Hooking up my plow

M

Mike's 49 Cub

Well-known member
I'm trying to hook up my plow for the first time but I need help. I have the Master control lever for the rear rockshaft on the left of the tractor for lifting the plow up and down. I have turned the drawbar around but I don't have the farmall brackets that it seems most people have , I have homemade ones from the previous owner. There are brackets on the back and on the front. The ones on the front are used to attach the mower deck and I am using them to hook the drawbar in it's frontward position with just one bolt. Now when I dropped the plow and started forward the drawbar of course dug into the ground. Pivoting on one bolt what would I expect. Looking at the TM Tractor site how to hook up your plow I see that they have a depth control that bolts to the drawbar and I assume keeps the drawbar level ? I thought that the depth control looked familiar so I went to the barn and sure enough I have one. I took it out and tried to see how it would fit, not much room between it and the tire or fender. Is there a manual that I'm missing that shows how to hook the depth control up. Maybe I don't need it ? I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but just not sure what. Thanks Mike
 
You will find that the depth control is a necessity. The drawbar is not necessarily kept level but rather is raised or lowered to control the plow depth. If you follow the link to the manuals and refer to the pictures on TM's site you should be able to mount your plow. The right rear rim should be set out one position to allow for enough clearance to install the depth control lever. If the rim is attached to the inside of the center disk just move it to the outside and bolt it back up.
 
I was just in the barn looking at it and wondering if I was going to need to move the tire out , now I know. Work on that tomorrow. Since I don't have the "Cub" drawbar brackets just ones made by previous owner, is there a specific height that the drawbar needs to be at ? Are the brackets still available ? Thank you ! Mike
 
I'm plowing now ! Here's my next question, I'm plowing sod -- plow depth is 6-7 inches , tractors doing great but the darn sod will start to turn over but then flops back and just scoots over maybe 6inches. The next trip down my back tire rides up on the previous strip of sod. What am I doing wrong ?
 
Mike, plowing sod can be a real pain! Heavy, thick sod often does just what yours is doing. you might try moving the plow one hole to the right on the drawbar, to take a narrower cut, might help, might not, but it's worth a try.
 
This plow has "all the junk" and really flips over sod. The jointer helps pick it up but the tail at the end of the moldboard really works. I never get tired of watching it.

Earlier in the thread you mentioned homemade parts. Perhaps a photo or 2 would be appropriate.
 
Mike,

Make sure that the moldboard is as rust free as you can get it. An aggressive wire brush (on a right angle grinder) or a body sander will remove most of the rust. What you are trying to achieve is a smooth, slick surface for the soil to slide over. Once the moldboard surface is slick and the soil slides easily, you will reduce (not totally eliminate) the tendency for the furrow slice to fall back in the furrow.

Another problem could be the vertical orientation of the plow. To help you evaluate this, a couple of questions: 1) Is the bottom of the furrow fairly level? 2) Is the furrow wall vertical? These two surfaces need to form a right angle. If, when viewed from the rear of the tractor, this right angle seems tilted to the left, you will need to make an adjustment with the eccentric bolt at the front of the plow. If the plow is not nearly vertical, in the furrow, it will not turn over the sod as well as it should.

Hope this helps.

Bill
 
Bob in CT":2gbifnak said:
This plow has "all the junk" and really flips over sod. The jointer helps pick it up but the tail at the end of the moldboard really works. I never get tired of watching it.

Earlier in the thread you mentioned homemade parts. Perhaps a photo or 2 would be appropriate.
Click to expand...

this time with the photo... :roll:

189_plow_c.JPG
 
I have been communicating with Mike via e-mail and we are all thinking pretty much along the same lines. When Mike moved the right rear wheel out to install the depth control lever he reversed the center disc and I think the major issue is that he is trying to cut too wide of a furrow. He is making adjustments to get the wheel set back in a little closer and then lining up the tip of the share with the inside sidewall so that he is cutting the proper width furrow. Then, if necessary leveling the plow is his next step. I think we'll have him in business soon.
 
Yeah, flipping the center disk moves the wheel out like 6" doesn't it? Way too much.

The correct configuration is the 44" width as I recall. That's:

1. Center dished in.
2. Rim loops offset to the inside.
3. Rim bolted to the outside of the dish.

To keep the tread facing the correct direction sometimes you have to swap the tires from left to right.
 
Ok, I tried putting the wheel back to the position that it was originally at yesterday, but that was to close to the depth lever so I ended up with it 4 inches from the fender. Now I see in Matts post that I'm going to have to switch rims to keep the tread going in the right direction and to get the distance so that the depth lever will move without rubbing the wheel. I'll do that tomorrow. I cleaned the moldboard this morning with a braided wire wheel on a grinder but it didn't polish up. It did clean up nicely and felt slick but that didn't last long . Procrastination seems to be one of my strong points , should have had the plow in the shop this winter taking it apart , cleaning it up and getting to understand how it works. Reading the manual. I'll take some pictures of stuff tomorrow and try to post them . Thanks again. Miked
 
I found that going too fast can be bad, too. Last year, at Cubfest, I had to slow down in order to keep the sod from rolling back in. Experiment with your speed to see what works best.
 
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