Pics-Plowed Today With Pull Rope Plow - 1st Time Since 1963

Today I plowed with a pull rope lift plow for the first time since 1963....I was 14 back then and used Dads 1944 model B John Deere with a 2 bottom IH plow...I got the bug to plow again after attending the FHAPA plow day held recently near Olpe,Kansas..I hope to plow with them next fall..

Several years ago I bought a dandy #8 IH 3x14 plow from a friend near Ft Scott,KS...His Dad had bought it new and a new UTU MM tractor in the late 1940's..His Dad never liked the IH plow because it didnt't lift high enough and drug trash on the ends and wouldn't go in the ground.....After plowing 300-400 acres it was parked and was never used again until today..Its like new..

Yesterday I drug it out and oiled and greased it..I put 3 used tires on that I had..It took longer to put the 4x12 tail wheel tire on than it did the two front 16" tires...I polished up the moldboards and shears with a wire wheel grinder..

Today I hooked it up to my 1953 E-5 Co-op tractor and away we went...It was sure a great feeling..It was almost too wet but this was my last chance this year as in the next several days we may get 3-4" of rain..I wanted to be ready to hit several plow days next year...The E-5 Co-op weighs 6000 lbs and 3x14's is all it needs at that weight running 3rd gear...At 8000 lbs it would pull 4x14's in 2nd gear..I have a 4x14 MM cylinder lift plow..

The 4th picture shows how little ground clearance it has..The last picture is the U MM that pulled it in the late 1940's when they were both new..

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Man , I do love that tractor ! I too learned to plough with a IH plough , 3x11 on steel with a Cockshutt 35 deluxe . It all looks so familular .

My son has a 1953 Cockshutt tractor with a Cockshutt Hydraulic lift plow,

1953 Cockshutt

hey! i've seen that barn and those tractors! looking good, blaine. plowing is one of my favorite farming tasks.

I spent a lot of hours on a Cockshutt 40 with 3-14's behind it. My dad had 2 40's and the one had 13.6 x38 tires and it would pull those 3-14's anywhere in 4th gear. Those pics bring back some great memories.

Would it be possible to put on some larger tires? Maybe gain another inch?

I remember plowing with the little genius plows they were great for dragging trash. Looks like you could have needed a set of ear plugs.
Anybody have the plow come unhooked and the rope still tied? Or that time going through the water way and the dog doesn't catch and she goes right back in the ground ? Thanks for the memories

That brings back lots of memories! In Jr high and high school I worked for a family friend who had a U and 3-14" MM hydraulic lift plow. 1/2 mile rows, 2nd gear in river bottom gumbo. If it was 11:30, you didn't start another round or you would miss dinner. The lights sucked!! Best part was plowing at night, exhaust manifold and muffler would turn cherry red.Chris

Thanks for posting the pictures. My dad had a COOP like that when I was a kid. I spent lots of hours on the COOP. I loved the sound of the six cylinder engine.

I enjoyed looking at your equipment, and reading the story. Especially liked the MM - we had one when I was a young man, and I did a lot of plowing with it. Your equipment shed is interesting construction. Thanks for the pics!

By the time I started doing serious fieldwork, some in '63, lots in '64, Dad had two #8 3-14's with hydraulic lift, one for the '54 SM-TA, one for the '51 M. In '64 I started the spring pulling a 4-14 hyd. Lift plow with the JD R diesel, plowed 40 acres of sod with Dad on the SM-TA and we hooked the R to the other #8 for the rest of the spring. Plowed 50-60 acres and the R disappeared. The last 16 acres I plowed I used the SM-TA & JD 4-14 plow. Road commissioner wanted the R to pull a road drag and run a rototiller to chew up scarified roads. He tore the PTO out of the R every year for 3 years running that rototiller, but the 770 Oliver diesel that replaced the R had no problems in 20 years. I even ran the 770 two years.

Anyhow, the lack of trash clearance on #8 plows was their biggest fault. We tried fall plowing in either '63 or '64, SM-TA & #8. Half mile rows, stalks not disked or chopped. Took 3-4 hours and we were 400-500 feet from completing the first round and it was lunch time. Dad told me to head to the end rows and go home. I made it about 50 feet and the plow is dragging a huge pile of stalks and trips the hitch. Dad hollered at me to keep going, he'd come back later with the loader and pick the plow up and carry it home.

We eventually switched to JI Case pull plows, they compared to IH #70's in strength & clearance.