Plowing question

bja105 · Apr 20, 2014

This year I bought a Ford 4610 and a four bottom plow. I have plowed before with a garden tractor and single bottom plow. Our ground is heavy clay.

I thought that the four bottoms might be too much for the Ford. When I tried plowing, I made it about 20 feet and lost traction. I had both tires digging holes, but couldn't pull any more. The engine didn't bog down.

I brought it back to the house and removed the last bottom and went at it again. With three bottoms, I had little trouble. I got stopped a fewtimes until I figured out the draft control. I could plow in fourth gear sometimes, third always.

Anyway, my question, when I loose traction but not power, what does that mean? Is it plow setup, too little weiht on the tractor, worn out tires? My plow setup might need fine tuning, but the furrows all turned over if I hugged the right side of the furrow. The tires are the biggest offered in the 4610, 15.5x38, filled with Calcium. Is the 4610 just a 3 plow tractor? Tractor data says 44 drawbar horsepower.

This is not crucial to me, three bottoms is plenty for my needs, but if I can fine tune and save time and fuel, and get a better result, I want to. This year, I am only doing a couple food plots and maybe the garden.

Farmallb · Apr 20, 2014

How much air are in your rear tires? Most young people put way to much air in their tires for heavy pulling.
It does look like 4 bottoms would be too much for that tractor. Are they 14 or 16in?

Hotflashjr · Apr 20, 2014

Not enough traction. Add some rear wheel weights or fluid in
the tires and it will help. Made a huge difference for me on my
John Deere MT for plowing.

maxwell99 · Apr 20, 2014

BJ,
Plows look good, wings shined up good, someday when you have nothing to do, take the rest of that 4th plow hardware off and give the old plows a coat or two of bright blue Ford paint, so it matches your tractor.

It is always better to have a smaller plow and not work the tractor so hard,

Remember: a little extra fuel and time is much cheaper than new gears, clutch paks or a motor rebuild. Your tires look ok.

just check the tire pressure and insure the tires are not over inflated. If the tires have cal chloride, you better not have a leak or it will rust and eat up your rear wheels,

most tractor tire shops do not use that stuff any more, not epa or environment friendly.

you have a fine looking rig,

that front end loader hanging out front may be lifting your rear tires off the ground and you are losing traction. you need to add some rear wheel weights, if you are going to plow with the loader in place.

rrlund · Apr 20, 2014

I think the loader hanging off the front has something to do with it.

Mike Fitz · Apr 20, 2014

Did you have your loader on? Having the weight on the front would
take weight off the back, and cost traction, also would make the
front wheels push harder. Also what condition are your plow shares,
worn ones pull hard and don't suck in like they should, whitch
would cost traction. Mike

Allan in NE · Apr 20, 2014

Get that loader off.

Allan

DeltaRed · Apr 20, 2014

All the affore mentioned points are pretty much
right on....But,do you have the draft/depth control
set to carry the plow at about 8" +/- ? or you
letting it go too deep,Like 'all the way to China'?
In our 'country' 44 horse is a 2 plow tractorIf you
are "hugging" the right side furrow wall,then your
wheels are probably set too narrow for plowing.

bja105 · Apr 20, 2014

I think my tires are a little too wide. They are 7' outside to outside.

I never thought about the loader, good idea. I also want to get it off for field work so I don't beat up the front end needlessly. I have had the tractor since January and have not been brave enough to take off the loader. I need to take off the loader to run the hydraulics on my new disc, and was planning on trying next weekend. I don't have a hard, flat, level spot. I might borrow space in the neighbor's driveway to remove the loader. I am building an equipment shed soon, and will get a good flat spot for that and for repairs.

Here's my little field. Two years ago I plowed it with a Cub Cadet, and the V shape of the plot made it hard, I repeated the mistake this time, too.

Mike Fitz · Apr 20, 2014

On 3/19/14 I posted a publication for setting plows, it is for trailer
plows but most of the information still applies. Look up- O/T plow
publication (long). Mike

DeltaRed · Apr 20, 2014

I had a loader like that.Allied 690 on an IH 826.
I removed it on 'soft' ground.Put a pallet under
the bucket, and a 2-3 ft length of 2x12 under the
stands. Stood there for 2 years.Your tires are not
too wide.With a plow,the 'critical' measurement is
inside to inside (two-way plow),or center of
drawbar to inside of tire.Yes,you should remove
the loader for 'farming' as it will beat up the
frontand will 'waller' the pins/bushings of the
loader.That issue is MAGNIFIED when bounceing
across water 'marks'/corrugates.In
addition,because it is so far foreward each pound
up front takes an equal amount of wt OFF the rear
wheels and pushes the front tires into the
dirt,takeing more power and traction to just move
the tractor across the soft dirt of the fields.

bja105 · Apr 20, 2014

Good ideas. I have lots of pallets and lumber.

If I widen the tires it will push the plows farther left, leaving more unplowed strip. Moving the the wheels in and out is another thing I haven't been brave enough to do. I have the operator's manual and have read it. I will learn all the little things in time. I am just happy to have a somewhat modern that all works.

DeltaRed · Apr 20, 2014

I'm sorry,I meant to say left furrow wall.Hugging the right means that the wheels are too wide

Mike Fitz · Apr 20, 2014

Your wheel spacing doesn't look too bad. Get your tape measure
and do some home work before you bust out the wrenches.Happy plowing. Mike

paul · Apr 20, 2014

Traction is lost with that loader hanging on front, takes weight
off the back wheels.

But, 15 hp per bottom is good, so you have a 3 bottom plow
tractor in clay ground, you won't be able to pull 4 bottoms very
often even if you address the traction issue, you will then just
be out of hp....

Paul

Bret4207 · Apr 21, 2014

You have a 44 hp tractor with what appears to be 3 16" bottoms. I'd drop one more bottom and live happily ever after. 44 drawbar hp around here might pull 2 10's, maybe 2-14's on a snady highland. What kind of ground you have makes all the difference. Our clay will test any tractor.

BTW- I think you have the same JD plow I have. Mine was a 3-14 bottom and I dropped one for use on my 55hp DB990. Works real nice now.

Eldo case · Apr 21, 2014

Looks like you are plowing real deep. That might be the problem 6-8" is deep enough.

RodinNS · Apr 21, 2014

Lose the loader... but there's no need for you to think that tractor will drag 4 bottoms. You've just got more plow than tractor. I've seen places where 2 bottoms is all a 4xx0 will want, particularly a wide bottom.

Rod

davewilley · Apr 21, 2014

First you have to figure out if you have a 14" or 16" plow pick a spot on one of the beams and measure to the same spot on the next beam.Looks to me like it will be 14 or 16 inches. If it's 14, the inside of the right rear tire to the center of the tractor should be about 25 1/2" If its 16 it should be 27 1/2" If it's close but not right on, you can probably adjust that lever in the last picture to get the 14 or 16 inch width of cut on the front bottom. The rest of the bottoms will take care of themselves. Once you start plowing after a ways down the furrow, Stop the tractor leave the plow in the ground and walk around the back and take a look the plow should be level front to back adjusted with the top link, and side to side, adjusted with the crank on the right lift. arm. If the front furrow is the same width as the others,your good if not move that lever to point the plow to get a wider or narrower furrow. DON'T move it too much at a time.

DeltaRed · Apr 21, 2014

Paul,15 horse wont even move a plow.We figure it takes 25-30 hp per bottom.Sometimes more....

Anonymous-0 · Apr 22, 2014

Load up the weight, drop a few gears and plow till bad things happen to the transmission.

Your're way over stressing the tractor at 15hp per bottom.

Low 20-25hp per bottom is a good number. Once you get close to 30 you tend to go up a gear and plow on the fast side - can cause breakage to the plow

Adirondack case guy · Apr 23, 2014

You have plenty of tractor there to handle that plow nicely.
Get out your OP manual for your tractor and study up on how to operate the draft control 3pt system, so it is controlling the depth and transfering the weight of the plow to the rear of the tractor when the ground conditions change.
Loren, the Acg.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 24, 2014

Looks like the loader is taking a lot of weight off the back of the tractor, are your wheels spaced correctly? The plow looks pretty rusty, once you get the moleboards nice & shinny will help too.

GordoSD · Apr 25, 2014

I see about 25 spots to park that loader in that field photo

Plowing question

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