WD 45 a Plowing Machine

I posted this over on the AC page also.....

I remember yearsssssssssss ago the old timers tellin me a WD 45 with a correct WD snap mounted plow pullin 3 bottoms could plow circles around say a Farmall M or a John Deere A or an Oliver 77 etc sooooooooooo at the Elnora Tractor show last week here comes a dressed out WD 45 with FOUR wheel weights on each side,,,,,,,,,,the wrap around plus FOUR more weights on the front,,,,,,,,and a 3 bottom AC mounted plow. Theres a well dressed M with a 3 bottom pull plow and a few other tractors in the field and I watched them all plow a good bit AND IN MY OPINION THAT WD 45 SMOKED THE COMPETITION. I figure its the mounting and the balance and a few other reasons why it can out perform a pull plow set up and it was fun to watch and how "manly" that WD looked with 4 (or maybe it was even 5 ??) wheel weights on each side plus 4 or 5 up front wooooooooooo hooooooooooo

John T

I never plowed with a WD45, but I remember watching one at an old tractor plow day. It looked to me like the traction booster system was more of a depth cheater system. You could see the plow continually raising and lowering as it went through the field. The harder it pulled the more it lifted and decreased the depth and power required to pull it. Not trying to knock AC because all draft control systems do nearly the same thing.

yep those old wd45"s were just a pretty good tractor all around.had their idiosincracies,but most of them did in one way or another.

Around here if you had a bad back-you probably drove an AC!!!!!!!!

Fer sure, gettin on and off and those dern seats OUCH LOL Sure is a plowing machine however

John T

I always figured any tractor was better than following those mules or horses when plowing. Hal

Interesting. I'm sure it has been done but I would like to see Ford's claim back in the day that a 9N could match acres plowed per hour against a Farmall M. The N series had to be that productive to cut into the 3 plow tractor competition's business as Ford claimed it could.

I've plowed with a WD45 and trailer plows and it sure won't have outpulled any M I've been around. Spent too much time spinning the wheels, even with wheel weights. Mounted plows make a big difference - not really comparing apples to apples here in my opinion.

what made the 9n ,was it was the first with draft control.and as one that used them with and without,it was a real improvement.could it hang with the big tractors? it depends.9n was always a pretty fast tractor,some folks say too fast,and the automatic draft made it very simple to operate.so you could most of the time could keep moving where some of the others would be stopped or rehitching. but by the time the wd45 and others came along they had somewhat lost their advantage i believe. i run all "n" tractors and like them now but a old wd45 wasnt no slouch as a tractor. One thing that helped sell many a ford was the fact that they WERE so small and handy.folks were just moving from horses and mules on most farms and you could park a n in a old horse stall so you didnt have to build equipment sheds.also the equipment could be more easily kept out of the weather.

Yep that was my point, the AC WITH AN AC MOUNTED PLOW was sure better then using an AC with a pull type plow. If the AC was "pulling" a plow versus an IHC M doing the same, then my money would be on the M.

Fun chat and Im not really an AC guy, I was just impressed how well the WD 45 performed with its MOUNTED plow

John T

While I was in high school I worked for a couple of brothers who had a fleet of nice running WD-45's. They were plowing machines. The traction booster made me nervous - I'd plow all the way across the field, dreading the slight hill ahead that I knew would make the front end light. It's fun to run a sweet running tractor - of any color.

And as the other poster mentioned - they were hard on your back. I remember the old WD owners who walked down the street on Saturday night with their back kinda twisted. Always made me wonder if their back was twisted because the tractor seat was crooked, or if the tractor seat was crooked because their back was twisted. . .

Paul

back in 1954 dad needed another tractor local AC dealer real good fellow kept saying how good wd 45 would plow in our heavy ground. dealer brough 3 bottom wd 45 down. Deal was if it could keep up with the co-op e4 and oliver 80 he had a sale. First round wd 45 got into tough ground could not back up, could not lift plow as front just came up. dad passed by plowing around, tripped out circled , throw to chain. Dealer hookud on to pull 45 backward. not a word was spoken. Later dad bought at auction a late wd for pto use wagons etc. later put 45 crank and pistons in. was now a 45 as had curved gear shift and 45 gearing, A 3 bottom plow came with wd. uncle in softer ground had wd 45 and farmed very well with them. he had an extra 2 bottom with fast hitch ac . They traded plows as 3 was usless to us and 2 bottom too small for him. Having all the big tractors plowing and one extra man to work 2 bottom was put on our now wd45. maybe 2 rounds, hit tough spot, front came up so high it stood up over center and had to stand on plow push on front hood to get it to fall fordward. needless to say that ended ANY attempt to plow in out tougher ground. I did see the plowed ground John T was talking about, sand and really easy plowing. Good patch to scour plow bottoms!!

I think the more fair comparison would have been to a JD G, 70, or 720.
I not sure too many would plow circles around those beast when they were tuned and set up correctly. And if gas cost was factored in, it was no contest for the JD's.

I spent a lot of time in the seat of a WD since I was about 9 years old and did not seem to effect my back. Maybe I was not in as big of hurry as lots of folks, so didn't get throwed around as much. Followed my brother around the field a lot, one of us on the WD with 3-14's mounted and the other on a M with 3-14 pull type. All I can say the pull type plow did a more even job of plowing. That WD did stay right in there with the M.

(quoted from post at 06:54:34 09/10/12) what made the 9n ,was it was the first with draft control.and as one that used them with and without,it was a real improvement.could it hang with the big tractors? it depends.9n was always a pretty fast tractor,some folks say too fast,and the automatic draft made it very simple to operate.so you could most of the time could keep moving where some of the others would be stopped or rehitching. but by the time the wd45 and others came along they had somewhat lost their advantage i believe. i run all "n" tractors and like them now but a old wd45 wasnt no slouch as a tractor. One thing that helped sell many a ford was the fact that they WERE so small and handy.folks were just moving from horses and mules on most farms and you could park a n in a old horse stall so you didnt have to build equipment sheds.also the equipment could be more easily kept out of the weather.

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I have to laugh at people thinking that an N series Ford will pull 3 bottoms. That's crazy, maybe 3 4 inch plows, but not 3-12's or even 10's. What sold all those Fords was FINANCING! Ford Motor Co had the wherewithal to be able to extend credit on terms most tractor co's couldn't or wouldn't match. They were cheap tractors and the sheer numbers sold made the Ford 3 pt set up the standard. There were other better systems that came along but the numbers of Fords beat them. Cheap tractors, cheap implements and financing sold the Fords. today they sell because they are "cute" and not big and threatening. Every year I see citiots come out here, but their 2.3 acre farmette and buy an 8N. 2 years later they have a Kubota or Deere CUT that they traded the Ford in on when they figured out it was a toy. Actually, they traded a $2K toy for a $25K toy, but on 2.3 acres it works.

End of rant.

do a little research,plenty of them pulled 3-12". could i do it? no way.fords sold for a lot of reasons,and they were PERFECTLY suited for what they were intended for,which was farming forty to 160 acres. they dont pull a brushhog too good,they dont run a front loader too good,but niether does most other tractors of that day, simply because they werent designed to. comparing a ford 9n to a tractor twice its size and hp,is sort of cheating. put a 9n beside a ,"b" or "c" allis,maybe a "h" international etc and you have a better comparison.they were simply 23 hp FARMING tractors,NOT utility tractors.and they filled that roll very well,and continue to do so. they are the proto type of a whole generation of tractors,that every one to this day tries to copy.NO other brand of tractor ,hitch system,etc has been so copied. fast hitch,snap hitch,nearly all the others are long gone,and a thriving buisness is ongoing converting these hitches to the hitch that the lowly 9n made popular. in terms of its success the other companies could only dream. were their hitches bad? no, in no way, but look at which has become the standard. would be hard to dismiss the 9n out of hand as a crackpot scheme...and truthfully by and large,they did and continue to do what their ads said. slow ,weak,lightweight,all these things are true, but by those standards in that day and time,they were a great machine. and in their proper role of a small FARM tractor ,they still are great little tractors to this day. very few made the impact on the industry as a whole as did the lowly 9n. comparing one to a modern 25 hp tractor is not really fair, but look close at nearly any modern tractor ,and youll see the 9n there. modified ,up dated ,reworked to fill more varied tasks but its there.most others are and in reality always were less suited to the roles that the 9n slipped into easily. to me the 9n is sort of like the mauser rifle of the tractor world,,,

I have never seen an N series pull more than 2 bottoms and usually those pulling 2 bottoms were plowing 4-5" deep with 10's. Maybe in sand they can, but not in heavy ground. I'll stack any N series up to a Case VA, Farmall A or C, Deere B or M, Ollie 70, etc. with appropriate plows and the Ford will do no better, perhaps even worse. The N series, IMO, suffer from a nostalgic revisionist viewpoint. It was the hydraulics and 3 pt and most of all financing that sold them. They make a great little raking or woods rig, fine for moving wagons and such. They aren't great cultivators, plowing rigs, etc. I would dispute that they weren't utility tractors because that's exactly what they were. I know people love them, I just never got the fever.

been plowing with one off and on for 60 some odd years,2 14s isnt any problem around my places if the plows in any shape at all, and i have no problem getting depth. not utility rigs, (and thats where lots of folks dislike comes from),folks found them so handy they sort of assumed that roll,and did it better than most anyone else. I'm well aware of their limitations, i assure you,and tell any and all what they are. I have these simply because i can walk into nearly any farm store and buy parts to repair them,and they are easy to haul which is important if your farms are 200 miles apart.theres no nostalga to it,they simply do what i need when i need it done.

(quoted from post at 05:01:37 09/10/12) I posted this over on the AC page also.....

I remember yearsssssssssss ago the old timers tellin me a WD 45 with a correct WD snap mounted plow pullin 3 bottoms could plow circles around say a Farmall M or a John Deere A or an Oliver 77 etc sooooooooooo at the Elnora Tractor show last week here comes a dressed out WD 45 with FOUR wheel weights on each side,,,,,,,,,,the wrap around plus FOUR more weights on the front,,,,,,,,and a 3 bottom AC mounted plow. Theres a well dressed M with a 3 bottom pull plow and a few other tractors in the field and I watched them all plow a good bit AND IN MY OPINION THAT WD 45 SMOKED THE COMPETITION. I figure its the mounting and the balance and a few other reasons why it can out perform a pull plow set up and it was fun to watch and how "manly" that WD looked with 4 (or maybe it was even 5 ??) wheel weights on each side plus 4 or 5 up front wooooooooooo hooooooooooo

John T

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Why would you need all of the weights? I have plowed plenty with a WD45
with one set of weights. An AC is hard to beat with original plows. You can turn over a lot of soil and do it neatly. Darn old M will plow plenty but it does a sloppy job because of the nechanical trip or the lazy hydraulic lift systems.

(quoted from post at 11:06:09 09/11/12) been plowing with one off and on for 60 some odd years,2 14s isnt any problem around my places if the plows in any shape at all, and i have no problem getting depth. not utility rigs, (and thats where lots of folks dislike comes from),folks found them so handy they sort of assumed that roll,and did it better than most anyone else. I'm well aware of their limitations, i assure you,and tell any and all what they are. I have these simply because i can walk into nearly any farm store and buy parts to repair them,and they are easy to haul which is important if your farms are 200 miles apart.theres no nostalga to it,they simply do what i need when i need it done.

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On my land 2-14'a requires at least 45 hp. You must be on really sandy, light soil.

considering a 720 is 14 ponies more than a 45 it should do better, but so is always not the case.

NEKS, similar experience for me, but started at about 13 yrs. old. Our other plowing tractor was a Ford Commander 6000 with a mounted 4x14 JD plow. My year younger brother and I would plow just about all night. Was cool to see how cherry red the mufflers would get when working hard. Our WD had an M&W power kit in it, that engine would really crackle with power and ran as smooth as a sewing machine.