dragging a chain behind a 2 bottom plow

I remember Grandpa dragging a heavy chain behind the plow,,If I remember correctly, the chain was hooked to the plow and made a loop behind the plow..He said it helped bury the grass and made a neater looking job of plowing. Does anyone know of this? I'd like to try it...I just don't remember how he had it hooked up or how long of a chain he used.I guess I should have paid more attention!!
 
Use to pull 1 section of a flexible drag behind the 3/16s plow when I was a kid. Sealed and smoothed the surface. Later when we used 5 and 6
btm plows we pulled a packer behind.
 
d beatty,

What you said is exactly what I used to do with an old 3-14 mold board plow that I used. I did it on corn stalks that I had disked but that still hung up on the plow. It seemed to help some.

Tom in TN
 
(quoted from post at 14:09:00 11/05/18) We use to put a number 9 wire on each bottom to turn tall grass under.

Could you explain further? Would you have a picture? Where and how do you attach the wire?
 
The old plows could plug up easy with corn stalks, tall weeds etc. I remember Dad attaching a wire to each bottom to do what you are saying. They dragged under the furrow to keep them tight. I don't know how
well it worked - I was pretty young in those days.
 


A chain or heavy wire attached up the beam from the point a ways. Used to draw long grass into the furrow and not leave it sticking out to regrow. I've tried it, it works okay, not as good as a jointer on the coulter, but a lot easier to use. That jointer will drive you nuts trying to get it set just right. But, no one bothers with stuff like that anymore.
 
Years ago I would plow sweet clover for my Dad and I pulled two number 9 wires hooked up to the beam of the plow. They were about 6 to 8 feet long. It takes a little experimenting as to where to tie it, but it works really good. The sweet clover I plowed under was around 6 feet tall and it was totally buried with the wires. I chain would work also. Just have to try different spots to get it to follow in the furrow.
 
I would guess the chain worked just like our harrow did. Whenever we plowed sod or heavy clay that was really too wet, dad had me drag the field with the harrow,it knocked the top off of the furrow and trapped the moisture in the ground. It was a bear driving that A over plowed ground, but it made a big difference later.
 
A heavy wire, like #9 fencing wire, tied to the coulter frame fork would develop a nice curve and help lay over standing attached stubble or
stalks and fold them into the furrow. The old Oliver plows had a Y fork for the Coulter?s, we just tied the wire on the fork next to the coulter shaft.
On the newer one armed coulter brackets, have to tie on to the drop down and front of the brackets. For us it worked better the lower you had
the wire on the bracket.

In my experience it did not help at all for loose stubble or after disking, but for something still attached to the ground.

It then worked better to turn to the right while plowing, have to be careful turning to the left as the next bottom likes to set on and cut off the
wire. You need the wire long enough to hold in the furrow and be slightly anchored by the dirt folding on it.

Paul
 
Pulling a chain/harrow/roller helps smooth spring plowed ground, saving a trip across the field. Fall plowed ground is usually left rough to aid water absorption and to reduce wind and water erosion.
 
From Popular Mechanics 1947
cvphoto1916.jpg


cvphoto1917.jpg
 
I have used covering wires with success before but there was always a few weeds that were right next to the furrow wall that were the wrong height so they didn't get pulled under by the wire on the front bottom. I rigged up a chain hooked to the right side of the plow draw bar and then to the furrow axle of the plow. When rigged up just right, the chain will pull down those weeds next to the furrow wall. Similar to the chain on the walking plow in this old booklet:

https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/ORC00000454/PDF

These guys like to rig up lots of chains and wires to pull down weeds and stalks:

http://bigrockplowingmatch.com/gallery/2011-big-rock-plowing-match-photos/
 
(quoted from post at 08:00:39 11/07/18) From Popular Mechanics 1947
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto1916.jpg">

<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto1917.jpg">

Thanks Southern Ray for the old photos...That's the idea I was getting at...I imagine it takes some monkeying around to get the wires in the right place..But I'm gonna give it a try...I've got grass growing up in straight rows that wasn't completely buried during plowing...And I mowed the week before so the grass wasn't really tall.
 
The chain making a loop was never used in my area. It would have just drug on top and to do what the chain tried to do would just hook a single section of a rotary hoe on to try to slightly work the surface of the soil and smooth it. Not for weed control. To use a chain for weed control like the wire that you had to replace every other day if not every day because it was wore out no longer being their the chain would be a verry expencive option as it probably would not have lasted over a week unless you were trying to use such a heavy chain that it would pull verry hard under the soil. And then the links probably would catch and hold and pull the weeds grass untill it was completely pluged. And if you started out the day with 8' of wire likely you would end the day with 6' with the rest wore away.
 
I would agree the use the wire the material has to be growing in the ground and not loose. Otherwise it will not help. As far as wearing out, I plowed 20 plus acres of sweet clover and never did I ever have to change the wire. It never wore out for me. The wire stayed the same length and was the same from beginning to end.
 
We always had one under the tractor to nock
tall old hay ground down an found by doing
this we had less plow puging up. We also
used it when the corn was picked aND worked
good for that also plus if you got stuck
you had that chain to get pulled out.
 

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