For those who like good plowing.

connor9988

Well-known Member
Location
Central Iowa
We are in the dead of winter so I think its time I throw out some plowing photos for everyone. I have been holding them back throughout the year so they wouldn't be old and boring this winter.

Ill start with some recent ones and then well go a ways back.

These are from various state and national plowing matches.

I hope everyone enjoys.
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Thank you for posting these great pictures. I love seeing a good job of plowing. It is a skill that is not learned much anymore.

I have taught my sons how to plow but they have not done much of it so I am not sure they will remember how to when I am gone.

P.S. I would like them to have the contest on my type of ground. HILLS AND HILLS. LOL They always show these level flat fields plowing. I say let them try that on a 6-8% sidehill and then let the fun begin.
 
Thanks for taking the time to post a great group of pictures. We host a small plow day every fall. Everyone has a good day. Steve
 
Thanks for posting this brings back some memories from my FFA day in school. There used to be plowing contests around here that we went to and I won a couple over the years. Sadly this is a lost art form that most people don't understand but what I learned stuck with me and I still use these skills I learned way back when today. All that good lookin iron in the field makes me want to hook a plow up today ! Bandit
 
We always lift the plow doing the deadfurrow so it would not wash out. By just lifting a few times depending on the length of it,it doesn't become a tile ditch.
Plowing on hilly ground does require a degree of difference. We are from 2-12percent slope on some fields. We also leave waterways of sod.
 
Very interesting International high crop/narrow tread machine. Looks like an 886 or so. Those narrow treads would really limit the amount you could do, but all we have here is whole field tillage! I'm sure that's handy in a southern climate.
 
Great photos. It's been awhile since I've seen mold boards that could serve as mirrors. Thanks for posting.

And that is great ground. We do not have soil like that in my area.

Dean
 
Yes JD Seller, and some fields with rocks and boulders that cause the plow to trip or hook the plow and raise the front of the tractor. My plowing never looks as neat as those at the plowing contest but the crops still seem to grow OK. I did notice that there was a lot of space between the furrows even in that nice loam. I like my furrows to be close to each other as that saves a lot when finishing the field for the planter. That could be the result of plowing to slow.
 
Great pictures. That looks like really good soil.My Dads farm had a lot of what he called gumbo holes.You would hit those spots and the plow would come out and pull to the side. The furrow looked like a snake in the grass.After it rained those spots were really soft but when it dried up they got hard again.
 
Nice photos but that's what you call easy plowing. Put them in some hills with clay streaks in it and see how easy it is to plow.
 
Nice pics! I can appreciate a good job plowing. When I was young dad got mad at us if the furrows were too crooked, but with our varying soils and hills they were rarely perfectly straight. Now I just do the job and don't worry about it too much.
 
Great pics and looks like all was having a good time,,, some of those last ones had very straight rows but were not doing what I call a good job of plowing,, all the "ruts" would not pass my quality control nor would I want my fields like that, Thank you for posting these I enjoyed seeing them
cnt
 
I agree,underage, what I see as "good" plowing is when the finished field is level and you can't tell how many bottoms the plow had or what the field had for it's last crop.
 
A couple questions. Is there something wrong with the plow setup to require iron weights to hold it down? I don't recall anyone around here needing them. I saw a couple of tractors with white pvc pipe strapped to them. I was wondering what that might be for? I could imagine a holster for a sickle bar for mowing.
 
yep, i had the same thoughts. never would be able to drive acroos that plowed field.
 
Great pictures! Where is this taken? I can smell fresh turned earth, there is the smell of tractor exhaust, lots of people being over critical of a job well done, the thrum of four and six cylinder engines doing what they were designed to do! Can we come and play in the dirt?
 
Thank you for all the replies. I have more pictures I can post later as well if anyone is interested.
Hopefully I answer everyone's questions here.

The matches pictured (for the most part if I remember correctly) are all from Iowa however people from several different states competed. Feel free to come watch next time however I am not sure on what has to happen for you to compete. If anyone would like to go watch the next state or national matches this summer I can get the information for it so they can plan for it.

The white tubes (PVC pipes) are what some plowmen like to use to hold their sighting poles. There are rules to the competition pertaining to the use of sighting poles.
As for the weights on the plows they are their for several varying reasons. Typically the extra weight will help keep the plow going through hardpans. Also, the weights help get the plows into the ground when the shares are dull. Some might say they need to get new shares but many shares are NLA or very high priced. (especially if they are blacksmith shares)

There used to be plowing matches on hills called contour plowing matches I believe. Plowing on the level makes for a more uniform field to participate on as well as to judge. Plowing on the level also makes it easier for people of all ages and abilities to come out and observe the competition. It is a great learning experience for the younger generations to come out and see how farmers used to till their fields. Often times random people will come up and talk to the plowmen when they are not plowing and they will ask questions about it and people seem generally intrigued when they see it.
 
I'm Going to try to answer some of the comments on the plowing match pictures, the PVC pipe is what the gentleman is using to carry sighting poles used at the start of the match. The weights on the plows are a necessary evil for the varying conditions we encounter, these matches usually take place in August, in stubble fields, often planted wet or harvested wet and compacted to rock like consistency in places. The old plows will come right up out of the ground in places like this, especially if the plow is a little worn( most all of them are). Most plowing matches try to be on decent ground, so all competitors have a reasonably fair shot, there have been matches on hilly ground too, just no pictures in this bunch. Soil conditions are whatever the plots have to offer, anything from sand, to nice loam, to clay, to rocks, (sometimes in the same plot) are encounterd. The ridges in the plowing are the odd thing about plowing matches, the theory is you would plow to leave the ridges, then you would broadcast your seed and then do a light tillage pass and your seeding is done, (seems plausible, but I've never tried it) Mostly plowing matches are a way to get together with friends and put our old iron to work, and show we have some skill at manipulating our machines and the soil, too some written standards.Mike
 
Old timers used to say plowing snow under makes for sour ground. And we all know you can't raise good crops with sour ground.
 
Bruce : Does your ground not freeze that much??? Here in Iowa it gets like concrete most winters. The frost many times is 5-6 feet deep. You sure could not plow here in the winter. I know your further north than I am too.
 
It all depends on the year. I have seen years when you could work manure in in January and February ,and other years when ,like you said hard as concrete. This has been an open winter, that being said I have not done any tillage now for a month myself , none to do. Construction jobs have never stopped or even slowed down . My son runs a excavator, and has been working all winter, very little frost.
 

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