plow depth

I HAVE A 330 IHC UTILITY TRACTOR AND A OLD 2BOTTOM PLOW I AM EITHER PLOWING TOO DEEP OR NOT DEEP ENOUGH. I CAN NOT GET A EVEN DEPTH.I AM CONSTANTLY WORKING THE HYDRULIC 3PT LEVER UP AND DOWN.ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Got a picture of the setup?

Is your tractor a fast hitch or three point or is it a draw pin trailer plow setup?

If 3pt is it a real 3pt or something cobbled together onto the 2pt! (I’m not familiar with a 330 exactly but I’ll assume it has the fast hitch, not the true 3pt?)

What brand of plow, and trailer or 3 pt or fast hitch type? Obviously since you are working the 3pt lever we assume it’s a 3pt, but would be best to know the exact setup or conversions......

Basically you need to have the plow leveled so it sucks down to it’s normal plowing depth, and then have good new landslides, rear wheel adjusted, etc so it then stops at that depth.

You should be able to put the 3pt down all the way and the plow finds it’s proper depth. You need to adjust the top link, and have the parts that drag on the ground new and square and proper.

Different models of plow might adjust differently, so rather than us all guess At 100 different possibilities, that is the overview. With details, we can zero in on more exact help.

Paul

What are your soil conditions like? Dry ground may cause that. Another thing would be compaction from heavy equipment. Around here, a plow can skim across the top couple inches of clay & sink like a rock in sand. If your shares are worn, they won't penetrate any of those soil issues. New ones might.

Mike

Mike
An adjustable gauge wheel mounted on LH plow frame would probably solve your setting depth problem

this is my set up

Monkeying with the top link length for a long time will help. Small adjustments make a big difference.

Plow until the bottoms get shiny, preferably on sandy or drier ground shines up faster. You won’t have good going until they get shiny.

The first pass you need to level the plow, after that as you follow the furrow it needs to be tilted as it is.

Hard dry ground is a difficult thing to plow, as mentioned. You might not ever get hard dry conditions to work right..... Or variable soils like I have, you just end up compromising.

When a Fast hitch is converted to a 3pt, the geometry doesn’t always work perfectly. Those lower conversion arms you have help keep the plow up higher with the angle in them; but as the hitch goes up and down the aspect of the top and bottom hook points might be different than a standard lift arc, and can throw the plow off some. You really will have to pay attention to how the plow sits, to be level and straight, when it is in the ground and working. It might need to be adjusted to look all ‘wrong’ when it’s out of the ground. I think that might be the source of the problems, it can be adjusted for but it will be a real finesse thing to get it set right.

Shiny bottoms first of all, plows don’t work well when the bottoms aren’t shiny. Just have to brute force your way through until they are shiny.

With a 3pt plow or any 3pt implement you need to put the top link in the lower bracket just above the pto. The upper one rotates and is designed for some fast hitch implements. Put the draft control handle (beside the left of your seat) in the 3rd notch from the top. You will have to play with the top link length to get it correct. Setting on the level ground, with the plow lowered to the ground the plow points should be contacting the ground with the shares just off the ground. Your lift arm leveling crank should be in the level position. If you can find a fast hitch F 211 (or F 210, I can't remember the # for sure) you would have the correct plow for your tractor. I grew up with 340u and it was a great plowing tractor, with the fast hitch plow,-it had the same exact fast hitch as your 330u. Good luck, Mark.

agree toplink looks wrong, make sure wheel spacing is OK and keep in mind if that soil has a hard pan, you might be breaking through that hardpan, sucking it deeper, and fighting itself. That back bottom likely should have a wheel or a long landside, to take some of the weight of the plow while operating. A plow is not a tillage toolfor going deep intohardpan, I used to rip if I could and if not then I selected a crop that would develop deeper roots for breaking hardpan. Like a safflower or maybe clover/alfalfa, for a year or two to give it ability to plow into that hardpan.