3 BOTTOM PLOW

I know you won"t like this answer, but that depends.

1) What is tractor weight?
2) Is that drawbar or PTO horsepower rating?
3) What size bottoms on the plow?
4) What is your soil type and terrain?

I"ve seen 6-plow rated tractors struggle with 4 bottoms, and seen them pull 8 just with soil differences and flat vs hilly ground.

In the olden days they"d say to figure conservatively, figure 15 HP per 16 in bottom, rated on PTO horsepower. But part of that was traction shortage. 4WD will help that.
 
depends on the ground,

I pull a MF 62 3x12" plow with a TO-35 Ferguson the old 1957 model tractor maybe still has around 28 hp, but they are a load for the old tractor in hard ground.

I think you would be better served with a set of 2x14" plows.

Options are to buy a set of 3x12", 3x14" or 3x16" plows and if you cannot pull them, then take the center plow off. most times you can buy a set of 3 plows cheaper than a set of 2 plows.

many other variables, points, do not buy a set of plows that you can no longer buy plow points to fit the plow, if the plows will not engage the ground, then you have nothing but some high dollar scrap iron.

Good plow points are the key to plows going in the ground!!!!!!!!!!

check around first, there are many sets of plows out there, International made a fine set of small 2x14" plows, but they may be hard to find.

picture is the set of 3x12" MF plows I have, they have new plow points and new coulter blades. However, they are 12" plows so they have a smaller throat area, therefore they will choke up faster, as there is less area for heavy material to flow through. Larger plows 14", 16" have larger throat areas, so they will pass more material and not choke up as bad.

some folks do not like coulter blades, others do, but if buy a plow with out coulters and later decide you want them, they will cost you almost as much as the plow, so try to buy a set of plows with the coulters still in tack,
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Your post tells me it is a newer compact tractor so that 29 HP would be bare engine HP and not PTO HP as for to get 29 PTO HP you need at least a 35 more like 40 engine HP. And a 3-12" plow in average conditions even tho the older farm tractors were rated at 29 Max PTO HP to pull a 3-12" plow (will pull easier than a 14") they will not do it, you need to up that to 39 HP. Figure about 13 HP per 12" bottom, 15 per 14" bottom and 20 per 16" bottom. You would barely have enough power to pull a single 16" bottom or 2-12" in average soil and in a lot of soil you would struggle with a single 12" bottom trying to plow 6" deep. You have not quite the power of a 9N or 2N Ford tractor and in average ground a 2-12" is all you want behind one of them. Still have the 2N and plows bought new in 44 and that outfit has plowed thousands of acres in its lifetime.
 
I have a 28 hp MF compact tractor, and I use it with a 16" one bottom 3pt plow. Tractor handles the plow okay, but I need to use 4WD for traction, plowing 8" deep.
 
Need about a hp per inch of plow cut. Three 14s about 42 hp. A lot of factors involved - type soil, steepness, etc.
 

Humm I just became quite PROUD of my JD 630..!!

That 44 HP tractor walked right along in Alfalfa ground with JackWax, with a F145 4x16" Semi-mounted in 2nd gear..!!

Just had to Brag (sorry!!).

Your Newer Utility tractor is in NO Way comparable (HP Rating, to HP Rating). and you will have far smaller tires, with FAR Less Weight.
AND, PTO HP is NOT the same a Drawbar HP..
A 3x14" plow will require at lease 3,000 lb of PULLING Force to pull it in "average conditions"..
How much did you say your tractor weighed..?
Better stick with 2x14 or maybe 2x16"..
NEW tractors are not really DESIGNED to go out and Hammer at FULL LOAD for very long, better not put too much on it..

Ron.
 

Some complain about Clay ground "Pulling Hard"..we call that "Easy-Going".
Heard about all those places that are "Tough-Going"...
Would not be any tougher than Dry Black-Wax, Jack-Wax or Yellow Wax I can tell you. and Jack-Wax is NO Picnic either. We have them ALL in Ohio and we can go thru any of it.
Maybe you have an Air problem (Altitude?) that reduces Power..?

Ron.
 
Not doubting your story at all, but if you dropped a 4x16" in the ground here behind a 630 it would stop it in it's tracks if you went deeper than 3"...lol. Mine would pull a 3x14" fairly well, but even that would make it pull down at times. Bob
 

In what gear..?

I am talking 7+ inches deep in 2nd gear and not dropping below 900 rpm in the tough spots..

This is some real good hard pulling ground with well established Alfalfa.

I don't doubt your experience and I have seen the times here that you just plain did not drop a plow in the ground until you could "Chase water down the furrow"..(Black Wax)..

I would not want to pull that all day long, it was only to see just what it might do with it..!

Ron.
 

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