contour plowing on a sidehill - help

Ok, so I am moldboard plowing with a 3 bottom 14" semi mount plow (jd f135H I think). I have been using this plow for about 5 years now and am self taught when it comes to plowing so it's been a learn as I go process. My fields usually look halfway decent when they are on relatively flat ground - however, I have some sidehills that I am attempting to contour plow and have been having issues getting the furrows to turn all the way over. This is bush hogged grass/weedy ground in western Pa so it is fairly hilly - eventually it will go to hay but I want to turn under the weeds and put it into oats before I plant hay.

I have a manual for the plow- have been through it, have tried my adjustments as it recommends - my parts are in decent shape, I use coulters on the sod and they seem to help. The plow also has trash boards. All of these issues occur as I plow turning my furrow up hill and the plow is shined up nicely. On my first pass laying out a line, the 2nd and 3rd furrows tends to not want to turn over and often falls back into themselves as if I never plowed there. I then end up trying to overcome this with each subsequent pass - often to no avail. Even when I do get my furrows turning, they often ridge up at 90 degrees rather than fully laying over at 160-180 degrees (as they would on flatter ground).

Here is a crude diagram: when I am on this side of a contour (I think convex) ->C (think of the C as the hill and the arrow is the tractor - I turn my furrow to the right up the hill) I have noticed that I turn a much better furrow than when I am on the concave side of the countour ->) . Often when attempting to plow along an S type contour, I end up giving up on the concave portion because my furrows just won't turn over.

I am partially venting/looking to see if anyone has any thoughts/ideas. I know they make a sidehill hitch - which I don't have. Would this be a major reason for my troubles? Maybe this plow just isn't meant for sidehill plowing in sod? Maybe this plow won't work with the Ford 4630 that I'm pulling it with (I never have an issue with power, but my wheel spacing is not adjustable so I have tried to make up for that with my hitch adjustment.) I don't know, I kind of frustrated - had looked forward to plowing this weekend and spent more time out of the seat trying to get it adjusted correctly before I threw in the towel.

Sorry for the long post - appreciate any replies.

Thanks,
Jameson

Your problem is you have a John Deere plow!!! Grew up with JD plows and the same issue, then one day the father came home with a 710 International and then God said, let there be a PLOW, and it was!

Try dragging a chain . I've seen guys hook wires on the beam that sometimes help pull the sod over. There is also mold board extension basically an extra strip of metal on the outer edge of the mold board that might be the best bet

IMHO if soil isn't folding over especially since you stated your plow has trash boards you aren't pulling plow "fast enough". How many mph are you plowing? Are bottoms scoured(shiny)?

Have an international plow that does the exact same thing . Best thing I've found is to throw the furrow down hill which on a steep hill will keep you awake for sure and sometimes it takes some creative planing to be able to throw the dirt down hill but that's the best thing I've done whether polling my John Deere or ih plow

Another thing that works is to let your furrow side lift link down a little bit at a time but don't drop it to much or you'll raise the point of your share to much and the plow won't go in the ground you just want to drop the end of the moldboard a little to help throw the sod roll the rest of the way over

Well maybe, I usually strike my first furrow in low 3 (tractor is an 8speed) which is
pretty slow. Once I get to plowing I usually plow in 1 or 2 high (5th and 6th gear)

Agreed, I've resorted to this when I just can't get the sod to turn right.

Do you come back the next year and throw it uphill then? I'm always worried about pushing all my topsoil down hill and I really don't like the dead furrow that I end up leaving on the top side of the hill. This might be my only option though with this plow.

Speed will help. Easier said then done I know but I need to be in 1st high to roll sod uphill with a 1086 and a set of oliver plows and that is not possible since plowing the soil uphill usually means the tractor is going up hill to. Have turned sod with a moldoard on hills and its rough when going to corn then chisel it and that smooths out all the little furrows. Now just trying to no till and forget all that work.

I like what vscummins said in his second post: try rolling the plow over with the lift link, or leveling box, to lower the moldboard tails down so they push on the furrow slice more.

Also, how wide and deep are you plowing? A thin furrow slice will lay over better than a square one: if you're plowing too deep for your furrow width you lean toward a square shaped furrow slice. Your experience on the different sides of the contour support this idea. On the convex side of the contour the plow is effectively cutting wider; on the concave side it's effectively cutting narrower, creating square furrow slices. Also, on the convex side it's cutting wider and maybe leaving a bit of ground uncut which makes a hinge for the furrow slice to rotate on. On the concave side it's cutting narrow and fully cutting the furrow slice and the plow may be pushing the whole slice over rather than turning it.

And, you might try removing the cover boards; they might be slowing up the top side the furrow slice. Moldboard extensions can help. Properly adjusted coulters can help-if you're making a ragged cut rather a nice clean cut, the furrow slice will have trouble rolling over. The old plow manuals suggest lowering coulters in sod, presumably to cut the sod strip cleanly rather than making the plow bottom tear it up.

Yes after the sod so turned you can throw the dirt uphill again again if you want to . Are soil is so heavy on the hills that it doesn't move anyway . We can plow spring or fall and we don't get much if any erosion

Go no till, plant on contour, you will save fuel and time.

Ditto. Scrap the plow, get it sprayed, rent/hire it planted. It'll save your soil, save fuel, save time. Then, find a plow day to attend in order to get the itch to plow out of your system

Thanks everyone for the replies. Sometimes it helps to get out of my own head and hear what others think. Don't have the option of no-till, or a new plow, or of even hiring it out (not many guys left farming around here). I do need to plow less square furrows - I'll have to pay more attention. And pull faster when I'm plowing. I'll probably end up just turning the furrows downhill and then replowing it back uphill this fall after I take the grain off.

-Jameson