Learned a few more things about plowing ...

[Randy-IA]

Hi All , I got a job plowing the neighbors 44 acres of green manure under last weekend . It took me longer than expected - about 23 hrs total . I was able to plow the first third of the field at roughly 6mph due to it being mostly sandy soil on a hillside near the river . But as I got closer to the bottom land it started to get more silt and clay . The speed on the second day slowed to about 5mph . Then I started to have the plow ride out of the ground in certain small areas which I thought was due to it being so compacted since this ground has been in no-till for thirty or more years according to the owner . I fought that on the third day too ( third and fourth days were after work in the evenings ) So I did some more reading and then went out and bought four new shares and installed them on the fourth day . WOW !! It wasn't the ground that was causing the problems ! It didn't look like the old shares were that far gone even in comparison with the new ones ( about 1/2" wear ) but they made all the difference in the world . My speed didn't increase any due to the silty nature of the soil but the tractor wasn't into the governor all the time and was just sipping fuel after that . I did about 9 acres on the fourth day in 3-1/2hrs and hardly came off the full mark on the gauge . The field was very irregular with angles and drainages that I had to go around with a couple of muddy areas . The moral of the story that all the owners manuals point out is KEEP THE SHARES SHARP ! Makes plowing a breeze . An elderly gent stopped by when I was being paid and asked what I had used . I told him I had a Oliver tractor and a Oliver 4-16" . He asked if I was using a 1850 or bigger . Nope , I said , a 1775D with loaded tires . He asked if I was sure it was four bottoms HA-HA . He didn't think a 1755 could pull four 16" bottoms through that land . He used to pull 4-16's with a 1855 and said he could remember a few difficult times getting through . It seems as though my tractor pulls more than the reputation gives it credit for . The ground was moist enough and sandy enough to give excellent traction . I hit a couple spots with the new shares that brought the rpm's down from 1700 to about 1100 but then pulled right back up with the black smoke pouring out . I need to get the draft control adjusted better too . Might help with that . It wasn't moving the plow more than an inch . I have it set in the first hole below position control so it wasn't doing much . And the links are set in the upper holes on both sides . I have had the box blade on all winter and never had time to re-set it when he called to offer the job . Sorry for the long post . But I had a blast and I got paid for it . And learned a few things along the way . ...Randy

 

[Anonymous-0]

Congrats man, I am in awe. I would love to spend that amount of time on a plow. The fresh smell is awesome.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Plowing is an art, reading thru plow manuals it is alot more than hook and go. I took an IHC little genius to a plow day and had real plowmen adjust and tweak it for me. Able to move up one gear and did a much better job.

 

[Don-Wi]

When I first bought our 4-16 546 plow I tried it right off the trailer, but it wouldn't even go in the ground. Then I replaced everything except the moldboards and coulters, and she sucked right in. I can go in 3rd driect most of the time. Not sure what MPH that is, but it's got 18.4-38's.

Probably could go with a 5 bottom plow in most of our ground, but I hate crawling along. Used to pull the 3-16 565 with the 1755. Before that was the MAssey 285 and before that grandpa pulled it with the 1600.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[Anonymous-0]

We used to pull a 4-16" semi mounted Oliver plow with a 1755 Diesel. Before that it was an 1800 C series diesel. I was just a little kid so I don't remember much about it.

 

[IaGary]

Experience is the best teacher.

Books tell you a lot but they miss a lot also.

Gary

 

[NW MO Poppers]

Grandpa always pulled 4-16 semi mount oliver plows with his 1600 and 1650 diesel olivers.