Two bottom plow

ctryman57

New User
I have a TO-30 and I am trying to determine if it will pull a two bottom plow. I am in upstate NY in bluestone country and I don"t know when the last time my pastures were plowed but not in the last 21 years. Can anyone guide me as to whether I should get a two bottom or one bottom plow?
Any advice is much appreciated.
 
if your engine is strong, your hyd. working properly, clutch good, tires plenty of tread but better weighted a 30 should do the job with a 2x12 or 2x14 and the plow needs to have all its parts.
what did I miss?
 
Engine is strong, 3 pt hitch does some "jumping" at lower but not lowest level. Tires have great tread but not weighted. I do not understand 2x12 or 2x14. Can you expand? But thank you for the insight!
 
(quoted from post at 23:16:26 03/30/14) I have a TO-30 and I am trying to determine if it will pull a two bottom plow. I am in upstate NY in bluestone country and I don"t know when the last time my pastures were plowed but not in the last 21 years. Can anyone guide me as to whether I should get a two bottom or one bottom plow?
Any advice is much appreciated.

Considering the Ferguson 30 was rated a three plow tractor it should have no problem pulling a two bottom. I pull a 2 14" two bottom with my Ferguson 20. Although you will find that having fluid added to your tires will help tremendously. Another thing that will help is making sure your draft control on the tractor is working properly.

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2x12" or 2x14" refers to the number of bottoms and the width of cut. A 2x12" is a two bottom that cuts two 12" furrows. A 2x14" is a two bottom that cuts two 14" furrows. To measure Ferguson plows and early Dearborn plows to see what they are you measure center to center of the main beams.
 
Your tractor will thank you if you buy a 2x12" or 2x14" plow.

My 1957 TO35 came with 3x12" plows, in some soils it will pull them fine, but in heavy hard soils it's just too much, as the tractor has gotten older.

Remember these tractors are 55+ years old
 
New York State dirt is a hard nut to crack. You know where there's a one bottom Ferguson plow? Buy it.
The first time in 20 odd years is going to be a root bound adventure, especially the low wet spots. Next fall or next spring a 2 bottom will/ might work OK.
Those pamphlets Jason posted? 1950's false advertising! Maybe in the old country, or New Mexico talcum powder... but never upstate muck. I knew people that needed 70 or 80 horse to do a slow bad job with a three bottom. And that's a heck of an apparatus to pick out of wet mud. We made a Dearborn 2 bottom into a one years ago, lately I bought 2 more one bottoms, and I'm happy with that.
 
(quoted from post at 04:12:04 03/31/14) New York State dirt is a hard nut to crack. You know where there's a one bottom Ferguson plow? Buy it.
The first time in 20 odd years is going to be a root bound adventure, especially the low wet spots. Next fall or next spring a 2 bottom will/ might work OK.
Those pamphlets Jason posted? 1950's false advertising! Maybe in the old country, or New Mexico talcum powder... but never upstate muck. I knew people that needed 70 or 80 horse to do a slow bad job with a three bottom. And that's a heck of an apparatus to pick out of wet mud. We made a Dearborn 2 bottom into a one years ago, lately I bought 2 more one bottoms, and I'm happy with that.

Now Tony, I don't think you are giving the TO-30 the the credit it deserves. If the lift isnt working properly and the plow isnt set up correctly and has dull shares etc... you are right it couldn't pull a two bottom plow but if everything is set up right, including coulters it should pull a 2 12" easily. They have almost the same power as a 35 and if rebuilt it has the same power as a 35 and they can pull a two bottom all day long.
 
tony-tony-tony.yea of little faith.old they may be,but I pull 2bottom 12's all day with my te20,yes rear tires are loaded,3rd gear-3/4 throttle.and yes i'm in upstate n.y. toooooo.
 
Welp, how do I word this? If invited to a battlefield, you want to show up with more gun than you need right? Plowing root bound 'virgin dirt' north of the Adirondacks, in wet sticky rocky clay, I'd rather have a little too little plow for the tractor. And take the little more time to do a good job of it. That rather than have field that looks like a little kid was playing with a shovel. Then spend all week fixing everything that broke. You Tube is full of proud hacks going fast!
Just going by my own life experiences here, not industry test statistics or fields other people's grandpa bought miles or hours away. I wasn't referring to 2 bottoms in an already worked field, just the sad but interesting results I've seen with small tractors and 3 bottom plows in fresh land... just trying to help someone new at it not waste their money or tear up old machinery.
Last fall when I mentioned a one bottom Ferguson plow coming up for auction, everyone here 'in the know' encouraged me to bid high. I did, and got it. Assuming one bottoms are rare and worth having, and would be perfect behind a fergie in 20 year old weeds and saplings- I went by that- for the sake of cntry57 here...
 

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