Age Old WD45 Question

Recently restored my grandfathers WD45 gas. I am going to plow and seed 30 acres of oats this spring with it. My question is In heavy ND soil can the tractor really handle the 4 "14 allis plow made for it? I have seen video's and pictures however we have heavy soil here. Granted I have weights for the tractor. Thoughts? I am in the process of purchasing both the 3 and 4 14 plows for it package deal.
 
In good conditions a 4-14 might be ok but if you really want to plow deep and well a 3 maybe better.
 
With buying both plows, you can experiment with each. Most I"ve seen have been pulling 3-16 mounted, but a 4-14 semi-mount would be fun to work with. Traction Booster is a big help with each. When those tractors were made, I don"t think we plowed as deep, but Successful Farming had an article about TB and the WD45. They wanted to test how a 4400 lb tractor could handle 4 bottoms.
 
I'd think it will have it's hands full with a 4x14. We pull 4x14s
with a 170 with loaded tires. That handles it ok. I think your
WD45 will be lacking both weight and horsepower for the 4,
but it will do fine with the 3 bottom.
 
In NW Ia I have never heard of a 4-14 being a
match for a WD45. Almost all I have seen had
3-14. Own and have seen 2-16s for the non snap
coupler hitch also, but I think that was better
matched to the WD.

I think there was a 4-14 or 16 snapcoupler semi
mounted but it was matched to bigger tractors
in this area.

jt
 
Years ago, about 1960, my uncle was ill and church and neighbors came together to get his crops in. He had a WD and 3 bottom that came with tractor new, never seen him use the 3rd bottom. He lived about 8 mile southeast of town. One of the church members from about 4 mile west of town had a WD45 and 4 bottom that he used all the time at home brought it, well he could not pull that plow. Ended up doing something different to help get crop in. Several years later approx 10-12 mile northeas of uncle they had a WD45 and could not pull 3 bottom, only a 2 bottom. At that time about all plows were either 12" or 14" no 16" bottoms around that I ever knew off. The farm that could only pull 2 bottoms with the AC pulled 3-14" with a Farmal M. I thought that the AC should have been able to pull the same size as the Farmall. 2-3 mile from my uncle anouther uncle has a WD and 3-12" that worked good burn up in barn fire, found a WD to replace and 3-14" plows, well that WD could not handle those 14" plows in the ground the burnt one did with the 12" plows. Never drove a WD or WC tractor.
 
Adam we had neighbors pulling 4X14 with WD45's, traction booster must be set up and work right. Most pulled 3X16 and socked them in deep.
 
The soil type makes a huge difference. As will
the condition of the plow points. if they are
wore out or very rusty. The plow will pull
harder.

there are some you tube vid showing wd45's
plowing with 4 bottoms.

In the old days. Some farmers here pulled 4x14
behind farmall M's and John Deere A's.

Dad had a tractor repair shop. I saw some of
the M's and A's come in that were pulling the 4
btm plows. They were completely shot. The M's
were good for having transmission bearings out.

I would plan on using the 3 bottom.
 

Having grown up using our WD-45's (Gas), in Central Ohio...
I know that ground CONDITIONS mean everything..
Our two WD-45's had all 4 wheels Loaded, very GOOD rear rubber and an 80+ lb weight chained to the front.
We always pulled the 4x14" Semi-Mounted AC plows the full recommended 7" deep always in 2nd gear...EXCEPT in Black Ground in mid-Summer, when it was DRY...
In those conditions, I tried to finish a strip of black ground that had gone from Wet (ideal Plowing conditions in that field) to Dry and I could hardly pull the 3-14" and quit when the Cover-boards were breaking..!!
If your WD-45 will not pull 3x14", something is wrong.
IF you have trouble, it will be the tractor is short on GOOD Rubber or front weight..
There may still be washer-shims behind the Main Spring cap, under the tractor..
You can remove all of them and the "Traction Booster" will demand more Pull before it lifts the front..
Plowing is FUN with the WD-45..!!
Try to find a real "Nelson" Muffler, so it sounds like it should..the TSC mufflers sound like crap..!
As for "Rusty"...even letting the plow set over night with no oil on the surfaces make it pull harder the next day..
Hooking onto an un-scoured plow is like hooking to an Anchor..get it cleaned up BEFORE you head to the field..!!!
Ron.
 
might watch these old AC films and get some answers:
look them up on youtube:

shows WD45 pulling three plows, they may be 16",
shows WD45 Diesel pulling 4 plows I did not find any AC promotion films on the diesel.

1950's Allis-Chalmers promotional film for WD-45 tractors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYH3q9nJ-fc

1956 WD-45 Diesel Plowing with a 4 bottom plow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC2ZtZBddiY
 
here is a little better film of the WD45 diesel pulling 4 plows, sounds like the tractor is pulling them fine.
note he has to stop one time to let a case or john deere get out of the way, HaHA

Allis chalmers wd45 diesel Orange spectacular
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY6vPh0aWbE
 
in 54 ac dealer (friend of family) brought 45
with 3-14 to demo. Dad said if it will stay with
co-op e 4 and oliver 80 will buy it. Dealer got
plow stuck in dirt. Hyd would not raise plow-just
bounce front. He could not back out, no traction.
dad was little behind. Just plowed around him.
Next round dad paused hooked to back of allice
plow. not a word was spoken. dealer drove with
plow up Loaded on truck and left. years later
they jocked about it.
 
Hello Where I live( central MN ) my XT 190 diesel
has all it can handle with a 4x16 IH plow the man I
bought it from pulled 5x16 with it.( lighter soil 1
mile away) I bought the plow and tractor together
couldn't pull it decent so I dropped a bottom.
pull a smaller plow and do a good job plowing and
you will have a better crop for your effort. Bryan
 
I have pulled 3-16 snap couple plow here in heavy ND
soil. I would not even try a 4-14. since I plow such
a small garden I just use a 2-16. I got it cheap and
the WD-45 with out any weights doesn't know its back
there. The 3-16 was my brothers and he wanted it
back.
 
Plow Calculation for HP.

Force required to pull a plow depends on the size of the plow, working depth and soil conditions. Soil conditions include soil type, and ground cover or stubble type. It will also depend some on operating speed. Approximate force required in pounds per square inch at 2 mph in normal conditions are:
sandy soil 2.5
corn stubble 3
wheat stubble 4
blue grass sod 6
june grass sod 6
clover sod 7
clay soil 8
prairie sod 15
virgin soil 15
gumbo 20
For example, plowing clay soil with a 12" bottom 6" deep will require 8x12x6 = 576 pounds of force. Running faster will push these numbers up some amount.

Fmall Cub example.
Turning this around the other way, take the same 576 pounds of force and divide that up with a 16" bottom plowing the same 6 inches deep and you get a limit of (576/6)/16 = 6 pounds per square inch. Plowing conditions that come in at or below that number are sand, stubble and the easier sods. You would be limited to about a 4.5 inch depth in clay soil to stay within the same limit.

Keep in mind that actual field conditions are usually some mixture of the above categories and the numbers are just guidelines. There isn't one magical limit where the tractor goes from working to not able to do it. The best results are usually obtained by not pushing limits.

D17 is 7061 lbs off the drawbar max and 48.64 hp max off the drawbar.
 
I was taught to try to plow 7-9 inches deep. i didnt use the traction booster as i was leary of the time of screwing something up if I messed with it. so i would just raise the lever up a little bit on my 1948 wd with 2/14s.I know it was probably foolish but i tried to err to the side of caution.What got me wondering is when you are pulling these big 12' disc and 4 bottom plows isnt that just wearing the clutch out faster since it is what is transferring all that power? I hear about all these third gears that pop out and wonder if it is from guys trying to run the 4-5 mph while pulling too big of a load? I was taught to run one less bottom and pull it faster and i could cover more land. But being cautious i prefferd running in second and just pulling the 2 deep enough to cover the corn stalks,etc and not wear the tractor out so fast. SO was I right about the clutch being abused.? I tried pulling an 10' kewanee disc,8'cultimulcher and a drag and thought it felt like it burned the clutch a little . Didnt smell anything but it felt 'softer', thanks in advance
 
Thanks everyone. I am currently in MN buying a snap coupler 3 bottom for it. I have the 4 foot van brunt drill in mint shape along with a Mandan inc 4 foot packer. I appreciate everyones input. I am doing this in honor of my grandfather seeding the 30 acres. I will post pictures this spring in action! Really in the next 20 years looking back this will be a piece of American history.
 

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