another dumb question about plowing

88-1175 · Jun 22, 2013

I got asked by a fellow,what makes pulling a plow so hard.his logic kinda makes sense,in a way.his idea goes...the coulter cuts the sod and its roots on the side,which should be easy,and at the same time a sharp edge cuts the roots on the bottom and seperates the ground,while flippin it over.sounds easy enough.so what makes this so hard.

Handyman · Jun 22, 2013

when you plow one acre of soil at an eight inch depth you move two million pounds of soil.

charlespretzer · Jun 22, 2013

If your plowing river gumbo, it's more like 3.4 million pounds.

1legonutt · Jun 22, 2013

plowing is by nature dificult task but a plow that is not propperly hitched can make a hard job even harder alot of small adjustments can make a big difference proper moldboard plow adjustment is a dying art that needs to be saved find an old farmer who has ate alot of dust he can help make sure your not waisting your energy and putting extra ware on your plow

Anonymous-0 · Jun 22, 2013

1legonutt is right on, plowing is hard but poor adjustments can make it terrible. I like a trailer plow because once you get it set all you need to do is drive. There are very few people that can properly land a 3pt plow much less set the cutters or coulters.

ray hofstetter · Jun 22, 2013

Ten years ago, when dad was 79, he did a pretty good job. Got his picture in the local paper. Today, at 89, he still does just as well-only now he uses an 860 an 2-14's

Bret4207 · Jun 23, 2013

Explain to your friend that the coulter doesn't cut the full depth of the plow and that the plow share doesn't cut the roots but rather wedges them up. You aren't cutting much in plowing, you're wedging stuff apart that's been together for 6 months to 10,000 years. And then there's rolling and shearing the soil. Go get a hunk of heavy clay sod 8" thick, 14" wide and 2 feet long and have your friend try to twist it into a corkscrew. For that matter hand your pal a nice sharp spade and point him towards a field with instructions to force the spade into the soil and inch deep and as wide as the spade and turn it in a continuous layer. Then watch him sweat.

A lot of things seem easy when you don't understand what makes them so hard.

Bret4207 · Jun 23, 2013

(quoted from post at 15:32:51 06/22/13) 1legonutt is right on, plowing is hard but poor adjustments can make it terrible. I like a trailer plow because once you get it set all you need to do is drive. There are very few people that can properly land a 3pt plow much less set the cutters or coulters.

Lotta truth in that. I prefer a trailer plow as far as adjusting it goes. A 3 pt is a nightmare compared to a trailer plow. And the trailer is a nightmare compared to a horse drawn walking plow.

another dumb question about plowing

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