TO-35 - Plow Hookup

[Fred Hart]

I have a 1957 TO-35 Ferguson tractor and I am trying to get a P-AO-20 Ferguson Double Disc Plow setup to follow this tractor.

Do any of you Ferguson tractor gearheads have a set of 3 pt hitch Ferguson disc plows that you use with your tractors and could give me some hints to get this set of old plows to follow the tractor and not pull to the left all the time.

Per the pictures in the Ferguson Disc Plow Brochure (The New Ferguson Disc Plow). It shows the disc plow following a TO20 like a puppy with no right side stabilizer.

I can get the plows to work but not with out the right side stabilizer.

Thanks for any helpful hints.

 

[John (UK)]

The plow should work without the stabilizers that you would use for other cultivation implements, they do supply some special bars with an elongated hole at one end, this prevents the plow from swinging into the tractor rear wheels when it is lifted and yet allow the plow to move slightly in work, this is because the normal check chains are just not strong enough. The plow pulling to the left like you say, is normal because of its construction, but the Rear Furrow wheel is there to prevent that, it should dig into the ground at the bottom of the furrow wall and prevent any swing to the left. I can see that your plow has the leaf type spring fitted, this was replaced by a coil spring type that was heavier duty and created more down thrust on the wheel to prevent plow swinging. Check just how much effort is needed to lift the rear wheel as that may be your problem, it should be quite hard to lift it by hand. Check that you don't have the front furrow set too deep (top link too short) causing the back of the plow to be lifted. The length of the top link should be 25" center to center of the pin holes. If the spring is a bit weak, try lengthening the top link slightly to put more thrust on the rear of the plow and this could stop the furrow wheel riding out. You can also check if the spring is too weak by checking if the rear wheel rides on top of the furrow wall. You may also be able to alter the angle of the Rear wheel on the mounting bracket as well, this will make it dig in more and prevent any swing. Keep the bearing on the rear wheel (and the main discs) lubricated, check this often as they have a lot of work to do. Have you checked that it isn't just the front furrow adjustment that is wrong, is the front furrow the same width as the rear one. You should slacken off the four nuts holding the two clamps on the cross-shaft and rotate this one way or the other to widen or narrow the front furrow width. If you lift the plow slightly and turn the shaft you will see the nose of the plow move either wider or narrower, just set the front furrow width exactly the same as the rear one is or the plowing will be very uneven.
Are you using the tractor hydraulics with the Draft control lever to set the depth and the Position control to lift and lower the plow, but during work it should be between the Fast and Slow marks at the bottom of the quadrant.....John

 

[Fred Hart]

Thanks,

Good points,
While researching info on the operation of the old plow someone said ferg later changed the push down mech on the trail wheel to include a different type spring.

We did notice that if you add an additional spring to the spring spacer pak that it does pull better, but it did not show this in the manual. So I was concern that i still had missed some other adj. I did make a chain stablilzer for the right side that helps guide the plow, this stablizer does not let the left lower lift arm chains extend max so they do not have any pressure on the chains.

I installed a new 18" furrow wheel blade, book said they came in 18" or 20" size. I also adj the trail wheel angle to max so it should pull the plow to the right. Was hoping I would have to back off on the angle of furrow wheel to get plow to pull straight but no such luck.

Note: as plow pulls to the left it makes the front disc blade cut more furrow than the second blade, each should cut about a 10" furrow I think.

when we started the plow frame ran crooked, front to right and rear to left, plow still pulled to left. I adjusted cross arm to get plow frame to run straight because thats what the pictures in brochure showed.

since the plow pulls so the the left I do not have much more room on cross bar to move plow to right to shorten the cut of first disc.

Thanks again for your input, when it drys up some I will try it again and change the cross bar setting moving the rear of plow to left, this might make the front disc cut less.

Do you have one of these plows?

the ground we are plowing has not been broken in about 15 years, so its is very hard.

 

[John (UK)]

No I don't have one of these plows personally but I was involved with a Ferguson Dealer who sold these plows and I occasionally demonstrated them. You said that you adjusted the front furrow by sliding the cross-shaft through the frame, or did I mis-understand that. You should turn the cross-shaft in the frame, leave it set where it is across the plow, in fact later ones had a rod welded to the Cross-shaft so that you couldn't move it across the plow all that you can do is turn the cross-shaft which does alter the front of the plow, it isn't as noticeable on a Disc Plow as it is on a normal share type plow, but it does work to some extent. Try twisting the cross-shaft with the plow partly raised and see how it will "wag its tail" If you need to make the plow heavier if the ground is hard you can add weight inside the tubular frame by removing the end cap at the rear. The plow was made for conditions such as yours and very dry conditions and wet conditions where the moldboard plow wont scour properly. It was also good with stony ground or tree stumps...John

 

[Fred Hart]

I did not change the position of the plow on the cross bar (side to side).

But I did rotate the cross bar to straighten up the frame of the plow with the tractor. The orginal setting of the plow had the back of the plow off to the left.

I do believe the front plow is cutting too much as it is cutting a much wider furrow than the back. I plan to change the angle of the plow, back of plow to the left, hopeful this will cause the front disc to cut less width and also give the furrow wheel even more angle of cut.

These adj might make the old plow pull a little to the right.

Would feel like I had success if i could just get a small amount of pull to the right or at least get it to follow the tractor.

Thanks for you help, there are few of you out there that has used one of these plows.

Reason I was a little taken back by the plows performance, I had a AC double disc plow (snap couple) with my D-14, the plow was made by the Athens Plow Company, Athens, TN.

this old plow was heavy, had a massive rear furrow wheel and trailed like a puppy behind the D-14, would plow up or over stumps, rocks, etc: never had any problem with it trailing behind tractor. (did not know what a prize I had as there are even fewer of them out there than bullet plows. Guess I expected the same performance out of the old bullet plow, but did not get it.

will keep you informed of my progress.

 

[troutmaneg]

(quoted from post at 07:47:22 11/02/09) I did not change the position of the plow on the cross bar (side to side).

But I did rotate the cross bar to straighten up the frame of the plow with the tractor. The orginal setting of the plow had the back of the plow off to the left.

I do believe the front plow is cutting too much as it is cutting a much wider furrow than the back. I plan to change the angle of the plow, back of plow to the left, hopeful this will cause the front disc to cut less width and also give the furrow wheel even more angle of cut.

These adj might make the old plow pull a little to the right.

Would feel like I had success if i could just get a small amount of pull to the right or at least get it to follow the tractor.

Thanks for you help, there are few of you out there that has used one of these plows.

Reason I was a little taken back by the plows performance, I had a AC double disc plow (snap couple) with my D-14, the plow was made by the Athens Plow Company, Athens, TN.

this old plow was heavy, had a massive rear furrow wheel and trailed like a puppy behind the D-14, would plow up or over stumps, rocks, etc: never had any problem with it trailing behind tractor. (did not know what a prize I had as there are even fewer of them out there than bullet plows. Guess I expected the same performance out of the old bullet plow, but did not get it.

will keep you informed of my progress.

Hello! I have one of these plows. It looks complete and little used. Where can I get a manual? Thanks. [email protected]