plow questions

[jac]

Just got my new plow from Pioneer and was wondering if anyone could tell me from the fotos if it is roughly set for 2 horses ? It has a 12″ bottom and the neck yoke is 38″. I would like to have it near enough before I take the girls out with it… if it ever stops raining horizontaly that is,.. thanks in advance…
John

[mitchmaine]

hi john, what a beauty! love you new plow. if its anything like their walking plow, and it seems just like it with wheels, same bottom, beam, and bracket, then dead center on the beam (2nd or 3rd hole in from left looking at plow in your picture) for two, and next to last hole for three. thats how their walking plow worked best for me. i heard or read once that most adjustments on older farm machinery starts in the middle and you work your way in or out and up or down. thats how it seems to work best on two way sulkys. go plow something and show us how its going. best o’ luck, mitch

[jac]

Thanks Mitch.. do I keep the pole in the middle of the bracket its in just now or do I move it closer to the point the eveners go on ?? ..The weather is real bad here just now, it might be a week or 2 before I get it out but will send some fotos when we do…
John

[mitchmaine]

don’t know that plow at all, john, but on a two way plow the pole hooks between the points a few inches to the land from the point thats being used. and the evener shifts to the plow that is being used and the pole tip and yoke are shifted in front of the same plow, so that makes me think your pole wants to be right in front of the beam as well as the hitch point. does that make sense? because it can come right hand or left and set for two or three horses there must be a range of adjustment for your pole strap that is hard to see in the pictures. also you should have verticle adjustment on your bracket for adjusting the depth of plowing. there is a place where your plow wants to float in the ground and has the least resistance on your horses and the wheels can get in the way of finding that place. i found it once and my horses could have plowed forever on ground they would tire in a dozen passes with the same plow. problem is you really have to keep adjusting and tuning forever with any plow in different soils, moisture, and so on. if you get close, the adjustments are not that severe.

mitch

[near horse]

Nice plow John! From my limited experience, I have to agree with what I think Mitch is saying. Two or three holes in from the left (as you’re looking at the plow) for hitching. The vertical adjustment is based off of the height of your team which affects the line of draft – hitch point too high and the nose of the plow dives – too low and you’re lifting the front out of the ground. Eyeball close and try it then adjust up or down a bit. Same is true of the pole/tongue – after the hitch stuff is about right, make a pass and see how your team is walking. Is your furrow horse able to walk cleanly in the furrow or is he running up on the furrow edge? Is the plow taking a full clean 12″ (close) bite? You’ll see how to get it just right after turning some earth.

BTW- at the plowing events I’ve been to, getting in behind the guy w/ the Pioneer plow is desirable because it leaves a really nice clean furrow for the teamster behind. Nice plow.

[dominiquer60]

I don’t know much about the sulky plow, but some good advice I got at our field days was to adjust one thing at a time. If you adjust a few things at once you don’t really know which one to correct next. Very sharp looking plow, enjoy!

Erika

[Marshall]

Sure puts my James Oliver #11 to shame!

[jac]

Thank you people.. as soon as we get a break in the rain I will be heading to the field and keep you all posted with some fotos.. . Thats sound advice Erika.. and applies to a lot of machines we tinker with..BTW Marshall ,James Oliver was born in Selkirk Scotland.. i have a Canadian Cockshutt but couldnt get spares hence the choice of the Pioneer…
John

[Marshall]

I knew there was a reason I like Mr. Oliver. I am probably in the same boat. If I ever have to get parts I don’t think I will find much.

[mitchmaine]

@Marshall 21792 wrote:

I knew there was a reason I like Mr. Oliver. I am probably in the same boat. If I ever have to get parts I don’t think I will find much.

if you try to match a point with an existing moldboard, we are probably out of luck (except there are some plow shops in ohio with mountains of points).
but i always wondered if you stripped it right down to the beam and frog or maybe even just the beam, if you couldn’t start fresh, like pioneer does, and try and mount modern gear on an old beam with a little drilling or welding or whatever it took. be fun to try sometime.

mitch

[Marshall]

Mitch, I have wondered about that myself. So far the bottom is ok. I woud like to add a jointer. I was thinking of trying the one from pioneer, as it looks fairly universal.

[mitchmaine]

hey marshall, get their clamp too. cheap and simple and fits any beam i would imagine.

[Marshall]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Author]

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