guess I need a plow, but which one?

[gotmyfarm!]

I have 40 acres with corn stubble and (most annoying) stubborn rye that some ape faced buffoon planted last year that I am turning into hay field, so I need a plow. I have a IH666 to work with, and clay soil with lots of rocks of all sizes. Mostly flat land, just a gradual rise here and a small hill there. So would a 4 bottom be best? I read that a trip plow would be annoying with rocky land. Semi mount best or not? Which ones really completely turn over the soil? I want that corn and rye upside down and buried, not sideways and half covered. I'm sure there are many more options to consider that I don't even know about yet. Some have more wheels and others are more a drag type, right? If that's true, when would you want one over the other? How in the world would I get the thing off a trailer once it gets home? Would a IH720 be a good choice? I didn't find one for sale, but read good things about them. I did find a IH540 for sale, but did read that corn gets hung up in that one because of not enough clearance on top, I believe?[/img]

 

[David G]

I would get someone that has a soil finisher and have them make the pass over it, will be much smoother and less work.

 

[David from Kansas]

Sounds like you need a high clearance plow with cover boards. The old cheap selling plows won't do too well with what you expect and the newer plows are pricey. With rocks would think you would want a plow with trip/reset bottoms. I plowed some wheat stubble that had a few taller weeds (up to 24") and it left a few uncovered and they continued on their journey toward prosperity until I worked the field with a field cultivator.

 

[Part Time Pete]

There's a White 508 three bottom semi-mount with spring reset in the photo adds for $1,000. Around here that's a good price for that plow.
Pete

 

[DeltaRed]

First off,you need a 3 bottom. 4 is too big for a 666.A 666 may 'pull' a 4 bottom,but it will pull the guts out of it. A spring reset is preferable in rocky soil.A semi mount,or pull behind would do you well.IMHO,an IH plow is the best plow out there.Guy I work for has an IH #710(?)(6x16) spring reset. It just folds up over rocks and resets as you go.No stopping to reset. Awsome!No plow will completely bury a lot of trash. It must be properly 'prepared'. Disked,shredded.....Need coulters and cover boards.Going super deep does not nessesarily mean better trash coverage.Bear in mind that when you disk or cultivate later,you will pull trash back up to the surface.You can always just pull it off your trailer if a loader is not available.

 

[M Nut]

I second the comment about the White 508 3 bottom spring reset. I have two of them, and they work great! They will be a good pull for your
666, but it should be just fine. (I had a 686 for several years........good tractors.)

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Yup, 3 bottoms maximum. You'll have a much better time plowing.

On relatively flat, a mounted plow is fine, and much easier to use than a semi-mounted. Mostly it will be what you can find within a reasonable driving distance.

 

[gotmyfarm!]

Three bottom it is then! So the WHite for sale is in NJ, and I haven't seen one around here while I was searching so far. BUT, how about this one? Is this the same idea of auto resetting, but just with a leaf type spring instead of a coil type? What about this one?!

 

[gotmyfarm!]

oh no, my picture didn't load. Well, it's a Kenverland 3 bottom with these big, flat looking, leaf spring-looking things over each plow board.

 

[gotmyfarm!]

try upload again...

 

[gotmyfarm!]

I should mention, I mowed the corn down very short, maybe 4" tall. Maybe the corn getting hung up in the plow wouldn't be an issue since it's so short? I don't know. There are still the root bases to contend with.

 

[gotmyfarm!]

I just found a White508 near me, but it's a 4bottom! It's only $800! Are we sure that's too big? Darn!

 

[paul]

A 70hp tractor might pull a 4 bottom, it might not.

A 70hp tractor will easily pull a 3 bottom plow, and pull it faster so the dirt turns over better, and you get done almost as fast with the field.

Clearly, I would always want the 3 bottom plow for your uses. Always. But that is your choice....

Some 4 bottom plows, semi mount, you can take the back bottom off, move the tail wheel up and bolt it in where the back bottom was. Making
a 3 bottom out of a 4 bottom plow. It does take some modification at least of the connecting rods that steer the rear wheel. I nor anyone can list
every plow this can work with, but it is an option if you ave some wrenching skills.

I say that, because everyone with a 50-70hp tractor wants a 3 bottom semi mount plow, and so thry are expensive, not so many were made.

It is what it is.

The newer Oliver plows (several other companies sold these plows under their,own name) are very good, as is the ihc 720 you mention.

The older plows you mention get the job done, but the bottoms are much closer together and the beam is lower and they plug much more in
havy trash like cornstalks. But, millions of acres were plowed with these plows, and farmers got by. You can make it work too on 40'acres.
Sometimes a lot of disking first breaks up the cornstalks so they pass through. Or chopping them, with a rotary mower.

Paul

 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

The white is a good plow. You can take that plow and cut it down into a three. You will need to move the back bottom and all the wheel assemble forward one bottom than the steering rods will need to be cut and rewelded. There have been lots of White,IH and Deere four bottom plows cut down into three bottoms. You might pull a four but you will enjoy using a three much more. Gathering from what I read you are on the east coast and that soil tills much easier than anything in the midwest. When we lived in MD we pulled 4 bottom plow with 16 inch bottoms with a 3020 Deere we little problem so you might try it with your 666 to see if it will work. Tom

 

[paul]

They have a good reputation, as you can see not a lot of clearance between or above. A more rare type of plow to find parts for, but a good
machine from what I hear.

Again, chopping up the cornstalks to less than 14 inches long with a disk or a rotary mower allows a lot easier plowing. You still need to watch
carefully for buildup by the coulters, but should work. Untouched corn stalks can be miserable to pass through any but the newest plows.

Paul

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Paul, good perspective. gm

 

[495man]

(quoted from post at 07:25:25 08/02/18)

try upload again...

Those are a nice plow. the newer ones have a square beam, and I understand wear parts are more expensive for the round beam ones.

 

[Roger Tomfohrde]

IH 710 4-16 behind a 686D for years .We did have a 720 which is better but that was 4-20, 100 Hp to pull,took a roll of barbed wire at a fence row to plug it. 3-18 would pull better and have less chance of plugging.

 

[Adirondack case guy]

A 508 White plow is a very good plow, and pulls easily compared to most others and rolls an excellent furrow. I would jump on that one if the "wear parts" are decent. Your tractor may struggle a bit in certain conditions (Dry-wet) but you should be able to do a good job of plowing. That plow was built to be a 4-6 bottom, but would take considerable fabrication work to cut it down to a 3 bottom, and may never pull straight without narrowing up your rear tire spacing considerably.
Loren

 

[gotmyfarm!]

Thank you, everyone, for steering me in the right direction. I sure am convinced now, that a 3 bottom White is what I want. I will look around some more, hoping to find one near me. If I can't find one, at least I now have a better idea of what I need and be able to pick the next best one for sale.

 

[hd6gtom]

I have a 720iHC plow. It is a 4x16, hardest pulling dang thing I ever owned. I would never recommend 1 to
anyone, go with a White if you can find 1.

 

[ss55]

If the corn stubble from 2017 crop year it should break up fairly easily. Is the rye still green or is the straw dry? If it's green you may want to kill it with a glyphosate herbicide. You could chop the dry residue or try disk it once or twice (perpendicular directions) to break it up before plowing. Plan your disk direction so you can plow in the same direction as the last pass with the disk.

Wider plow bottoms have more trash clearance. Cover boards help bury trash better, they also pull a little harder, but leave a cleaner field. You will probably cover the same number of acres per hour whether you pull a large plow slowly or a smaller plow a gear faster. 4 ft (3x16) X 5 MPH covers about 2 acres an hour. Three bottoms will pull with less tire slippage, so fuel economy will be better compared to lugging and spinning with an extra bottom, although 4x14 and 3x18 are both 4 1/2 feet wide. If you will be fall planting you could hook a section of spike tooth harrow behind the plow to smooth the plowed ground.

Look at the condition of the replaceable wear parts on the plow: lays, shins and rolling coulters. Replacing those could cost as much as buying the used plow.

 

[ss55]

Most semi-mounted plows can have one bottom removed. Check if it's possible to drop a bottom off the four bottom White 508 plow before ruling it out. Maybe ask on the Oliver forum on this site.

 

[gotmyfarm!]

ss55, great information about plows! Thanks!
The rye is green. Was planted last year right before we bought the property, and came back strong this year after I cut it and disced it many times last fall and this year spring. I'm trying a few different things as an experiment.
That 4 bottom White is still a consideration if I can't find a three.

 

[JD Seller]

Rye is a great forage plant. As your finding it vary hardy. Your wasting time and effort trying to kill it with just disking. Even with a good job plowing you still will have escapes.

The simple thing is to just spray it with Roundup/ Glyphosate. 2 pints per acre will kill rye dead. Cost of generic Glyphosate is under $15 a gallon.

We plant Rye. We cover the ground with manure and work it into the ground in the fall an then seed the Rye. The next spring when the Rye is at the right stage we cut it and chop it into silage. We then apply more manure and lime. In about 6-8 weeks we will get another crop of it. Then we let it grow again. It will usually get knee high by fall even after being chopped twice. We then kill it with Glyphosate the next spring and then plant that ground to corn. So you can tell it is a plant that will take a pounding and still thrive/grow. So killing it with just tillage is very hard to do.

As for plows. I will second or third stating that you just need 3x16 plows. Mounted or semi mounted. A set of four bottom plows will be more than your tractor can easily handle in ALL soil types. If your ground is really flat and loamy ground then you could pull four plows but do you really need to get done that fast??? As for models/brand of plows. White/Oliver will pull the easiest of any I have owned. The newer plows will handle trash better than older plows. You want a trip or auto reset plow since you have rocks. You do not want a shear bolt plow in any shape or form. Stay with common brands of plows the wear parts are cheaper and easier to find.

 

[gotmyfarm!]

JDSELLER, I'm assuming if you feed the rye to cattle you have annual and certified endophyte-free rye. Perennial rye, and on top of that this is the kind that HAS endophytes all over it... MOLD. Turns the rye a rusty orange color and is toxic and deadly to horses and even cows. I don't know that you and I are dealing with the same beast here. My horses almost dies last summer and got the staggers and laminitis and founder again this year. Rye has no place in a pasture.

 

[Farmallb]

Ive seen a 34 Case CC pull 3 14s with narrow wheels up and down steep Missouri River Foothills around St Joseph Mo, and it didn't have 1/2 70hp lol