How much fuel and plowing questions

Hi everyone,

So I recently helped start a 4-H tractor club and we are trying to have a little plow day type thing on friday with myself and a few of the kids in the club and FFA.

I am trying to figure out how much fuel the tractors will burn. I don't have that good of an idea since at fairs, they are running on and off and hardly at full throttle or under a heavy load.

The tractors I have that I am considering bringing are a 1937 F-12 (with overdrive), a Farmall H, or a John deere B. This will be with a 2 bottom plow, and a friend is bringing their JD A to pull the 3 bottom plow that I have. We have to drive maybe 2 miles down the road to the farm, and hoping to plow for maybe 2 hours. We figure just drive them since it is a pain to get them off the gooseneck trailer we have. From those who have done this before, about how much fuel do you burn per hour?

Also, is there anything that should be done to the plows in advance? I know I'll be greasing them, and one of them has had the quick release removed so not sure if I have time to fix that, and it is missing the bracket for one of the disks/coulters so one of them is not on the 3 bottom. Will either of those be a problem?

Any other advice is appreciated. I have little experience plowing, as the closest plow day is 2 hours away in New Hampshire with the New England IH chapter so I haven't tried to attend that one.

Thanks,

~FarmallCT

My guess would be 3-4 GPH pulling.

If the moleboards are rusty, sand the rust off with a sander or angle grinder. It will pull much easier. If the dirt sticks to the moleboards scrape it off after each pass till the plow scowers.

I'm thinking the F-12 (F-14?) will have its hands full with the plow. Given the tractors you have available, I am thinking 2-3 gallon per hour. For the most part, they were made to operate a good 6 hours or so a tankful of gas. Some less, some more.

It depends on what you are plowing. If you are breaking sod that coulter will matter. If you are just in regular ground it's not a huge deal. I use a five bottom to plow terraces. I think three of the counters are missing. She still plows fine, but I'm just doing bean ground.

Thanks! I believe we are plowing a field that the farmer normally uses so it should just be dirt and some stubble from last year. Thinking that it will do just fine then

I was thinking the same, I've been wanting to give it a workout, just not sure if now is the time to do it. I've seen them used with two bottoms, and it should be soft ground, but I know things never go the way ya see, especially when you're two miles away from home. That sounds pretty reasonable. And it is a F-12 with factory F-14 upgrades, as it was made right as they were transitioning. Thanks!

Thanks! I will make sure to do that. The two bottom was used somewhat recently but the three had a tree growing through it when I got it so I'll make sure to go over them

Thanks!

If a plow has had the reliese hitch removerd DO NOT TRY TO USE IT AT ALL, That is to keep the tractor from wrecking if you should happen to catch a stone or root, Make sure it is on and working properly before you ever try anything. Not having it on and working could KILL the tractor driver or anybody that might be close when it rears up and rolls over.

Don't tie the trip rope solid to the tractor. If you hit a rock and loose the plow the trip rope has to release too or you'll damage the lift.

I think the raised steering wheel makes it appear to be an F 14.
Led

(quoted from post at 19:24:52 04/12/17) If the moleboards are rusty, sand the rust off with a sander or angle grinder. It will pull much easier. If the dirt sticks to the moleboards scrape it off after each pass till the plow scowers.

Click to expand...

Moldboard....

https://www.google.com/search?sourc....0l5.0.0.0.4497...........0.qnE8de6VVw0#spf=1

Thanks for the advice. I do have the hitch off a JD No 44 two bottom plow that I was going to put on. Do you think that would work? The only thing I wasn't sure of was if the spring tension is different that it might accidentally release while plowing since it came off a 2 bottom and I'd be putting it on a 3 bottom. Thanks again

Make sure your tractors are running well and are ready to go. A lot of the tractors that show up at these plow days only get run for the plow days, sit the rest of the year, and don't get maintained at all. It's pretty embarrassing to wheel up to the furrow, drop the plow, and have the tractor go *COUGH* *COUGH* *SPUTTER* *CHUG*.

Tension is adjustable ( a 12" plow does not need as much tension as a 16" plow as the larger bottom takes more power to pull thru the ground) and the same release was used on several different makes from 1 bottom to 4 bottoms, just had to be adjusted correctly. Also type of ground comes in to play as light sandy you do not need the tension you need on heavy clay soil. Now some companys used there own design and the way it was made you had to use all the hitch parts. I don't know what make your plow is and and the hitch you have is. I know Deere used different setups on the 44 plow so I would need more information to tell if would work or not. Picture of plow toung and of hitch I might be able to help you. Off hand I know Oliver, Moline, Deere used the same unit on some plows. Instead of designing their own they bought the hitch from a company that only made hitches. McCormick had their own version. Older Deere used their own as well. The higher the hitch on the tractor and the lower the hitch on the plow the more chances of the front end comming off the ground if you hit something and you have enough traction (tires and weight) that you do not set there and spin out. That is providing you have plenty of power that you don't kill the engine right off. I started plowing over 60 years ago.

The plows are both IH Little Genius Plows. The 3 bottom has the center piece that hooks onto the clevis missing, and maybe one of the side pieces. If it had that it would be good to go but I dont know where to find them. I would be putting on the hitch off a No. 44 JD 2 bottom plow. The pictures should be shown below with the actual picture being the hitch off the JD and the diagram being the IH one. Thanks for the advice, you definitely have much more experience with this than I do!

Your biggest most powerful tractor, the Farmall H will burn 2 gallons per hour maximum, the F-12 or 14 and JD B will burn less. The JD A pulling the 3-bottom could use up to 3 gallon per hour if it can pull the 3-bottom plow.

I really don't see a F-12/14, Farmall H or JD B or A pulling the front wheels off the ground and flipping backwards if the plow they're pulling hits a root or rock. Maybe, and that's a HUGE maybe, if they were pulling fully mounted plows. But not a pull type plow like an IH #8. I can see bending a plow beam with the trip hitch not working. Plow would be scrap iron then.

I don't see the attraction of trip lift plows. I plowed thousands of acres with IH #8's, with hydraulic lifts. Simple, positive, foolproof.

Will do! I know I've had them all out and running in the past month, just depends how they are acting when i bring them out to get ready.

Probably will be between the JD B and the F-12 since the H needs a bit of carb work. The only concern I have with the F-12 is that it always runs on the rough side no
matter how much the timing, valves, or carb is adjusted which always makes me nervous. I've seen some that run really smooth and others that similar to mine, just always
run rough sounding but even out under a load. As long as it decides to cooperate I'll probably end up taking that.

Try to use a lift plow with old Regular- no hydraulics. tractor pulled trip plows came from the horse drawn plows, Amish use them with sulkies sometimes. Learned to plow with trip plow on regular, F20, then H and M that later were used with a lift. Last garden plowing was with 350D fast hitch- could lift it standing still and back up for next pass for potato planting, quite a change from first pull and trip plow that needed garden fence opened up for a full furrow. couple points others made- fix the safety on tongue or let horse drawn sulky rig pull it. Trip rope was tied to a foot long wire with a end loop U slipped into ring on seat post- like a soft iron fish hook so that when plow tongue opened the wire straightened out, didn't yank seat.
You're going to have fun in previously worked bean ground, may think it safe for solid plow tongue--but gremlins are waiting for you, they put a length of cable or chain connected to dead man anchor to catch point of plow on second furrow just to prove chaos theory, Murphy's law. RN

THE BEST way to clean the rust off the Moldboards ( and NOT damage them) is to use a 4 1/2" Angle grinder with a Thin Cut-Off Disc, held at about a 30 degree angle and

moved like you would a putty knife..

It will take the RUST off cleanly, right down to the Black Oxide layer under the rust, leaving a slick surface that will SCOUR easily.

If ya want, go over with a Fine Flapper-Wheel ( 240)..

DO wear a Dust Mask and Safety glasses..

Trying to plow with a Rusty plow is just plain a Pain ITA...ya don't need that aggravation..!!!!

While I believe the JD "B" is very fuel efficient, I have in the past put 3 tanks of gas thru them in a good day ( working HARD) and also run more than 14 Hrs idling

on a Tree Planter and only used 7 Gal..

The JD "A" could be good on fuel or a GAS HOG..depending on how the Power valve is set..and on 3x14", it will NEED weights on the rear wheels and a little Fuel turned to it..

An AC WD-45 is decent on fuel usage, but I have put 3 full tanks thru them in a good day..plowing.

The Farmall "H" should be ok, but I think they are boring to operate..

I doubt you can get into trouble without the "Release" operating on your 2x14 plow...I disabled mine years ago..got too durned tired of re-hitching it..!!

What is it gonna do if you hit a rock...spin a wheel.. or kill it..??

Now, if it was an Old Ford 2N 5N or 9N or Old Ferguson...maybe I would not want to test my luck...they have a rep for over-turning if improperly hitched anyway..

I have pulled bodies out from under accidental Over-turned tractors and they were in-variably Hitched incorrectly...usually mistakenly hitched up at the UPPER Link location..

Now, if ya really, really want an experience, use the old "KNEE-KNOCKER" with that JD "B" or "A"...!!!

EVERYONE should be so lucky as to walk away from THAT initiation...!!!!

OH-BABY, does that Clutch Handle have the Ball end at the correct height to Wallop your knee cap good..!!!

I have heard stories about that. The kid who is pulling the three bottom brought over his JD A tonight and it should be interesting to see if he gets that experience. I drove it over to get the plow and get everything set up and I can just see how easily it can happen

I think I'm planning on using the F-12, should keep things somewhat interesting and give it a workout. Bringing extra fuel and a chain just in case.

I ended up not being able to switch out the hitches so the 3x14 has no release, ended up just sticking a very thin pin through the hole where the latch on the hitch should go, and then put a vertical clevis around it. We are plowing ground that is used every year so should be limited on obstructions, and if anything is hit that big it should just snap the pin I put in or stall the tractor.

I got them both ready for tomorrow, and attached some pictures. Hopefully all will go well.

I just wanted you to be aware of the possibilities, Most likely you would never run into that problem. The F12 does not have enough power to do anything except die if you catch something. They were sold as a 2 plow tractor but were better sold as a single bottom tractor. And then it is in low gear all the time. The F12 has a high drawbar put not enough power to do that. The John Deere has a low drawbar so that lessens the possibility. Now take that 2 bottom plow you are pulling with the F12 in low gear and switch to a Moline U or UB that has a very high drawbar (twice as high as a John Deere) and has 3-4 times the power of that F12 and Put that Moline in third or even fourth gear and open it up you would be moving with that plow and if the plow cannot unhook and you hit something to bring the plow to a dead stop The tractor is going to do something quick and that could be no more than dammaging the plow, it could jerk the front end sideways depending on how the plow is hitched or raise the front end of the tractor And depending on how it is hitched it could rear up like the tractors at the pulls and do the same thing they have to have the weelie bars on and that is to keep them from going over backwards. The probability of something happening other than you getting bounced around and hitting the steering wheel with your chest or getting thrown off the tractor is very slight but can exist. So I just want him carefull and still be around. And the Fords with a 3 point hitch plow are the safest of all as far as rearing up and turning over because of the 3 point linkcage makes it rigid as for flex from front wheel to rear end of plow. Works same as the wheelie bars on the pulling tractors. The ones that were dangerous were the early Fordson tractors without fenders and they were the ones to roll over backwards in the instance of the plow catching and not killing the engine. That was the reason the fender was designed like it was to act like the weelie bars to be able to stop the tractor from going any higher than what the fenders would let it get to.

I've done a lot of plowing with my John Deere GW pulling a 3-14 John Deere model 55 plow with the "knee knocker" clutch disengaging device here in rocky Michigan soils and never got my knee hit by it. You adjust the clutch lever linkage so the lever doesn't come back so far and set a little sideways in the seat......which I always did anyway to help in keeping an eye on my plowing job. Many, many, times the clutch disengaged but the lever never got me.....
Years ago I plowed with a McCormick-Deering W-6 pulling a John Deere 55 3-16 plow with a similar device to disengage the tractor clutch when hitting a substantial obstruction. This worked fine too except when it was dry, then the clutch would get partially disengaged a lot on the plow hitting small stones but not reach the latch point and jerk you around some when the plow got past the stones.....sure kept me awake.......most of the time.....that and a straight pipe on the tractor.