Scouring a plow

[Mike Groom]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to scour a plow,mine needs polishing to get it shiny again.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yep. Spray paint all parts contacting the ground to prevent rust. If you haven't done this, take all the rust off with an angle grinder.

 

[Jim in Ma.]

Find a gravel pit and do some plowing there. Any sandy ground will work too.

 

[BushogPapa]

This WORKS....

Use a THIN Cut-Off wheel on your 4 or 4 1/2" Angle Grinder (will take about ONE per bottom)..
USE a Dust Mask...!!
Hold it at about a 30 Degree angle to the surface and move it like you would a putty knife...
It will remove everything rusty, right down to the Black Oxide under the rust (and that is Fine to leave on)..
Once you have gone over it with the Cut-off wheel, use a 4 or 4 1/2" Flapper Wheel to polish anything you may have missed..
If you do this, you can go the Field and PLOW with NO problems of soil sticking to the metal surfaces..
I have NOT found any other way that works nearly as well..

Ron..

 

[Farmallb]

Man I remember dad would come home from work and get us kids a tobacco can each 1/2 full of Kerosene and a corn cob each and one wire brush and tell us to get busy. He wanted to plow that night. When he came back in, wed have to scrape the dirt off the plowshares, and hit it again, before hand milking 10 or so cows.

 

[maxwell99]

someone told me once to paint the wings, points, etc: after plowing to keep them clean.

problem: I must have used a very good grade of spray paint as two years later some of that paint is still on the wings.

now i have a 30 gal barrel of grease that sets by the old plow. After washing off the plow and letting it dry, i just use an old heavy paint brush and brush on a very thick coat of grease.

may have to touch up a spot or two before next plowing season, but the grease slips right off.

I am told that john deere, case, sell a plow wing paint the will stick well to the plow, but slips right off when you start plowing,

I have never checked it out, as i have plenty of grease left in my old grease barrel.

my dad and uncle always kept their plows greased, so i keep my plows greased.

 

[IAJosh84]

Take it to the field and use it. Best thing to shine up a plow is get it in the dirt and pull the snot out of it. When you are done using it, scrape it clean and either shoot it with some spray paint or put a thick coating of grease on it.

 

[Don-Wi]

I vote for use it. Use it, then paint it. I use whatever spray paint I find cheap at the hardware store, like if they've got it in the clearance bin because it's an ugly color.

After a good number of acres, it'll shine like a mirror. If it's too rusty, you'll have to scrape the dirt off often if the soil is kinda sticky, like it normally is in the spring. If it's nice & dry, it'll scour sooner and with less trouble.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[Brendon-KS]

It says in the manual for my IH #39 rollover plow that removing the coulters helps the plow shine up faster. This was more in regards to removing the factory varnish coating but I would imagine that it would be the same removing rust.

 

[BCnT]

i use a sandy field too...if you can find a sand bank alongside a creek...plow it...moldboards will shine like a new nickel

 

[Virginia Mike]

Cup wire brush on a 41/2" angle grinder, then plow with it.

 

[thurlow]

I'm in the "hook to it and use it crowd"; might have to get off the tractor and kick the stuck-on soil off a time or two before it shines up. Of course, this is for a 'working' plow; if it's a decoration, then I ain't got a clue. (Might ask the wife or local garden club)

 

[hadley]

Put a flap disc on a 4 1/2" angle grinder and have at it. It will take off all the old dirt and rust in no time. Then take it out and use it for the final shine. When done either paint or grease em like everybody else is saying. I have each way.

 

[Gwiz]

Any old railroad beds near you? Couple of passes through the pea gravel or lava rock, whatever they used will have it polished and ready for dirt.

James

 

[TomA in CA]

For way too many years I farmed this sticky black clay soil. It seems like every year the plow moldboards would rust. Cows would lick the grease off. They would not shine up until I plowed 40 acres.

Here on ytmag I learned about graphite paint. It sticks to rust and provides a surface that scours immediately. By the time it wears off the plow is shined up. Great stuff.

On the otherhand, at the ranch in the foothills, if I start plowing with a rusty plow it is shined up in 50 feet because of all the decomposed granite and rocks in the soil.

 

[IHCPloughman]

Well, here in SD where we have loose, mellow soil low in organic matter, you have to do something to clean the rust before you put the plow in the ground. You can run a wire wheel across it to get the loose rust off, and then, the best I have come up with is sanding by hand with 36 and 80 grit in the direction the dirt flows across the moldboard. You can run all the power tools you can think off across it, but you only accomplish something once you get down in the old dirt scratches.

Bushhogpapas idea sounds interesting though. I will have to try it.