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Tested the plow- results.


68_Mag

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Well, I made a frame for the plow, and hooked it to my drawbar, for testing. The drawbar hole was drilled (home made drawbar) with a 7/8 holesaw, to accomodate a trailer ball. The hitch on the front of the plow was made of 1/2 inch electrical EMT. i first tried it unweighted. It cut (scratched) in some places, but whereever there was grass, it just slid. It also 'tipped' side to side slightly. Then I convinced my sister to sit ot in while I pulled. This worked extremely well, it cut about 4 inches deep, and stayed straight behind the machine, no 'tipping', or swaying side to side. However, after two furrows, she went to play with her friends. So, I welded a bar crosswise at a 90* angle to my frame, coming out 8 inches on either side, and hung a concrete block on each side, where one end of them dragged the ground. It cut about 2 inches deep, and swayed side to side. I took off one block, and put the other crosswise on the frame, above the bar, and strapped it down. It cut about 2 inches deep, but swayed side to side and leaned at about a sixty degree angle to the mower, and would often 'tip' over the other way. Not good. I then welded another bar in front of the other, at a 90* angle to the frame, and suspended two concrete blocks from it. It still leaned, but cut about an inch deeper, unless it was in grass. Then it just slid. So, I made a T with wheels on it and welded that to the rear of the plow frame to keep it from tipping. It still tipped slightly. It either cut great, about 4 inches deep, or didnt cut at all...it depended on which way it was leaning. Then the weld broke, wheels fell off, and it tipped over to about sixty degrees...again. I also had problems keeping it from 'drifting' into the previous furrow when I was plowing...help, please...
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I am not sure what combination of tractor and plow that you have, but I am going to try to describe the way to set up a plow to make it easy to pull. The bottom of the plow must be level and parallel to the centerline of the tractor when it is engaged into the ground. To make your first pass, no previous furrow: 1. Elevate the tractor, both front wheels and back wheels, to the depth that you want the plow to run. Once this is done, with the plow attached to the tractor, you need to adjust the pitch of the plow point so that the bottom of the plow is level and parallel to the centerline of the tractor. 2. The plow also must be aligned so that the plow moldboard must be positioned so that its outer edge is equal to the outer edge of the wheel that will ride in the furrow. Not knowing what combination of tractor and hitch you have I cannot tell you how to do this. You will need to develop that yourself. But lay a straight edge alongside the outside edge of the wheel, parallel to the tractor, and make sure that the outer edge of the moldboard touches that straight edge. 3. This should allow you to make your first pass up and back making two furrows. Now you will need to adjust the tractor and plow the same way as described above, but this time the left wheels, front and back, will need to be elevated to a height equal to the depth of the furrow. Again, level and plow bottom and make sure the moldboard alignment is still correct. You should now be able to make the remaining passes in the plot you are trying to turn under. If I knew more about what combination of tractor and plow hitch you are using I might be able to give you more suggestions. I once had a Sears garden tractor that I retrofitted a sleeve hitch plow to a 3 point hitch arrangement. I had a heck of a time getting the tilt of the plow aligned correctly so that I could make the final adjustments with the adjustments on the 3 point hitch arms. If you are using a sleeve hitch plow on a tractor that has a sleeve hitch, this tilt should already be correct. Your problem may just be the aligning the plow bottom level at the depth you want the plow to run. Once you have this right, it should slice through the sod with no problems. Hope this helps and good luck.
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I never used a plow until last year. The guys in this club offered great help. To read about it, click these #1, #2, #3. Keep your sister and everyone else away while your testing or working the plow. Welds can break again, so can pins and bolts. Tractor clutches & brakes can fail. No sense in anyone getting hurt. Safety should ALWAYS be #1.
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It's a Murray 17 1/2 horse right now. It'll be a MTD 18 horse, once I get it running. The outermost point of the plow reaches the inside of my right rear tire. Tilting it is not an option. The frame is basically a J, with a rod welded to close it. The plow is really just an 8 inch bottom, that appears to be cast. It only has one attachment pint, and that is a single bolt hole on the top.
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I don't believe horsepower is part of your problem. The old Craftsman garden tractor that I used was only 8 hp and it pulled my plow without any problem. I was running ag cleat tires and wheel weights. Dutch's thread above has some very good photos to demonstrate the relationship of the plow to the tractor. The plow must have the ability to tilt, as shown in Dutch's thread above. His plow, when raised and the tractor level, shows the bottom of the plow with the right amount of tilt. When the wheel drops into the furrow, then the plow will be level. If the outermost part of your plow is covering to the inside of your right wheel, you should be fine there. But the plow must have tilt adjustment and you must be able to raise and low the plow point to make it engage the ground. Once you have the plow trued up to the tractor, they pull relatively easy, unless you are trying to turn hard sod that has not been turned in many years. Can you post some photos of the setup you are trying to use? That would be helpful to help diagnose your problem.
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Brad- Got the mufler reply, in fact, you gave me the idea several months ago. TMeridith- I'd love to post pictures, but the scanner wont work because the computer is reading the printer as a fax machine...stupid piece of junk...lol...
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