Help Setting a Plow

I was working on plowing fot the first time today with my grandpa so we borrowed a neighbor"s 2-14 IH to go behind our 1937 JD A. It was doing a decent job in an old pasture where we started, but there was a tough spot where a fencerow had been where it kept tripping. I would simply hook up again and ease it through. One time it hooked a big rock and ended up pulling it out, and after that we couldn"t get it to go in the ground right. We were still making adjustments at this time so we didn"t immediately notice because we thought it was something we adjusted.

What are some good rules of thumb to get the plow set? (just start from the beginning if you need to. Hitch, levers etc.) We went to the bean field after that to try to get it back right (softer soil) and we could never get it more than 4 inches deep. The plow wanted to pull to the land side badly and the tail wheel was riding outside of the furrow. It also was doing a "nosedive" and the back moldboard was hardly cutting.

I"m not sure what happened but it was working much better when we started. I couldn"t find and bent/broken parts. The only thing we could see was MAYBE the front share tip was SLIGHTLY bent down, but not sure.

Thanks for any help
Ih plow look like this one

Not too sure what you mean by "the plow kept tripping"..??
Not knowing what adjustments you have made and no actual pictures makes it hard to tell..
Is it possible that an adjustment on the Hitch has moved..?
Is the plow lift releasing fully, to allow the plow to go into the ground..?
Could the drawbar position have changed..?

Ron..

tripping would mean the safty spring trip on the hitch would release and let the plow set while the tractor keeps moving. And you do have a bent share and what happened was the rust on that hitch that was keeping it from tripping before got broke loose so after no rust holding it fast could move easier, for hard ground have to tighten the springs on hitch a bit.

Send an email to bjs1 at accessdirectwb.net and I will forward a copy of what I have to set plows.

Pitalplace I am also sending an e-mail I am interested in the information.
Thaks
John Schoenauer

My JD plow has the type that uses a clevis and uses a lever that is trapped under a sliding cast iron piece that uses a spring-loaded pin to keet it in place..
I welded a strap on each side of the hitch (tongue) to limit how far the spring can compress..
Now, I don't have any problem, dropping the plow off..
Since I only use a JD "B" with it, I won't be damaging the plow..
Believe me, I won't be using the old "knee-knocker" either..!! Been swatted by that clutch handle too many times..!! Never again will still be too soon..!!

Ron..

That share would have to bent pretty bad to throw the plow that far out of adjustment...
The rear wheel should be running at the bottom of the furrow, leaving a definite light wheel-mark on the bottom of the furrow floor..
What changes have you made to the plow, since it stopped plowing well (or bent the share)..??
Is (was) the plow hitch wet so the drawbar was straight behind the tractor..?
Ours always used a setting on the drawbar that was the 1st off-set possible to the Rt and set at the LOW position..
A line drawn along the plow tongue toward the rear moldboard (with the plow IN the ground) would point to a spot about 1/3 up on the rear moldboard from the bottom..
Each plow bottom would be cutting the same width furrow slice (14"..?)
Ron..