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Wheel spacing for plowing

J

jimont

Member
Does anyone have a formula for setting tractor wheel spacings for plows? I used to know one,but have forgotten it. Have to set wheel spacings for both 14"&16" furrows. New tractor has 28.8" tires. Thanks for any help.
 
That's a great question. I never heard about a formula. The Oliver plows were the most prominent around here, and gave wheel settings in the book.
I know draft can be difficult. I remember Dad had a JD 3x16 bottom semi -mounted plow that pulled perfectly straight. When he traded tractors he traded up to the same plow- 4 bottom. That plow always pulled the tractor sideways.
The best one I had was an Oliver hyd. reset 4x16. That plow had a lot of frame width on the front where you could set the pull point, plus with the hyd. side hill hitch I had that so it pulled straight.
 
A bit more information would be useful. 28.8 tires means width or diameter or what? 14 & 16 inch furrows must mean you are setting up for more than one plow? How many plow bottoms. If you have a large plow (many bottoms) you could do an on-land hitch.
 
Jimont, rule of thumb on a drawn plow is to figure the total cut of the plow, divide this by 2 and then go left of center one-fourth the width of one bottom. This will be your center line of draft. The distance from this point to the furrow wall will be where you will want your wheels set. For example, a 3-bottom 16" plow cuts 48 inches total. Half of this is 24". One fourth the width of one bottom is 4". Add 4 to 24 and you get 28. Set your rear wheels 28" inside of tire to centerline of tractor. Mike
 
The formula is

The center line of draft of a moldboard plow is located at a point one-fourth of the cutting width of one bottom measured to the left of the center of the total cut of the plow.

Example 2 bottom 14 inch plow

total cut is 28 inches

Center of cut is 14 inches.

one-fourth of width of one bottom 3 1/2 inches

3 1/2 + 14 = 17 1/2 inches = center of draft
 
Hey guys, many thanks,that's the formula I'd forgotten. It never fails to amaze me the knowledge that's available on the forum. BTW, the new tractor has 20.8"x38" tires and I should have made that clear. We have both 14" and 16" semi-mount plows.
 
Not trying to start an argument. This issue has always bugged/evaded me.
(I'm so thankful for my chisel plow)!
When you say "drawn", do you mean "trailer" plow?
Using your formula, it gets impossible once you get bigger than maybe a 4 bottom plow doesn't it?(Assuming in furrow) plow. There are still a lot of semi-mounted, 6 bottom, in furrow plows around here.
 
Those 20.8 tires are going to not work very well with even the 16 inch plow. The 14 inch are out of the question. The tire will mash the furrow wall down. I have plowed with 20.8 tires with 16 inch plows. If you had the plow running correctly the finish ground looked like you where not cutting enough with the first plow bottom. If you made the field look level you where cutting to wide of furrow with the first plow. It worked half way in stock ground but when you went to sod it really mangled the job. Some guys plow real fast and throw the dirt further to make the plow furrow wider. That kind of works.
 
formula the same,then off hitch for the rest.the idea is to get the draft pulling straight with the centerline of tractor,you can off hitch,as long as the center of your hitch pin stays in a line with center of draft.remember your setting plow,not tractor.your setting hitch to match the tractor ,not tractor to match hitch.you can pull as many bottoms as you have power for,but you must have hitch set correctly.also remember on a disk plow center of draft is center of cut not offset 1/4 of one bottom.
 
also remember tire width makes a difference only in that it changes the inside measurement of tires.set you wheels as close as possible to measurement for your plow,then ,if you have a mounted plow,slide your drawbar over,or off hitch the rest.most manuals tell you the setting for tractor with original tires. wider tires require you to make adjustments.
 
Those tires with those plow bottom sizes mean you need it set for an onland hitch and I don't think you can do it with a semi mount plow, needs a special hitch or get at least an 18" bottom. Me I would prefer the 14" bottom.
 
Baloney. Dad has been plowing with 20.8x38 radials and 16" bottoms for the better part of 30 years. IN-furrow.

The tires barely leave a mark on the plowed furrow, and the next pass with the plow covers it up just fine.

Heck, I was playing with my 3-14 trailer plow in the same field as he was plowing a couple years ago. Seemed to work fine with 14" bottoms too.
 
You may not be as particular about how your plowing job looks as I am. Unless you are plowing pretty fast the 20.8 will mash the plowed dirt down a little. You can tell where every pass is. I like it to be so even that once you plow the ends you can"t tell where the individual passes are. It also makes a difference if you are on flat ground or not. I have slopes up to 7% on contours that get plow up the hill every three years in my rotation. When you throw the dirt back up the hill your plow furrow is narrower than it would be on flat ground. It also depends on what kind of moldboard your plow has too. The real long full twist ones make a wider furrow. Just saying a narrower tire would give you a little more clearance. Been plowing since I was twelve years old, that will be 49 years this AUG.
 
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