How do I rig this plow and avoid breaking my 3-pt hitch?

Hey all,

I've borrowed a neighbor's 2-bottom plow. It might be a JD but it's had some of its hardware removed. I've got it hooked to a homebuilt 3-pt hitch (probably modeled after a saginaw) that has two lift cylinders and I have a third cylinder serving as my toplink. All cylinders are one-way, lift only.

This is the very first time I'll be using a plow, period. I don't have any tractors to look at as an example so I'm turning to you folks. I only have to plow enough for a garden plot - 40 x 20. Can I plow with this without screwing up my 3-pt hitch? I would imagine I need to hook up some sort of side stay to keep the plow from tracking to the left, following the direction of the plow points. If I run a stay from the right side lift point on the plow to the right of the 3-pt hitch (near where the base of the right lift cyl is attached there looks to be a bolt hole for this purpose) it looks like I'll hit the side of that right lift cylinder. It does look like I can slide the whole plow rig one way or the other on the bar that goes between the two lift points.

This is also my first time putting up a post with pictures so I hope they show up - apologies if you're looking at nothing.

NO SIDE STAYS OR CHAINS
let the plow track as it wants to
set the right wheel in to the same distance from the plow point as is between the two plow points
right three point arm needs to be 6-8 inches lower than left
plow should be level front to back and side to side when in the ground plowing
Ron

May be wrong here, but it looks like you aren't going to have enough lift to get the plow out of the ground. I believe that is a higher clearance plow---would probably work better if it had a lower hitch arrangement. As stated earlier, the inside of the rear tire should line up with the right corner of the shear on the front bottom.

i always like to adjust the top link so that the tip is alittle bit lower then the back to give a little bit quicker dig when starting a furrow.....just my way of doing it

So I need to get the right 3-pt arm 6-8" lower than the left before I dig in and when I start to plow it will level out?

The shaft that your draft bars are connected to needs to be turned 90 deg so that the pin on the right is down and the pin on the left is up, this will position your plow so that when you have your tire in the furrow the plow will sit level with the ground. As it sits right now it is angled towards the left side of your tractor and will not plow correctly.

That is why IH had trailer plows they don"t require all that nonsense. The trailer plow will turn corners like no other. My opinion.

With my factory made aftermarket 3-point on my Super H, I need to set the rear wheels in all the way in to get it to track right with a 2 bottom plow. Otherwise you will not be able to get the plow over far enough over to track right in the dead furrow. What I do sometimes for setup with my plow is to drove the left rear wheel and the front wheels on 6 inch high blocks. That way I can adjust the plow to get it level for actual plowing when the right wheel is in the furrow. Roger

Dave: If you get that contraption to plow, your a bloody genius, plus it will be a whole lot quicker to dig up the 20x40 garden with a pick.

To start with tractor wheel tread is too wide for that plow. Secondly you never use stabilizers on a 3 point hitch plow. Third you will completely destroy the ram on that cylinder being used for a top link. Plowing top links are never hydraulic cylinders.

The hitch may well be designed from looking at a Saginaw, it must have been a quick look. The geometry of that hitch is not right. It's so far from a Saginaw, the builder must have taken his eyeball measurements driving by someone's Saginaw equipped tractor parked in the yard while driving 60 mph.

Most of what has been said I agree with.
The first (important) item is to understand that the first furrow with the correct adjustment will not be perfect. The tractor will be on untilled land with all tires. This raises the right side of the plow 7 or 8 inches higher than it will be when the right rear tire is in the furrow.
You should be as far to the right in the patch as possible. Right wheel rubbing the fence.
As it is the plow looks pretty level, but it will be wrong in the furrow. So change the plow hitch bar so the right side pin is in the down position, and the left side pin is in the up position. It will pull totally wrong if left crooked like that.

After making that pass at 7 or 8" deep, drive the tractor into the furrow with the left rear in the furrow and hugging the left bank of the furrow with the tractor straight ahead.
Look at the position of the plow it will be almost flat on the ground, and should be. !!!!!
Do not plow yet. With the tractor stopped, and the plow just touching the ground, you will be able to see that when the plow beams are straight with the furrow, that the right wheel is too far right. Adjust it in until the plow will just turn over the next two furrows. (probably all the way in on the axle (almost touching the bearing retainer). If the rim on the tractor has been mounted to the outside of the casting of the wheel it could be necessary to remount the wheel to the inside of the wheel center.
Once this is done, the plow will probably find its own unfriendly ways of directing the tractor.
I did not notice a screw tilt link on the threepoint right lift link. this is used to level reality when using the hitch.
The plow will not pull to the left because it has landslides on the left of each moldboard/share.
the land slide will prevent the side motion you are worried about.
The depth should be controlled with a tail wheel and depth gage wheel (missing).
I wish you luck and perseverance in this heroic effort. If it works it will be heroic. JimN

Thanks Hugh. I won't say it's patterned after a Saginaw again. I'll also start looking for a trailer-type plow instead of attempting to do it with this one.

Dave: Trailer plows are the best solution for these old Farmalls, then you can move drawbar to suit a two bottom plow. Two bottom mounted plow require a wheel tread 52" to 56". Just too narrow for safety on these high tractors.

There are folks that get along well with Saginaw hitches and plowing. I think the biggest thing wrong with your hitch, the lower links are too short for tillage equipment. Worksaver do this same thing with offset Farmalls, works fine on mowers, but not worth a damn on plows or disks. Your hitch might be a Worksaver, I've never seen one for the larger tractors.

Worksaver use a 26" lower link on a Super A. I build 3 point hitches for these little tractors and I use a 32" lower link. My hitch lifts twice as much as theirs, and works well on plows and disks. I've never measured a Saginaw lower link on an H or M, but I'm betting it's close to 36".

I'll attach a photo of my Farmall 140 and a 1,000 lb. disk.

I bought the frame of this 3-pt used for a pittance when I couldn't find any used full 3-pt hitches. The seller said it came off an M. No details as to what it was patterned after were given so my claim of it being after a Saginaw was my guess. If by "lower links" you mean the arms that extend horizontally from the frame to the lower attach points on the implement, mine are 32". I can't complain about the lifting power - I've got those 2 cylinders, plus the top link cyl (when I use it). I don't know what the amounts are but, since I've just added the capability to weight the front with 800 pounds, I think I'm set for most of what I want to do. I've had some pretty heavy loads on that fork-lift attachment and I'm glad I've got a more formal way of keeping the nose down.

Having said all that, as you can see, this plow of my neighbors is incomplete and I didn't have any idea of how to use it except that I could hook it up to my hitch. _That's_ why I asked you folks with experience. I'll get my garden's seedling's planted some other way (I know, it's late but it's been a fairly cold Spring here in CT). Thanks for all your help.