Setting up a plow correctly

[BarnyardEngineering]

Thank you so much, Ima park this plow, it was my great grandpa’s, my buddy is gonna sell my a international 420 for 400 bucks that looks to be in super condition, he’s a farmer and I sent him a picture he thought that the plow I have is made from a bunch of random parts

I think it's a Dearborn (i.e. Ford) plow, but most of the parts are worn down to a nub, and someone put new shares on it.

 

[Tim PloughNman Daley]

There's a lot to setting up a plow correctly: Getting the angle, lead, suck, cut width, etc. set up properly all take some work. But to start with, I notice two things:

i) That looks like one of those unusually long top links. I think you'll need to crank it in (shorter) for the plow to be angled down with the points forward.

ii) No coulters on that plow, which is going to make for some tough plowing of sod. Lots of folks took their coulters off when plowing long corn or wheat stubble as it would bind up on it, but it would be better to have them on for sod. With a light plow in heavy ground, it may want to just keep riding up.

Ground condition also makes a difference: If it's hard, dry clay, you may have to wait for the ground to soften up after a rain.

You don't need coulters and jointers to plow effectively with but the ROLLING LANDSIDE. or FURROW WHEEL, or TAILWHEEL ARE NEEDED otherwise the plow will just ride up out of the furrow. Many farmers tossed their coulters and jointers in the barn and left them forever after. Shears, shares, points -all the same term....


Plow Manuals are your Friends

Tim Daley (MI)

 

[Tim PloughNman Daley]

I have a mf135 and an old 2x14 (maybe 16) that my great grand paw gave my dad and he gave me. I’m trying to set the plow up so I can plow Thursday. And I’ll be honest I have no clue how to do it correctly. I can’t get the rear blade to touch the ground it just skates across the top and the big wheel just rolls behind it, any advice? Thanks so much in advance I’ve learned a lot here already.
View attachment 62045View attachment 62047

Here ya go... copy and save to your PC...

Not a DEARBORN, it's a FERGUSON but someone has cut off the front frame and the cross shaft is missing so you won't do squat with it anyway. The DEARBORN ECONOMY PLOW was a better designed plow. It had a solid 'A' Frame and the cross shaft was an improved 'L' arm design. SEE PIX

Tim Daley (MI)

 

[bulldog6276]

 

[Tim PloughNman Daley]

Up until 10 years ago I was plowing 150 acres cornstalks/yr. JD 2800 4 bottom vari-width plow. Pulled it with Cat 35 plow opened up to 24 inches.
That was the Cadillac of plowing rigs.

Yep, many deer plots and garden I used to do plowing, discig, planting. I had a whole line of DEARBORN EQUIPMENT. Loved to plow too.

Today plowing is not done much anymore as the "NO-TILL FARMIMG" method has been used for several decades now. Meaning corn stalks and trash are left standing in fields in after the fall harvest to help preserve the soil from erosion. In the spring the farmer then only has to run the disc harrow over the fields to mulch up the trash and prep field for planting. In my area I see both plowed fields and NO-TILL fields and I'm not saying plowing isn't done anymore or not to plow - your call. The good news ist hat wear parts like moldboards, points, frogs and landsides are still available for most FORD/DEARBORN 14" and 16" Plows. Brace yourself for sticker shock though.

Tim Daley (MI)

 

[Fritz Maurer]

How dull is the point.

This is where the op should start. Can adjust that thing til he!! freezes over; will never do a decent job with dull points, if it even goes in the ground.

 

[bulldog6276]

This is where the op should start. Can adjust that thing til he!! freezes over; will never do a decent job with dull points, if it even goes in the ground.

I bought a new plow, we came to determine that the rear shear was not for the plow and was installed incorrectly…… so it wouldn’t dig into the dirt at all

 

[farmersamm]

Your pictures aren't very good. They don't show the wear parts on the plow. I need to see the bottoms, shins, mouldboards, and land sides.

Let's start with the bottoms.................................

The part at the top of the pic is a bottom. When new, and right, it should look like this. The nose of the bottom is responsible for sucking the plow into the ground. The part immediately below the bottom....what it's bolted to, is the frog. It's responsible for providing a base for the bottom, shin, and moldboards.

I don't have a lot of pics of the plow, but this is what it should look like. The moldboards are aging, but still in good shape. NOTE the scour. The entire plow should show good scour. It should be shiny after about maybe 15 minutes in the ground. This, of course, depends on the ground conditions. You can't plow too dry, and you can't plow wet. These moldboards are still long enough to roll the ground over. If the moldboards wear short, they won't roll the ground.

When setting up a plow, you need to go out and run it. You can't set it up in the yard. The key is to have it run level............which means that you have to take into consideration how the tractor is leaning into the furrow. The tractor will lean, but the plow has to stay LEVEL. It will not work if it's not level as it's pulled through the field. Figure out how to adjust yours so it's level. In addition, my plow at least, the land wheel prevents the plow from rolling. Dunno how yours is built.

Ground....................It's all about the ground. The ground should be dry enough to prevent slick slabs from coming up. These take a ton of time to season. It can take a whole Winter to mellow this kinda crap.

This is ground that could have waited a while before it was worked...........but fields vary from spot to spot. It will mellow over the Winter season.

This is good ground.......prime for tillage. It breaks, instead of rolling over in a slick slab. That stuff you got in your pics is not ready for plowing. NOTE HOW THE PLOW IS RUNNING LEVEL, WHILE THE TRACTOR IS DOWN IN THE FURROW. A plow needs to run level.

Plowing depth. Don't let the morons tell you that you need to go deeper than around 8". All you need to do is to prepare a seed bed. Dig deeper, and you're wasting resources. Fuel, engines, and tillage equipment wear............not to mention ruining your ground.

 

[farmersamm]

A once over with a finishing disc will break up the crust from Winter. It also makes the ground soft enough to run a spring tooth harrow.

Discing should be done at a 45 degree angle to your plow furrows. It helps to level things out.

Then, you're ready to got to town with the drill. I like a hoe drill because it opens a furrow, and the press wheels drive the seed in deep. I plant Hay Grazer, or used to plant it, at about 2" deep. You put your seed down to the mud. This ground is tight mud below the surface. Sprouts in about 2 days if everything's right, 3 days at the outside. The hoe drill, because it makes a furrow, prevents erosion. The furrows keep water from moving the seed, and the ground. This drill was the forerunner of modern no till. It's a dryland drill.

 

[farmersamm]

I should note that the spring tooth should also run at a 45 degree angle to your plow furrows. The entire point of the exercise is to create a nice level seed bed that you can drill with some degree of accuracy.

 

[farmersamm]

And, when ya's done with all this crap.........................................

You gots a lil' bit o' hay.

 

[farmersamm]

Forgot to tell about the top link. Run it, then look at the open furrow. If the open furrow looks like it's angled, you need to adjust the top link to adjust the plow so that it's level fore, and aft. The nose will dig in if the top link is too short.

 

[Gary Alford]

There's a lot to setting up a plow correctly: Getting the angle, lead, suck, cut width, etc. set up properly all take some work. But to start with, I notice two things:

i) That looks like one of those unusually long top links. I think you'll need to crank it in (shorter) for the plow to be angled down with the points forward.

ii) No coulters on that plow, which is going to make for some tough plowing of sod. Lots of folks took their coulters off when plowing long corn or wheat stubble as it would bind up on it, but it would be better to have them on for sod. With a light plow in heavy ground, it may want to just keep riding up.

Ground condition also makes a difference: If it's hard, dry clay, you may have to wait for the ground to soften up after a rain.

 

[Gary Alford]

You need to shorten the top link. In hard ground it helps to take a grinder and sharpen the shares.

Yes top link way too long !!!