Tandrews16
New User
We still have my grandfather's '52 SC and his BER plow, and I plow about 30 acres with it each year. Originally a 3-14, it was just a little too much for the SC on our soils, and my father removed the rear bottom.
But fifty years of wear and more than a few rocks (That release doesn't always work) took their toll, and the frogs just plain wore out to the point where one rock too many did them in. One bent, and we replaced it with the one that had been removed. Several years later, another one bent, and I used it anyway, compensating with adjustments as best I could. But when the last one broke beyond repair, something had to be done.
Being an adventurous sort, and frugal to a fault, I tried something my father would have told me was impossible. I took two frogs from a defunct Oliver Plowmaster and fitted them onto the beams of the BER. It took surprisingly little - some torch work to put some new holes in the frogs, a bit more on the Case moldboards so they could bolt on, some new Oliver shares, and it was good to go. I was surprised, but grateful, that the curve in the Case moldboards fit the curve of the Oliver frog.
The result was better than I had any right to expect. Not only did I not have to do any extra adjustment-fiddling, but the "new" plow pulls easier and does a better job than it has in years.
I'm happy. Dad wouldn't have been, because I would have showed him up. And my grandfather, well, he'd be glad seeing the old girl still hard at work, but upset that I used Oliver parts to do it. Oh, well...
But fifty years of wear and more than a few rocks (That release doesn't always work) took their toll, and the frogs just plain wore out to the point where one rock too many did them in. One bent, and we replaced it with the one that had been removed. Several years later, another one bent, and I used it anyway, compensating with adjustments as best I could. But when the last one broke beyond repair, something had to be done.
Being an adventurous sort, and frugal to a fault, I tried something my father would have told me was impossible. I took two frogs from a defunct Oliver Plowmaster and fitted them onto the beams of the BER. It took surprisingly little - some torch work to put some new holes in the frogs, a bit more on the Case moldboards so they could bolt on, some new Oliver shares, and it was good to go. I was surprised, but grateful, that the curve in the Case moldboards fit the curve of the Oliver frog.
The result was better than I had any right to expect. Not only did I not have to do any extra adjustment-fiddling, but the "new" plow pulls easier and does a better job than it has in years.
I'm happy. Dad wouldn't have been, because I would have showed him up. And my grandfather, well, he'd be glad seeing the old girl still hard at work, but upset that I used Oliver parts to do it. Oh, well...
