My first plow job

[paw's49]

Hey guys....sorry I didn't take any pics, but went out yesterday to do the repolarization and hook up the new battery. I got the spark between the terminals like I should have. Hooked up the new battery, and off we went. Drove it down to the plow, and hooked it up (I thought it was gonna be time for spring planting by the time I finally got it right!)
Had about an hour in the seat turning over the garden space. Everything went ok, and was fun, but, as usual, I do have a few questions:

1. With the polarization and new battery, I kept an eye on that ammeter - the needle sat on the charging side at about 10 the entire time. I had the 4 position switch set to high (fully clockwise). Does all that sound about right?

2. I was a little disappointed in the depth of the furrows, especially when first taking off. Seemed the plow would just scrap the top of the ground for the first 10-15 feet, then dig in. I'd say at the most, it went about 4" deep. I had the depth adjusting lever fully forward as far as it would go. I also checked the lever assembly - the part that has a total of 3 holes for adjustment on the depth - it is bolted to the top hole.

I used the round-and-round method of plowing because I didn't want to end up with the dead furrow in the middle I've read about on here.

It will still be a lot easier than that 5hp front tined tiller that I've been using, but I was hoping for a little more depth. I guess one thing is we have an 11" deficit in rainfall here for the year, so maybe the ground was just a little too hard, but there was absolutely NO spinning going on, and when the plow did go in, that lil Cub didn't even grunt. Plowed in 1st gear with the throttle set to a little less than half.

Any comments/suggestion are appreciated as usual.

Thanks!
Craig

[Harold R]

Are you talking about a 193 Moldboard Plow? Is it hooked up like this:

http://www.tm-tractor.com/gim/193_plow_001.htm

[George Willer]

Tom's excellent page may be unintentionally misleading. He has it labeled for the plow with long land side, but shows the rigging for the short land side version. Not really much of a problem except some may wonder where their thrust chain is, and why doesn't their depth lever have the keyhole slot.

The thrust chain is intended to do the job formerly done by the long land side.

The reason your plow doesn't "bite" may be that the plow point is badly worn on the bottom. You may need a new point to get the plow to "suck". My long land side plow is somewhat worn, but plows to good depth with the lever all the way down. It plows at least 8" deep... the coulter hub touches the surface.

As an aside... when I was a kid it was one of the black smith's jobs to weld steel to the point and forge it to shape. Noah Kiser was a master at it. Then the points were sharpened on a big grinder powered by the stripped down remains of a Maxwell auto.

I start my plowing with a shallow cross furrow at each end. One for the plow to drop in to always begin at the same point and help it start, and the other to drop the rear wheel into as a signal to raise the plow. This makes the finish come out nice looking with straight ends.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

regarding amp meter, fully clockwise is lights on bright. If your lights work, 10 amps charge in that position is fantastic. if thye do't work that is aobut normal, since it is also in high charge when fully clockwise. fully ccw is lo charge, next is hi charge, 3rd is dim lights, cw is bright lights. Hi charge is on in both light positions.

How deep you cna plow is controlled by several things. how hard gori=ubd us, condition of plow point and setting of depthcontol. If you push the depth lever too far forward, sometimes the point will skid along, it depends on beign jsut slightly aboe horizontal to "suck in", as the old timers called it.

[paw's49]

HR, yes, it is the 193 moldboard that I have. According to the pics, I have it hooked up right, with the exception of the chains - I don't have the one to the right of the plow, and the chain used to lift it is hooked up a different way to the hydraulics - don't guess it matters as long as it will lift the plow off the ground.

Mr. Willer, are new plow points available at Case/IH? I wouldn't have a clue as to where to take it to get is sharpened. I guess I could ask some of the farmers around here. That's a good idea about doing a cross furrow at each end - I'll have to remember that next time I plow. By the way, what should my next step be? I've heard it's best just to let the land lay as it is over the winter. Is that true, or should I now harrow and smooth it over with Dad's homemade drag, or wait till spring? Boy, I already have a feeling the garden is gonna be bigger next year!!!

Mr. John, looks like I should have had it at the 2nd position from the left - I don't have any bulbs in the headlights - all I really want to do is make sure the battery is charging so I don't have to purchase another one in 6 months.

As I said, I wished it would have gone deeper - but, won't complain too much.....still beats the tiller, although unless harrowing it really surprises me, I think I still have to do a little tilling.....I like my dirt almost sandy texture. Spread some of that good old chicken manure on it before I plowed....hope that'll help next year too.

Yeah, we have about 30 chickens....a new (two year old actually) hobby for us. Those roosters are something else - had no idea they'd fight to the death, but they do. I've already had to put two of them out of their misery - no sense letting them suffer.

Well it's race/nap time. Ya'll have a great Sunday afternoon. Thanks again for all the patience and assistance.

Craig

[beaconlight]

You pick out the rosater you think the best and soup the rest.

Bill

[markhimmel]

Craig I use to take my plow point off and take it to a local welder and he would weld some hard faced rod on it. this would build up the point and then you could grind it to shape. When I lived in PA I use to plow in the fall and let the ground break up all winter. Mark

[George Willer]

I took another look at Tom's page, and I see that his plow pictured is a combination of the early/late ones.

Jim Becker is the resident plow expert and I'm sure he will be along shortly with questions to see which of several optional point/moldboard
combinations you have. He'll know whether there is a new point still available.

Last fall I plowed my garden and left it for the winter. I was on the sick list all winter, but was able to plow it again this spring. I planted the garden without otherwise working it at all. My garden is sandy with plenty of organics.

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

You said you have it hooked up like the photos from TMTRACTOR, but a few things come to mind. It is imperative that the plow is attached UNDER the drawbar, and not on top, as one might think.

When I bought my cub the plow was attached, and I turned over previously tilled soil, it did great, but when I went to fallow ground, it was pretty disappointing, and when I checked, the plow was attached to the top of the drawbar, and not the bottom. When I switched it, the difference was unbelievable.

Also, sometimes you gotta push that depth lever all the way front to get the point to "suck", and then you can bring it back up a little.

I, like George, make a few passes the opposite way at each end. It does give you a little leeway for dropping your plow, and the rough furrows do help the point draw down in. The round and round method is ok, but in my mind, it makes for nasty corners that don't get tilled properly with a single bottom plow. I wouldn't worry about the "dead furrow" in the center with a 12" bottom. You can fix that easy enough with a harrow. (Good discing hides a multitude of sins).

Is your rolling coulter making a good cut? Like George says, it should sink in almost to the hub. In any kind of heavy soil or sod, the coulter makes a huge difference.

Lastly, are you dragging up a large amount of sod or trash that might prevent the plow from sinking as far as it should? I carry an 8' 2X2 with me when I'm plowing or mowing, to dislodge the dry, woody weeds that can accumulate, and prevent the implement from working properly.

Just some ideas from recent experiences with plowing with the 193.

Another great use for the chicken manure is a side dress fertilizer when dry....dont' get any on your plants though, it burns something terrible.
The analysis is something on the order of 30-5-5. Corn loves it too, being a heavy nitrogen feeder.

[Jim Becker]

I can't add a lot beyond what has already been said. The side chain is usually on plows with a short landside. But the actual landside on any plow may depend on which plow bottom is on it. I have never dug into details of landside length on any specific bottom. A plow of any age could have been sold with several different bottoms. You need to check for part numbers on the parts you need to replace (point or other parts). Most of the plow bottom parts have been discontinued but you would need to check with a dealer on any specific one.

[Marion(57 Loboy)]

http://groups.msn.com/SmittysFamilyFunnyFarmPage

Hey Craig!

Click the link above, click on pictures, click on the album: '05 Parade, and in there, is a nice shot of the cub plow with (in my opinion) an exellent example of a plow point in primo condition.

It doesn't show the view from the side or underneath though. That's where you can really tell if it's right or not. The plow point has to curve toward the ground. How can I say this....if you put a straightedge on the bottom of the plow, the very tip should be the lowest point at the front.
If the tip is worn away and curves up toward the sky, it needs reworked ( don't ruin the temper ! ) or replaced if there's not enough material left to grind away. I'm sure one of the guys has an illustration of what I mean to post. I know I saw it in a Cub manual somewhere..........CRS !

[Patbretagne]

As Marion says, the tip of the point should be below (just) than the straight bottom of the landslide.
When the plough is working the landslide should be horizontal, not riding the heel in to the unploughed soil making the bottom of the furrow shiny.
In certain cirumstances the plough can ride on the disk coulter, thus not alowing the point to enter the soil down to it's correct level.
As said above on entry the point needs to lead down and level out at working depth, as George says 8" is a good depth, with my old David Brown 25D and plough I used to win cups in the historic section with 10" furrows, made her cough on clay! Black smoke time.
Hope it helps,
One cock in the run at a time! Keeps the girls happy even though he may well attack the hand that feeds him!
Pat

[Dale51]

Plowed a lot with the 189 plows & one little trick for starting them in faster is more weight on the beam.
We usually get dad or me to step on the brace rod on the back for about 2 to 3 feet.
On another note we found when we used to do custom garden plowing was if the garden had been in place for a while & was usually roto tilled
about 4" down was what they call hard pan. It is so hard that it will keep the plow from going in any deeper. The big farmers now use what they call a sub soiler to break it up.
What we would to in that case was extra weight for the full pass with depth control full forward we have rolled up pieces of it so big it would not fit under the beam so the mole board could roll it out & we had to break it up with a bar.
PS: I don't know about the 193 but I can put either of the 189 plows
so deep I can not pull it with wheel weights & loaded tires with damp ground & no mud.

[Patbretagne]

Good comment Dale, as they say over here "d'accord"
(I agree)
Pat no 503

[Eugene]

You asked about fall discing and harrowing. Normally the plowing is not worked any further until spring. I don't know if it really makes a difference.

With the shallow plow depth. You might disc the garden level this fall and replow again in the spring.

I just plowed up a narrow strip that hasn't been worked in many years. Turned up a lot of big rocks and other debris. The furrow depth varied from 2 to 3 inches to 8 inches. I'm going to clean up the area, disc then replow the area.

Eugene