Finally got the MF880 tried

Its taken a while but I finally managed to get onto my neighbours land to try out my MF 1155 and 880 plow. Its been a terrible season so far, rain and snow much of the time, just never seems to end. As some of you may know the tractor was bought on Ebay a few years ago from a guy in central Nebraska and the plow from a dealership in Ontario. I had someone containerise them and shipped back to Scotland. The tractor had a wrecked engine which I replaced from a MF 850 combine, the plow was resassembled as it needed to completely dismantled to utilise container space. Assembling the plow was heavy but interesting work. I have only plowed twice before once at about 14 or 15years using a Grey diesel Ferguson and a two bottom Ferguson plow and more recently when I built my current house, I used a International B450 and a Ferguson two bottom plow again.
The MF 880 is a six bottow semi mounted 16 inch version so just a little different from the fully mounted ones from before. As you can see Ive made a start and manged to blacken the ground a little. I wasnt sure how the 1155 would manage as Ive heard conflicting stories mainly due to soil conditions etc, I still need to make a few adjustments as it plowing a little too deep for our area, she"s down about 10 inches and should be nearer 8 for our area and I think I need to move it a little toward the left as the first furrow is a little narrow. Tractor has lots of power and has grip as well but I think I need to let down the tyres, they are at 15lbs (I use this for road transport). I was thinking about letting them down to 5lbs. Anyway if you guys have any suggestions or advice about how to improve my first results then please let me know. What gear and speed do you plow in your areas?

Nice piece of kit there, Bill. I am jealous! Looks like you are not getting the blue skies and drying that we are getting in Norn Iron?
Yet I can still see snow all around our place. I love those big stubble fields you have to practice in!
Sam

Looks good. You will want to be in 3rd gear low range and low or high multi-power I always liked low multi but would sometimes run in high. I had an 1155 and pulled my dads 880 6-16s with it.

Good looking outfit. I used a MF 1150 with a turbo added to pull a 7 x 16 880 plow years ago before switching to all no till. Could cover the acres fairly quick. Did you use the original 1155 P5218 injection pump, or leave the combine pump on with it's quickier governor action? Also may want to try 10-12 psi, I think you may do tire sidewall damage at 5 psi.

looks like your wheels need to slide out farther
5psi is way low
drop it slowly
12psi first
then 10psi
don't see any signs of slipage land side
also raising the plow will pull easier
good luck
Ron

I just left the Combine pump, is the tractor much different?

I think you will start to get tire buckle if you drop any more. On high hp tractors like that if the soil is hard you may need 20 pounds to keep them from jumping and chattering. Have someone look at them from the side while pulling to see if the side walls are buckling.

If you deflate the tires any more than they are, you will defeat the function of the draft/depth control feature built into the tractor. and ruin the tires. The imp has to move up and down, and not squat the tires. Case recomended tire pressures higher than you are running. The illustration shows why, and how the weight is concentrated on the rear wheels, when plowing.
Loren, the Acg.

Bill, you don"t say what tires you are running... if they are good quality radials, i"d suggest about 6-8 psi depending on the axle weight, 5 would be a little on the low side for a single tire (unless they are really wide (700+) but they look like 520s or so (20.9 in old inch talk) If they are bias (crossply to you) then 12 to 15 is about as low as i"d go, bias won"t last with anything much lower.

Sorry, can"t help with plough settings...

Are you running dual straight pipes? Hope you have good hearing protection.

Yes duel open pipes, I use ear protection.

Hey....Hey....you have gotten it in the ground. Do you have an operator"s manual? I could copy mine and send it to you if needed.

Moveing thr right wheel out will take care of the narrow cut on the first moleboard@

Its all about having something different from what everyone else has. Here abouts most guys have things like MF 135'S Fordson Major, Grey Ferguson and small internationals. You are correct in questioning the economics as the trucking , loading and shipping costs are high. In the case of the 1155 the tractor wasnt expensive being a none runner, the fact that it had a Perkins engine made it all the more attractive in that they were actually produced in the UK and are still available in Combines etc.
Most of the tractors I have a very rare in Scotland in actual fact the MF2805 which I have is to the best of my knowledge the only one in Scotland and one of only 2 or 3 in the UK.
Bill

Yes just got one of ebay so doing some reading now.
Bill

20x38 good quality radial tyres with 90% tread.