VAC Plowing Pictures

Got the VAC and the MRB out to plow some corn stalks. No real plug ups except between the depth wheel and the landside (I am still trying to get that set right). The VAC has well over enough power to pull the plow but I am having difficulty getting it to plow straight. The plow will push the front end of the VAC to the right and I will have to ride the left turning brake a good amount. It does this on the 300 as well but not as much. The moldboards are shining up however, the rear is starting to lag behind. I will have to take some more time and catch it up to the front. I have the 20" landside on the plow and not the rolling style

Looks very good. I have a slanting wheel on my 2 bottom plow on the back that keeps my front wheels from sliding. Sure makes a difference.
I use my 51 VAC on the disc as you know and the 2 bottom plow on my 8N.
Richard in NW SC

Bet that pulls hard with the wore out plow lays.

I am a Case lurker and have been following this VAC and plow thread for a while. Looks great!

That is a John Deere M2 plow on that Ford. I have never seen a set up like that before. Plow is meant for the John Deere M & MT series tractors. Normally has a large beam off the front that goes under the belly of a tractor. I've got 2 one bottom and 2 two bottom M plows and extra parts if you ever need any.

I knew it was for the M series JD. I offered a friend $100 for it and he said no way. He said I will only take $75 for it from you.
I rigged it to work on a standard 3 point hitch. I may get back to you on parts.
Richard

It pulls very easy, but I do need to build up some worn places again. It it only used on less than an acre per year and will probably outlast me.
Richard

Weights on the front would help, but another thing to do is to cut the back edge of the share. Cut a "triangle" off the trailing edge of the share. In effect, it will shorten the cutting edge by about 3" and also lessen side draft.

Thank you all for the replies. John, I had thought about more weight on the front end but the VAC already turns pretty hard. I also was hoping that with the weight of the wide front as well as that heavy cultivator bracket inside the grill I might get away with what I had. I will have to try cutting off the extra moldboard sections. I also need to get around and get a tailwheel for it as I think it would push back on the furrow wall better than the extended landside.

With the points completely gone I would think the frog is gone also. Looks like it has been plowing on its nose for some time.

When u cut the triangle off the shares, you got some ideal pieces to put on the nose of the shares, on the other plow !!

Get those shares shortened & you will notice a difference. If you still have the side draft, simply extend that rear landside.

The Case brand is my sentimental favorite because I grew up driving a C Case. I would later figure out that the Case Eagle hitch was dynamically flawed. It had no pivot function (sway) within the hitch. The BER plow got a pivot built into the plow. The dynamic pivot was then several feet behind the rear axle. We generally know that tractors steer bad if the drawbar is rigid and the pivot pin is a long way back.

For my first DC with an Eagle hitch, I got a BER plow. I abandon using the BER plow in favor of pull type plows because the DC would steer much better.

Your VAC and plow has no dynamic pivot and therefore will not steer good. From the git go, Ford figured out the need for a dynamic pivot (sway) and their 3 point hitch geometry became the forerunner of the modern 3 point hitch. Ford sold a gazillion tractors the size of the VAC. The dynamic pivot built into their 3 point hitch geometry made them work well with mounted implements and farmers loved the little Ford. The imaginary dynamic pivot point of the little Ford and now the modern 3 point is several feet in front of the rear axle. This causes easy steering.

Sounds good. Thank you for the help and comments everyone.

You sure you are cutting only the width of the two bottoms? You might be cutting more with that first bottom an that will pull yo to side.

You are giving Ford way to much credit. Sorry Harry

You are right. Looks like the furrow wheel needs to be set in.

Wow that's sure is a nice little set-up you got there. Its been a long time since I've plowed with a 2 bottom plow but it looks like the moldboard is moving a lot of dirt. Maybe that's what's causing your troubles

It mean to say the front moldboard.

They both had to be scraped clean after each pass. I took a picture between cleaning the two bottoms. I was playing around with my hydraulic toplink seeing how it affected plowing on the fly.

With an Eagle Hitch you must have a plow with a pivot point. I will always root for the Eagle Hitch as long as it is hitched to equipment that it was designed for. Had a 711b with a four row mounted planter, cultivator and plow. Worked great.

connor9988, first off I would lose the trash boards when you are trying to get moldboards scoured up. Secondly, I don't think weights on the tractor or trimming off the wing end of the share is going to help you. You are fighting physics. I agree with two guys that say the trouble is trying to run this category 1 three point plow on an Eagle hitch tractor.

I think what you are fighting now is the landsides are not supporting the plow (side draft) and you are making the tractor take it. A tail wheel can help, OR space your landsides out toward the unplowed ground using spacers between the landside and frog. That's what I do; it is much more positive than making a wore-out tail wheel that is so far behind the plow point to take all the side draft. And, once you get the plow "neutral" by adjusting landsides, you may have to then adjust the plow on the cross shaft or adjust wheel spacing. I don't know; it looks close now. You may experience the front wheel trying to climb out or the furrow to the left (if the tractor is too narrow) but I bet it would be not near as bad as what you are experiencing now.

But, what I don't like about this set-up is you'll get this adjusted for your current soil conditions (and I bet you still have trouble steering the tractor when the plow is in the ground since the plow is rigid to the tractor (except for slop in the linkages)). What happens when you get to different soil conditions, in the same field or a different field? The line of draft will change very drastically and you'll be back to fighting the steering wheel again. There's a reason why a standard three point is allowed to move horizontally and the lower links converge around the front of the tractor.