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Dan, It seems to me that you probably want to find a tractor with more horsepower, live PTO, and live hydraulics. If you wanted to stay with the Fords, which are inexpensive to purchase, parts are relatively inexpensive, and are very very reliable, you might want to look at a Ford Powermaster 861 or 881 (hp is low-mid-40s). The next logical step up would be a late model 4000 (low 50s PTO hp) or a 5000 (mid 50s PTO hp). The rule of thumb for a plow is 12hp + 1,000 pounds/per plow bottom. However, that depends on how fast you want to plow. Many farmers today require much higher ground speeds than say the 3mph of an 8N plowing. To the best of my knowledge, you"d need a tractor in the 75-100hp range to run a 5 bottom plow. The Ford hundred series are rated for 3 bottom plows. You should be able to pull a 4 bottom with the 4000 and 5000, 5 bottoms if you have light soil and are willing to keep your ground speed low on the 5000. I believe the rule of thumb for a chisel plow is 25hp per chisel. Obviously, you can work around this if you are patient and careful with your equipment. Hopefully some other folks will add additional thoughts (and correct me if I am wrong with my numbers) Colin, MN
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