefully will be able to get it fully dialed in then. I'll post back here with results on the next pass, and hoping it'll be much better results

I haven't been using draft control, only position control. I tried using draft control last year but couldn't get it to work. If I try to push down on the lever, it doesn't move, atleast not with how hard I felt comfortable pushing on it and didn't want to force anything and cause other issues.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Glad you have it going in the correct direction. If your draft control isn't working properly than that could be a big part of your problem with the plow not wanting to go into the ground.

 

[sweettractors]

Sorry to take so long to get back here. Had one thing after another come up around the house and forgot about getting back here.

I never got things running at 100%, but got it moving in the right direction. I feel like I understand the concept better than I did so hopefully that'll help me understand the adjustments I'm making better. I finished this spot that I was turning now, but do have another 2 acres or so to do in a week or 2 and hopefully will be able to get it fully dialed in then. I'll post back here with results on the next pass, and hoping it'll be much better results

I haven't been using draft control, only position control. I tried using draft control last year but couldn't get it to work. If I try to push down on the lever, it doesn't move, atleast not with how hard I felt comfortable pushing on it and didn't want to force anything and cause other issues.

Draft control will not work until the plow is doing substantial and sustained plowing. Ken Sweet

 

[olPete]

It looks to me that it's mainly a depth issue. 14 inches? If so I'd be going 6 to 6.5 inches deep, then adjusting the plough to be level when it was in to depth with a bubble level.
The sideways adjustment will be mainly (but not all) to do with setting the front furrow width when properly set up, so with a little bit of LH steering.. it will be same width as the other when you're in the furrow. I think it's about 3 inches deep from your pictures.. you really shouldn't be able to see any much of the boards.

 

[Catoosa]

If it wasn't for my draft control working I would have never been able to get through the acre I did with a Ford 3000 pulling a 3 bottom plow. I do not have loaded tires or wheel weights. Had to catch it just right after a rain when this Oklahoma clay was dry enough to work but still wet enough to turn. I really should have pulled one bottom off the plow or loaded the tires, had the power but not the traction.

What saved me was I had just completely rebuilt my lift and it was working just like it was designed to. I would run into an area that was like gumbo and the lift would automatically raise the plow an inch or two and the tractor just keep on going right through it. When we got into softer ground it would drop it back down. I was pretty amazed at how well it actually worked.

I think the big problem with these old tractors and draft control is the state of the lift. Most haven't been touched in 40 years, linkage adjustments, cam pin worn half way through and sticky valves are pretty common with these old Fords. Get your lift working properly and plowing will be fun rather than a nightmare.