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How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow and

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NANETTE WALKER

09-02-2004 09:25:02

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I work at a John Deere dealership, and we are entering a float in a local parade soon. Can anyone tell me how long it took to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow pulled with horses? We're putting an old mowboard plow in the parade, and then pulling a modern chisel plow with a brand new tractor. I wanted to put signs on the equipment explaining how much time it used to take to work an acre of ground compared to today.

Any help would be appreciated!

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hlc

09-02-2004 18:33:48

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to NANETTE WALKER, 09-02-2004 09:25:02

Two mules and a plow could bread about 3 acreas per day.

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Bill Drew

09-02-2004 18:25:35

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to NANETTE WALKER, 09-02-2004 09:25:02

The acre (old English word meaning field) was originally defined as the area that could be plowed in a day by a yoke (2) of oxen. How many horses that would take would depend on whether you were using Clydsdales or Shetland Ponies.

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Nebraska Cowman

09-02-2004 16:44:29

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to NANETTE WALKER, 09-02-2004 09:25:02

well I don't know about Deere but have lots of info that shows how the Farmall beat horses and mules

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T_Bone

09-02-2004 19:36:10

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to Nebraska Cowman, 09-02-2004 16:44:29

Hi NC,

Where did you get the book at and whats it"s name? Sounds like some interesting reading.

T_Bone

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thurlow

09-02-2004 12:02:26

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to NANETTE WALKER, 09-02-2004 09:25:02

Maybe some of the old timers from "up North" can help you out. In my part of the world (mid-South), we were strictly mules..... very few horses. Although we had one and two horse plows, they were all single (one) bottom. I realize horses were bigger and were maybe used in more than a two-horse hitch, so maybe they were used to pull multiple bottom plows..... ... My recollection is that a single mule/plow would plow about 1 acre per 10 hour day.

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Joel Harman

09-02-2004 11:24:46

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to NANETTE WALKER, 09-02-2004 09:25:02

Depends on teamster & condition of horses.

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John (MO)

09-02-2004 10:52:23

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to NANETTE WALKER, 09-02-2004 09:25:02

An acre is 43560 square feet.
If the 2 bottom plow cut 24 inches in a pass, the horses would have to pull it 4.125 miles to equal 1 acre. I'm guessing that it would take a pair of horses at least one and a half hours to walk that far pulling a plow, maybe longer.

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evielboweviel

09-02-2004 16:26:53

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to John (MO), 09-02-2004 10:52:23

when working horses like that you stop at the end of each furrow and rest them. Don't forget the time to get the team ready, to take care of them at lunch and then to put them up at night Ron

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Jon C -Florida

09-02-2004 16:58:56

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to evielboweviel, 09-02-2004 16:26:53

Very good point. I think Thurlow has it about right...an acre a day appears closer to it.

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Jon C- Florida

09-02-2004 14:33:08

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to John (MO), 09-02-2004 10:52:23

I"m following on this line of logic. I have only seen a one bottom plow pulled by horses, but I guess there are two bottom plows that could be pulled by a large team.

But lets say a single, 16 inch wide plow is pulled at the rate of two miles per hour.

16/12 x 5280 ft/mile x 2 m.p.h. divided by 43560 s.f./acre = .32 acres per hour.

So in a 10 hour day, they could plow roughly three acres, if my assumptions are halfway right.

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Mark - IN.

09-02-2004 21:05:46

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to Jon C- Florida, 09-02-2004 14:33:08

I've never timed the neighbors, but I've seen those big draft horses pullin out in the fields, and 2 MPH would be flyin' for what I've seen. Gotta figure they'd be takin some serious vitamins at that pace and would burst into flames. Then again, guess depends on the ground. Lot of clay around the Millersburg area, but black dirt elsewhere. That clay really puts a whoopin' on those big guys pullin' a one bottom at that. Ever seen a team pullin, pullin, pullin, stop dead in their tracks, take a step back and lean into it again? Holy cow, hate to be one of them. Then again, some of the Amish got some serious stables of reserves too.

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Jon C -Florida

09-03-2004 04:40:58

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to Mark - IN., 09-02-2004 21:05:46

I think your right Mark. Maybe more like a half mile per hour (on average) would be more reasonable. Like a few others have said, maybe an acre in a good day would be about right.

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Jon C-Florida

09-02-2004 14:35:23

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to Jon C- Florida, 09-02-2004 14:33:08

Or an acre in about three hours.

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JMS/MN

09-02-2004 10:41:51

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to NANETTE WALKER, 09-02-2004 09:25:02

Horses are slower, but generally you can plow one-half acre per hour with a tractor and plow, per bottom- depends on size. Bigger plows are more efficient. 4-18 on a 4020 JD should easily do 20 acres per 10 hour day. 6-18 on a 2470 Case should do over 30.

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steveormary

09-02-2004 15:19:00

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Re: How long to plow an acre with a 2 bottom plow in reply to JMS/MN, 09-02-2004 10:41:51

Dont fergit the time it takes to turn the team around and get the plow lined up again.

Dad would tell us that he had 9 head of horses on a 3 bottom plow and the feller in the next field was using 9 head of mules on his plow. Dad said there was no way he could keep up with the mules. This was in Washington state.

steveormary

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