Some plow day questions.

I have never attended a plow day and would like to some things about such an event.
I assume one is planned by a club with a member donating his field for the event. Guys bring thier favorite vintage tractor and plow. How is the event advertised? Can non-members of the club particpate? How far have you fellows gone to be at a plow day? Would my 1951 MM BF with the two bottom plow be allowed? Some tractors can plow faster than some of the others so do the faster one have throttle down to the slower speed? I know this just a bunch of stupid questions but I think a plow day is something that I would like to attend and am curious about how they happen.
Thank you for any replies.
John
Southeast of Lansing Michigan

Sence you are burning your gas, doing someone elses work on their farm. I think if you showed up they wouldnt turn you away.

Pretty much the faster tractors go first and by the time they get to the end and make it back down to start again (non rollover plow) you should be done with your row

there is no reason your tractor wouldnt be allowed, its a fun day if you get a chance to participate

you would have to get ahold of local clubs to ask if they have plow days

I found one on Craigslist about 2 weeks ago. I thought that was some good marketing! Greg

Its been said the only stupid question is the one you didn"t ask.

I"m glad you asked, because I"ve never been to a plow day and wanted to know more about them, just hadn"t asked. I Don"t think they have them down here.

Thanks for jumping out there and asking!

I've seen this type of thing with modern equipment used as well. When a farmer suffers a heart attack or cancer, the neighbors arrange a plow day where the entire farm is plowed, disked, and planted. I saw the posting in a local paper which had a date and time in the add. They also posted a meeting place to develop a plan a few days before. Plow days are not uncommon, just have a plan of action to get it known to the public.

our tractor club has had a plow day at my farm for the last 3 springs. the main advertising is done through the club newsletter, as members are covered by the club's insurance at club sanctioned events. its also some protection for me. hopefully it will never be tested.
i also put up a sign along the road , and word of mouth plays a part.
we try to limit tractors to those of members, for the insurance reason. anybody can come and spectate.
the club plow days i have been to, have 2 or 3 fields opened up to work. for example, tractors with 2 way plows wouldn't get along very well with regular plows. faster tractors usually wait their turn and pass lapped tractors on headlands. most of the old plows don't work well over 4-5 mph anyway, so its not a big deal. the biggest problem with speed has been with jd 70s. first gear in them is faster than many of the older tractors can pull a plow.
we usually do 35-45 acres here, and most of the tractors are pre-1960. my brother brought his 806 this year, which is a 1964 (45 years old). not a problem to me, and he is a club member. the big issue with larger tractors and plows is that the acreage might get turned over too fast. we had around 12 tractors and 32 bottoms this year and it made a relaxing day's work. usually there are extra plows available to hook onto, if the hitch/ hydraulics/ size are compatible.

Ive hosted a plow day at our farm for the last few years. It started because our club only has a few acres avaible to plow during the show. I host mine in the fall after the beans are out and on a sunday afternoon. The club does not sponsor it but a bunch of members show up for it. I cant say for all but here all are welcome and there is alot of knowlege around that day and can help you get your tractor and plow working good. My biggest problem is when someone pulls a old plow out of the weeds and shows up thinking its gonna work. You have to spend some time in a shop sanding rust off the moldboards first BEFORE you put it in the ground. Yes some tractors move faster than others (sometimes showing off) but we never have had a problem. We really arnt trying to get anyreal field work done but just having fun. Somebody always runs of gas, gets stuck or their tractor dies and has to be pushed onto a truck. We usually strike about 3 lands and let people go where they want, kinda spreads them out and keeps them out of each others way. We have no competitions its just a day to play. Hopefully this sunday we will be having it again, kinda late but the weather hasnt been good. A good question to ask before you haul a plow very far is weather or not they have a loader there to load and unload a plow. Good luck and have fun!

Several of us old iron guys got 8 tractors and plows together in '07 just to have fun.
Last yr we had 18 show up. Local 4-H club served the food and drinks and made about $100.00. A local newspaper reporter wrote about the up-coming event and then came and took pictures. One pic made the front pg of our local paper. Charged each driver $5 for porta-potty rent. This started lots of local conversations thru the yr. Local lady made a video of the event and we sold 20 of them for $5 ea.

Due to a rumor of a local show-off wanting to bring his 300 hp tractor next yr, we "originals" got together for a winter meeting. (We only had 20 acres for plowing.) It was decided to have 1959 and older tractors only.
We call ourselves "The Good Old Boys & Their Good Old Toys".
April of '09 a local sign company put up a big sign at the site, with date, etc. (Free, he's a tractor nut also). Again, another nice write-up in the paper telling about the event. We had 35 old tractors and plows show up, with 2 pulling people movers. We lucked out and the field was on a dead-end road so few traffic problems.
We counted 175 total attendance at noon, and 4-H made over $400.00...the kids were thrilled. Two locals brought generators. Host farmer brought a loader tractor for helping get plows off trailers. A local pilot and a neighbor lady flew over at the start (we coordinated by phone for timing) and took pictures from 500 ft; we had most of the tractors all in a row, with plows in the ground...it made for a powerful scene with the whole field looking like it was turning over at once(Found a 40 A. field this yr). The oldest tractor was a 1927 IHC 15-30 on steel so we had that at the lead. A very talented local man produced a video of the whole event, with aerial shots included which runs for 28 minutes. So far, have sold 72 videos at $10 each (we had to generate some income to pay for porta-potties and airplane rental) and the requests for this video still come in. We gave out over $500.00 to local food pantries.
It looks like for 2010 we might have 50 old tractors lined up already.
We have a few rules:
1. ALL tractors to be 1959 and older.
2. No riders on fenders or drawbar.
3. No tailgating.
4. Tractor owners do their own insurance needs.
5. You MUST have fun.

We are not a club, but might have to do so.

LA in WI

Member of "Good Old Boys & Their Good Old Toys"

There is a tractor show at Lindsay every year. It isnt necessarily a plow day but they do all kinds of exhibitions. Steam tractors, threshers, saw mills, syrup making, plowing, stationary hay balers and threshers etc. It is just west of Gainesville on Hwy 82 around labor day. It is a good time.

Tractor Talk, page 4 (11-16-09) Clinton,IL. plow days some nice pictures.

I got 40 acres of sod to plow here. You are all welcome to come plow.

But I'm gonna warn you, I haul manure on it before I plow so don't show up with your armoralled tires and complain if they get a little gooy.

Gary

Thanks Earl. Those pictures are what got me to start this thread.
John

Nancy,
I sure the glennster will let you and James plow some IF you come up and get these horses!

Not sure if the glennster can round up a green tractor though - might have to bring one in the trailer and he could "touch" it up! Have seen John Deeres painted RED.

Jim

We were going to have a plow day here { Pella, ia.} Sat ... but it rain and 1 1/2 inches so .. maybe later or next spring ...
To answer your question on fast tractors ... they just Slow down ... you get to the end and let them past if they want ... Some will past you others will stay in line ... I have a Case La . and have a GREAT TIME .. if I catch up with someone .. I just throttle back .. or even stop and let the person ahead of me ROOM ...
Remember . no one is in a Big rush .. IT's ALL about having FUN ....
Mark

I have hosted a private "plow day" for 4 years. A fun event for all. Sounds like yours is being done by a club. If there are any rules they would state them, (like year limit, size of tractor, ect) The fast tractors will just have to slow down, If it is for members only and it is stated that way, you may have to join, it should be worth it for you. People here just make of few rounds, stop and talk, eat, talk some more, call it a day. Never had an MM/ avery at my show.
Brian(MN)