Rollover Plow

[RockyMo]

I picked up a rollover plow the other day. There are no tags on it anywhere indicating brand, Any thoughts on who manufatured this one? What type of tread design works best for the tires on one of these? There is a large spring on the front of the plow near where it would hook to the tractor. This spring is only attatched on one end. Any ideas where the other end attatches? Thanks,

Rocky in MO


Any idea what brand?

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Any idea where the other end goes?

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[Bob]

I guess terminology varies by region... Around here, we would call THIS a "rollover plow.

<img src = "http://www.ludensimplement.com/var/plain/storage/images/catalog/vintage_farm_equipment/international_3_bottom_rollover_2_point_plow/25668-6-eng-US/international_3_bottom_rollover_2_point_plow_large.jpg">

 

[Allan in NE]

Yeah Doggie!

Looks like someone swiped the gauge wheel. :>(

That 314 was a darned good plow. A little to be desired on ground clearance, but they'd sure turn the acres.

Allan

 

[RockyMo]

Names can and do vary a great deal be region. I would consider both plows to be moldboard plows that roll the dirt over as opposed to a chisel plow. The name for the plow I have comes from the one wheel hub rolling over when released to cause the plow to raise or lower into the ground.

Rocky in MO

 

[RockyMo]

So the missing piece is called a gauge wheel. I will search for pics on the internet. Can you give me any information on the purpose of the gauge wheel and how big it is, how it mounts etc? Thanks,

Rocky in MO

 

[Allan in NE]

Rocky,

Sorry 'bout the confusion, I was refering to the missing wheel on the spinner in Bob's picture.

Don't have a clue on those one-way things. Have never even laid eyes on one and they are totally greek to me.

Allan

 

[NDS]

I have used IH 60 plow that is similar to your plow and it WAS a rollover plow, we had a lot of undergroud rocks and evey time you hit a large one plow would flip over on its back.

 

[Dave S.]

It looks like a IH(P&O) #8 little genius. The spring hooks to the trip hitch but it lookd like part of the hitch is gone or a different hitch has been installed. I have a front tractor tire on the trip side of mine and a used car tire on the other side. Used tires the right size were hard to find around here.

 

[PUTTER]

Rocky, That looks like a little genius plow to me. The spring you have circled was hooked to a piece that hooked in the clevis on the tractor. Yours is missing. When the plow hit a rock it was supposed to unhitch from the tractor. Many farmers eliminated them. That H will handle that plow nicely. PUTTER

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have a simular plow. In this part of the world it would be called a trip plow, due to the desgin where you pull the rope to trip the left wheel allowing it to rise, lowering the plow into the dirt. Pull the rope again at the end of the field to raise the plow.
As for where the spring connects, there should be a sort of trip relese on the hitch where it connects to a tractor (usually with a twisted clevis) so when you hit a rock it will release and not break the plow. The rope should have some kind of clip so it will release too, a string that breaks will work.
Any tires will work as they are for transport only. The right tire will be in the furrow when plowing. The left will ride on the surface when plowing but not as a guage wheel.
Look at hte castings for some kind of clues to identify the brand.

 

[Janicholson]

I agree with Dave S. Little Genius.
It looks pretty complete. The hitch was designed to release when the plow latched into a tree root, or a big rock. It had a pentile style looking arrangement that was connected to the spring, and the yoke looking casting at the front of the drawbar. The plow was connected to the tractor's drawbar to a bolted on D ring. The ring was about three inches across and the flat portion of the D had a bolt through it that attached it to the tractor. On the plow was a downward pointing finger of cas steel about an inch in crossection (it looked a lot like a pentile hook (the part on the tow vehicle) but pointing down, and attached to the tongue of the plow. When the plow hit a snag, it would pull the finger out forward releasing its grip on the D ring. It was necessary to connect the trip rope to a bent piece of #9 wire to prevent it from being ripped apart. The tractor would jerk rearward from snagging on the root, then lurch forward with serious force as the hitch released.
WHen moving the plow from field to field, we were required (by my dad to bale wire the hook down to the D ring to prevent un expected disconnect from road bumps. JimN

 

[LeRoy DeLong]

You hit the nail right on the head here. We always put a small piece of soft wire on the end of the rope which would disconect real easy without breaking the rope.

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Rocky: I'd have to agree with those calling your plow No.8 Little Genius. I also have to agree with Allan and Bob for the proper terminology of a roll over plow. All plows are not called a roll over plow by industry standards. Like the soil, I can roll over in bed, but we don't call it a roll over bed.

Dealing with the guys that call it a TRIP plow, I say TRIP "WHAT" over the past 50 years, we've seen TRIP lift, TRIP hitches and TRIP bottoms. Most plows had at least 2 of these features, some had only one of these features. Given the history, I'd call the term TRIP PLOW a non term in modern times.

By the way, your No.8 has TRIP hitch and TRIP lift.

 

[Allan in NE]

Amen!

Like the term "Chisel Plow". No such thing; it’s either a chisel or it’s a plow. It isn’t both. :>)

Allan

 

[Anonymous-0]

Would you prefer the term clutch lift?

 

[Anonymous-0]

If you phone your implement dealer to ask about a chisel plow, he will know what you are talking about. "The Furrow" (JD magazine) always advertises chisel plows. What they call a chisel plow is a deep tillage cultivator, or a heavy duty cultivator.

 

[TMonton]

In the northern regions I had always heard it called ... trip release.

We always had to have a different hookup for the drawbar. It was like half a figure eight and that was so named a plow clevis

My folks had one just like that too. The rear wheel was steel and had rubber tires on the front. The spring was as mentioned, strain relief if you snag a rock or something hard. The plow would literally jump off the clevis, then pull the seat way low before snapping the string to the 'quick release' lever.

Plowed a lot of dirt with 2-16's pulling one of those too.

 

[Hugh MacKay]

tomonton: I think my dad could have used other words to describe the trip, one day back in the mid 50s. He always plowed with a Farmall H, had a bar 0ff the 31 loader frame, he threw the rope over with a 1" nut tied to end of rope. If the plow hitch tripped the nut went over the bar and nothing broken.

This particular day, he was only plowing the garden, hadn't been a stone or root come up in years. He threw the rope over his right leg. Well, the plow did find a stone, tripped, and the nut on the end of the rope hit him in the groin. OUCH.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hugh, hardley a day goes by that you don't make me laugh about something.

 

[TMonton]

OUCH is right !

I would question anything with weight on it like that. I've been hit in the back of the head a couple times, the rope snapped at the equipment end and not at the tractor seat.

Ironically I had seen that same thing done sitting on the trip rope. I didn't feel real good about testing that one on myself. *g*

The tractor lunges pretty good too when the tongue breaks down like that.

 

[glennster]

dang that thing got some big moldboards on it. looks like a 2-16. i have a 3-12 little genius, and dropped one bottom off it to pull behind my b. this one looks like it had a bottom dropped off too with the long beam hanging off the back. mine has two springs on the hitch, if i dig it out i'll see if i can post some pics of the hitch set up.

 

[glennster]

the tire where the lift is should be a snow tire, if it doesnt have any grip it can slide when you go to lift the plow. the other side and be a baldy. one tire should be taller than the other, i ferget which, i'd have to take a look at my plow. somebody else here should know which one is taller.

 

[Randy-IA]

Hi Rocky , This is what your hitch might look like . I've posted a link , and one on here . This image is from a newer parts book and the linked image is from a 1937 parts book . They look pretty much the same . ...Randy

Little Genius hitch

 

[Randy-IA]

Here's a stick drawing of what your plow might look like if it was a three bottom . That bar sticking out back is the brace for the third bottom . This image shows it on steel but on rubber is the same looks wise . As you can see the furrow wheel is smaller . There's four different size tires it could use , none of which you'll find anywhere local I don't think . So if the rims are 16" try and find tires as close to the old sizes as possible which where 5.50 or 6.00 for the front furrow wheel and 7.00 or 7.50 for the land wheel . If the rim size is 15" you'll need 6.00-6.70 for the furrow and 6.50-7.60 for the land side . The rear furrow wheel takes an old size 3.50x12 but a 4.00/4.80x12 trailer tire works right nice . Decent used tires are given away at my local tire store or 17 bucks mounted with a new tube . I've got the same size on both sides of one of my three #8 plows right now but that's just because I got a good deal on them at the time ( both + new tubes and mounted for $24 ) So one is going on a different plow as soon as the snow melts some . ...Randy

 

[Randy-IA]

Hi Rocky , The #8 doesn't have what is called a " gauge wheel " . The land wheel and tail wheel serves that function and the furrow wheel levels the whole thing side to side . The tail wheel also levels it front to back and the hitch determines how straight it pulls relative to the tractor and how well it enters and lifts out of the ground . But just like all things these aren't hard and fast rules . There's a lot of adjustments on one of these old plows to get a perfect furrow but you only need a perfect furrow if you are in a competition . There are some things to be aware of though before you drop it in the ground for the first time or you'll pull your hair out from frustration if some things aren't working right and there's nobody around to council you on what it is . BTDT !! That plow has been around for a long , long time so chances are it's set right or close to right if you bought it off a farmer that has used it . It's the wear parts that'll cause you some grief , you have Plow Chief points on it . They are expensive if you can find them at all ...Randy


By the way , it looks like most of your hitch is there , From what I can see in the pictures you are missing the pin that goes through the two side plates that hold the spring . And a handle is handy too so hookup is easier by yourself .

 

[NDS]

In South we called the 2 way plows hill side plows and they were rare.

 

[RockyMo]

Thanks to all who responded. I have learned a lot here today. I am still unsure the correct name for this type of plow but liked NDS's confirmation of a roll over plow (rolls over upside down when hitting a big rock). Now that I know which pieces are missing, do you have any recomendations where they can be found ie salvage yards etc.. Thanks again,

Rocky in MO

 

[RFP]

The plow look like a no. 8 with plow cheif moldboards with moldboard extension and clutch lift and spring release hitch.

 

[LA in Wi.]

Randy-IA,
During WWII, and a few years after, some plows arrived at the dealer with just the rims and without tires (tail wheel tire would be mounted). Car tires were in very short supply. The dealer would mount his own used car tires (or from the plow buyer/customer). That"s why it was common to see plows with mismatched tires. My #8 has the two tires matching and same size. I feel that the 2 tires can be any size because you can level the plow with the righthand lever (as you look from the tail wheel to the tractor). My plow, and a lot of others, have white sidewall tires, and luckily mine have the white to the inside and I sure won"t clean them up to look white!
LA in WI

 

[LA in Wi.]

Glennster,
My #8 has the double springs on the hitch, too. My operator"s manual states that this hitch was for "crawler tractors". I don"t know why a crawler made it necessary for two springs, but that"s what the book says. I found this plow in Wisconsin, but all the plows years ago in Grundy Co., Iowa had the single spring.
LA in WI

 

[LA in Wi.]

tmonton,
Back in those days, we would make kind of a "wire clip" that would give when the plow hitch released. If there was no rope release, and with rocky ground, you could soon run out of rope with all that re-tieing. There was a small, flat piece of metal sticking out from the right hand seat mounting (right under the pan seat), and that had about a 3/4" hole for the rope, wire or our wire clip to fasten onto. It"s interesting to walk around H and M Farmalls at tractor shows to see which ones still have that small piece of metal under the seat.
LA in WI

 

[LA in Wi.]

Hugh,

Looks like the MN, IA and WI boys mostly call it a "Trip Plow". Must be that metric terminology that makes you wonder what a trip plow is. I guess the trip plow term was used when the hydraulic lift came into being, so not to confuse the two different mechanisms (the trip/reset moldboards hadn"t even been invented yet in those years).

We are all lucky to NOT be plowing with a hand clutch John Deere with a trip rope plow. I saw more than one farmer years ago who had the plow trip on a rock, then unhook. Then he would back up his JD to close enuf to rehook, then get off the tractor (leaving it in reverse gear), then with his left hand he would lift the plow hitch off the ground, and with his right hand he would reach forward and "gently" nudge forward the hand clutch so as to get that JD to come back slowly for the rehook. Those old B and A JD often had a real jerky clutch (I always thought they all had a jerky clutch), and as the clutch was pushed ahead, the tractor would back against that pressure. I was always afraid that JD would back up right over that operator because he had no place to escape. Still gives me the chills when I think about what could have happened. Hooking up a disc was often done the same way...and was just as dangerous.

LA in WI

 

[Randy-IA]

Hi LA in WI , You are right about the tires not needing to be different sizes . Those sizes are what all my manuals recommend . The manual also mentions that wheels were shipped without tires or tubes and tires of choice could be bought by the end user . Around here at least tires that are around the recommended size - even in todays sizes - are hard to find used . I had to go a little bigger because of that but so what if I lose the ability to plow 12" deep ? I doubt I could have anyway : >) ...Randy