Trip plow rope clip

[CaseDC3]

Never asked Grandpa...How does this work? Rope tied to a metal ring? Just a big knot in the rope? Ring or knot into the first twist or all the way up?
Thanks..

 

[Jim.ME]

Never asked Grandpa...How does this work? Rope tied to a metal ring? Just a big knot in the rope? Ring or knot into the first twist or all the way up?
Thanks..

A picture from an Operator's manual for a JD trip plow.

 

[PJH]

Never asked Grandpa...How does this work? Rope tied to a metal ring? Just a big knot in the rope? Ring or knot into the first twist or all the way up?
Thanks..

I imagine that the device was designed to prevent unwanted tripping, or to break free if the plow clevice disconnected, instead of breaking the trip rope.

My father-in-law tied his trip rope too short early one morning. He was plowing with a Minnie Moline pulling a JD 2 bottom trip plow. He crested over a steep hill counting on the plow to hold him back. The trip rope had no slack. The plow tripped out of the ground, the Minnie charged like a racehorse, and he rolled the tractor upside down on the hillside. No physical human injuries except for him cutting his lip as he ran through the woods after jumping from the rolling tractor. The old Minnie was a good reliable tractor, but it was incredibly clumsy, high center of gravity and operator unfriendly.