Moline 2 14 trip plow - how to adjust the 2 handles?

Pulled the moline plow from the shed and took it out to the edge of the hayfield to get it in good order for Fall, and WOW was that sod like concrete. I am wanting to learn how to adjust the 2 levers on that plow. The only way we could get the plow to catch a point and dig in was to adjust the depth deeper than we wanted, and our Farmall H could barely, and by barely I mean clutch slipping, barely pull the thing in the ground at full throttle first gear. So, how does a fella adjust those levers properly?

On an ih plow you set the front bottom deeper than the back when opening. Then after the first pass you level them out.

ok, so for the first pass set front bottom to full depth, and rear bottom to high depth. And all subsequent passes down the furrow set both front and rear bottoms to a matching adjustment. How about speed? Is there a best speed, or is that dependant upon how fast a person wants to accomplish the work, meaning speed has no effect on quality of turning the dirt over.

(quoted from post at 08:13:01 07/30/12) ok, so for the first pass set front bottom to full depth, and rear bottom to high depth. And all subsequent passes down the furrow set both front and rear bottoms to a matching adjustment. How about speed? Is there a best speed, or is that dependant upon how fast a person wants to accomplish the work, meaning speed has no effect on quality of turning the dirt over.

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I don't go full depth because it makes a big dead furrow.

Speed is important. You have to have some speed to bury the residue and get the dirt to flip over.

ok, so not full depth on the first plow share, but atleast deeper relative to the rear share. Then set both to the same level. Got it.

A good speed is same as your walking speed for those old style moldboards of the 1940s and 1950s. Moldboards made in the 1960s and later were often called "high speed moldboards" because tractors then had plenty of HP and could go faster.

If the moldboards are rusty, they will shine up nicely after you have plowed a while. At first (in your case?) a non-scouring moldboard can be very trying...just be patient as this method is far superior to shining a moldboard compared to grinding and grinding at your shop area.

As you stand at the rear of the plow and looking ahead to the tractor, the right hand lever is for balancing the plow from left to right so both moldboards are the same depth. The left hand lever sets the depth of plowing.

The rear wheel has two jobs; making sure the rear landside is off the furrow wall about 1/2 inch and is slightly lifting up on the rear moldboard so it doesn"t drag on the bottom so much. You fix that and your plow will pull so much easier it will seem like your tractor has more power. Have a friend drive the tractor slowly with the plow in the ground and you walking along side the plow so you can see what is happening or needs adjusting. I studied the manual for my plow, made the adjustments, stopped often to check and recheck, and my H now pulls my 2-16" without much difficulty in 2nd or 3rd gear, even in heavy soils. But it sure did not do that the first hour!!

For starting on your first pass, raise the righthand lever up high, this gives more depth to the right hand moldboard because that right hand "furrow wheel" is not yet running in a furrow you made on a previous pass.

After you have completed the first round, then you can start the balancing process and recheck your depth. Stop, get off tractor, look, reset, go a short distance, get off, look, reset, etc.

I suggest you wait until fall before plowing as your area might get some needed rain at that time of year and the soil should be in better condition for working. Those old plows were not made to work hard soil like we have this year due to the drouth.

I plow every year with an old trailer plow and I wouldn"t think of trying that now with the soil rock hard.

If you have a "trip rope" lift, make sure you do NOT attach the rope with a knot or something that can"t break lose easily. If you hit a rock, or the soil suddenly gets even harder, and you have the proper spring-loaded hitch, your plow might unhook. Before you can react your tractor has traveled 5-10ft, by that time you can be in danger of being thrown off the tractor if you had attached the rope securely to your tractor seat and the seat breaks. It happened a lot years ago....and can happen in a fraction of a second. I suggest you use a short length of heavy wire and make a "slip pin" that you can attach the rope to your tractor seat. My plow has unhooked and that pin is a life saver. An old rope can work if you think it will break, but that is a chancy thing and you might soon run out of rope after a few releases.

In most soils fit for plowing, your tractor should be able to plow in 2nd gear, in 3rd with lighter soils. That is plenty fast.

Plowing can be very enjoyable if you just relax, set throttle at about 3/4 open for the start, plow at a slower speed until you get comfortable, and don"t worry "what other people might think". You are doing something very neat that they are not: Plowing with an old plow and an old tractor! Good plowing is an art and a pure joy.

LA in WI

With a 14 inch plow , you should be plowing about 6 or 7 inches deep.

Second lever is to level the plow when it in the ground. Your shares probably are worn and need the points drawn so the plow will go in the ground. There are many things to do to get the plow trailing like having your tractor wheels set so you are pulling the plow from the center of the drawbar having the drawbar set so the hitch is level when the plow is in the ground rolling cutters set good land slide on the rear bottom and having the tail wheel on the plow setin the furrow correct. Are you pluuing the plow from the center of draft.

You are backwards you need the back bottom plowing just as deep as the front one when starting a new furrow. Thats what the second lever is for then on the second pass you need to raise that lever so the plow is level.

before you adjust those levers ,you have to set the hitch hieght to your tractor or youll never pull it. normal working depth for a 14 is seven inches. center of draft is half that depth so with plow sitting on the level make a mark on either or both bottoms up 3 1/2 ". tape a string there and run it to your drawbar. hitch should be level with this string ,or in other words should be a straight pull down this line. adjust it by moving the hitch clevis which is just where the beams of the plow meet the hitch.there should be a series of holes,or some way of adjusting it there.
after this is set its really simple to set your plow,one lever sets the depth. the other levels the plow side to side and basicly sets the width. no mysteries there if its not deep enough simply let it down a notch,if its not plowing full width or the bottoms of furrows are not level simply roll the plow over. neither will work until you set hitch hieght REGARDLESS of what your pulling it with. this goes for any plow,of any type,you cant simply hook onto one and go. unless your very lucky and find one somenoe has pulled with the same tractor.or one with the same hitch hieght.once you have it set,never move it again,and dont loan your plow out.

That is all very good info. There is so much more to plowing than just dropping it in the ground and going. I was going to suggest to find an old-timer somewhere close and have him come over and help you out with getting it set right. It is a dying art. I agree completely that if its that hard going you should probably wait for rain before continuing. It can be really enjoyable work when it is done correctly.

We pulled from the rolling drawbar, cause did not know any better. The plow wheel in the furrow trailed behind the tractor wheel, but only because we slid the rolling drawbar over to the right(towards the furrow). From the advice on here, now we know better, and put a clevis on the drawbar, just right of center. We did not even think to check the level of drawbar to be on level with the plow once in the ground. We will definitely make that adjustment too. I still don't quite understand how to adjust tail wheel?

I always ran as close to wide open as I could in the gear I was plowing in. The higher the rpm of the motor, the more hp.

An h should be able to pull 2 14s in 2nd gear if plow adjusted properly and favorable soil conditions. You will have to stop and shift into 1st in clay patches. The soil is probably too hard in August to plow unless you have had substantial rain. When plowing run engine full throttle, don't let it lug.