plowing problem

my teenage son has been doing some hobby farming on a couple acres.he has a wd and a three bottom fourteen inch plow and he cant get the plow to go into the ground more than an inch or two. his first plow had shares that were flat on the bottom. they dont look correct. we ran across another plow and bought it. this one has ac shares with the hog nose tips . same problem. we have the ac book on it , and we set the depth adjustment down the whole way on both of the plows.we made sure that the hyd pump is set up correctly according to the book. we made sure that the lift cylinders were not bottoming out. we even tried strapping an old wc engine block on top for weight. no change.the plow is tilted to one side a little so it sits level when the one tire is in the furrow, like the book shows. frustrated. what are we overlooking?any tips are appreciated.

Two different plows have the same problem? Must not be the plows. Can you drive the tractor onto some blocks, eight or ten inches high, lower the plow and see if something is preventing it from coming down all the way?

I am assuming it is a snap coupler plow. Put the left rear tire on an 8" block, drop the plow on the ground, set the plow level front to back and side to side, should work. Did you replace the double C spring in the snap coupler bell? If you did not I suggest you do it before you do any plowing. I can show you a Huge scar on my back where a plow came unhooked 30+ years ago, snout of the plow dug into the ground and the plow landed on top of me--still causes me intense pain.

just a thought.... to plow ground the ground must be moist enough for the plow to penetrate. not to dry - not to wet. you might well try again after a rain when the top has dried some and there is "season" "moist" soil. HTH brownsmule

How much point is left on your plow shares? If they have been heavily used and are dull/non-existent then it will be hard to get the plow to penetrate the ground.

Can you post a couple pictures so we can see what the plow points/shares look like? The plow has to pull its self into the ground points first. A picture of it where it should be going into the ground also would help.

Does the depth crank work?

I agree 100%,
Do not let that kid out with that tractor until you are certain that snap couple hook assemble is in perfect working condition
Not just hanging loose after many years of wear

I had a D14 never had a problem, but over the years I always checked that hook and chains spring each time I fueled the tractor, I bet the front to rear tilt adjustment is froze up on both plows, every one I ever dealt with was froze and it took me some time to heat them to break free, but you must be able to make this adjustment,
p>Can happen on 3pt hitch too, my buddies Ferguson broke a lower lift arm, cutter went to one side and was crawling up the rear tire after him,
Fortunately he got it stopped, only damaged to him was scared crapless,

Tractor and cutter did not fair as well, ruined tire, bend other lift arm, pto shaft and on and on
He was a lucky boy, just pushed those worn lift arms balls straps too long

As they said the shares are likely the problem but this time of year some ground is just too hard for those old light plows. I have seen plows with all new parts just scratch the ground at July farm shows die to compaction and dry soils

Ploworx,Steve Rea in Salem, Ohio Ph. 330-277-9386 is making special deep suck plow shares for popular plows. The soil is more compact than it was in 1950. Until you get some shares make a weight box for your plow & add 200 lb. to the rear of the plow.

I remember dad would tip the back of the plow up letting the front bottom dig more. That mean the plow was plowing deeper in the front than rear however, it would get the job done in very dry ground etc. This was on an 8 N so a simple adjustment of the top link.

Thx for the pointers . the depth cranks are set the whole way, but we"ll check into those things suggested.maybe post some pictures if i can figure out how to do it .

IF the shares are not worn to the point of being near the frog, the plow ill go into the ground...

The apparent direction of p;ow adjustment is wrong...if you don't think about it...

Turning the crank IN, to shorten the upper adjustment will set the plow to go in Deeper...up to the point of being "over-Beamed"...

At that point, the rear of the plow will not be going in near deep enough..

The rear "Heal" should leave a mark in the furrow bottom when set properly..

Remember..shortening the Upper adjustment will set the plow Deeper..

As long as you have the "Snap-Coupler" and "Snap-Releases" on the lift links, you have NO reason to worry about safety...

Let us know what you find out..there should be no problems..

I prefer Cover-Boards and Moldboard extensions...but I suppose they are not all that necessary..

Weight transfer is not hard to acquire, it all comes with experience..!

Raising the Hydraulic lever a little will give you weight transfer up to the point of lifting the front of the tractor or raising the plow..

You will need to learn where the middle is..!!

Plowing with a WD-45 and 4x14", we got pretty used to leaning toward the lifted front wheels..!!

Dad and I could turn 50 acres in one full day with 2 WD-45's with 4x14"...

Ron.


You will never need to put weight on an AC plow to get it to go in the ground if the shares are in decent condition..

If the front is going in deeper than the rear ( and the rear "Heal" is not touching the furrow bottom) the plow is "Over-Beamed" ( Crank turned IN too far)..

The Heal adjustment is important and needs to be adjusted if and when New Shares are installed..

New Shares are not expensive.

If you have a choice, get the "Rock Shares"..the points are stronger..but you will probably not bend one in 20 years of hard plowing anyway...!!

Gosh, you got a lot of good comments here; safety and functional.

I am not very familiar with the WD although have known many people that had them. My experience comes with the 190XT, and 200.

Anyway, After reading all these responses I can't help but feel X-Y Switch is on the right track. It sounds like the tractor is limiting the depth. I don't know if the WD had any depth or draft control; I am thinking it did but not sure. Tractor Data was no help to me in that regard. Anyway, as X-Y Switch said investigate those areas.

Paul

To learn more about the Tractor Booster system try Googling "Allis Chalmers Traction Booster" or other forms of that search phrase. Also check YouTube for Videos.

Paul

For the Mounted AC plows...if the Share is worn down to the point that the Nuts on the Share mounting bolts are touching the ground, the Shares are SHOT...

That is putting the Frog mighty close to the ground, too..

Would be good info, if it only mentioned the LEFT rear tire on the 7" block..

It is very Seldom an AC plow will fail to enter the ground, if the settings are correct..

I have had mine in ground so hard it was breaking my Cover-Boards off...had to quit and wait for Rain in that Black-Jack..!!

Grandpa always said it was best to chase water down the furrow, when plowing it...!!!!

Getting it into the ground was no problem...