Plows and acreage

I get a kick out of the discussions relating to how big a tractor is needed for work. I don't consider myself that old at 58 but I have faced 120 acres to plow with a 3 bottom plow for more years than I care to count, years ago. What I wonder is this? Was there some sort of rule of thumb for acreage and plows in the ground. Also how different was it between us eastern (lots of rocks and small field farmers) and you western guys that may have never seen one. Thanks ED

I couldn"t tell you a rule of thumb but some of us farther west guys have some darn big rocks. I snagged one the other day and broke the trip on an IH 710 (we keep a couple spares around just for this occasion). That was crawling thru that the spot and barely scratching the dirt where it was.

Myself i don't know on that as i have had 3 bottoms thru 7 bottoms and farmed for years with 4 bottom semi mounts with a 706 gasser and now a 806 with the same plow . Myself i think it boils down to just how long ya want to set in the saddle plowing and now today just how much fuel ya want to burn. one year just for shutts and giggles i bought a 1805 Massey bend in the middle 3208 Cat with 3 point hitch with good rubber duals no brakes and dead batterys for not much more then i would have given for a good 806 getting it home from the sale was a nother story as it cost me a grand in trucking because we could not haul it . Fixed the brake with a qt. of break fluid and 4 rebuilt batterys . The next week while at a sale i bought the plow for that tractor a set of 7x18's for 200 bucks second set of onlands i ever used , they took up the whole bottom deck of a 48 foot stepdeck trailer . Use that set up to plow the ground i was farming all 68 acres of it . Had i use my 706 and 4 bottoms i would have spent about a week in the evenings after i was done with work plowing all my massive acres But the Massey did it all in one evening and on less fuel. even though it was way bigger outfit then my little 706 and 4 bottoms were it still only took three passes on the head lands to finish out the field. Now the 3.2 acre field was a bit tight it still did the job just a lot faster.I borrowed a 24 foot disc to use behind the 1805 and here again it took less time and less fuel then my 706 and my 13 and a half foot took as one pass with the big disk with the harrow where the 706 and the 370 would have had to make two to three trips to do the job.

Haven't seen a moldboad plow in a field in SD for 10 years. A few chisels around.

Its a function of how much field prep you have to do, and how much time you have to do it. And, I suppose, if you have the manpower to run it "round the clock" if you need to.

Somebody on here one time had a "rule of thumb" about acres plowed per hour per bottom, or some such- anybody remember? That would be a good place to start.

Yep. Everyone knows what the sales brochures said the tractor- when factory fresh could do... in the company's long churned if not manicured test plots. Or the local braggards, who never did much besides tell stories and break daddy's machinery....Yeah, bring this stuff to New York State and see if you can get it to not keep stalling, or even keep rolling to the end of a row- never mind fly along in 3rd gear high with 5 bottoms yadyadayada... Agribiz education talks even rational people into thinking it is necessary... 'time to fuel ratio minus the labor and depreciation'...yadayada again. Hey, it keeps the economy going, people believe this crap, beat the stuffing out of the tractor and equipment... and pay big bucks to fix it all. some people learn the easy way, some the hard way... oh course there are places I've seen where a farmall c could pull 5 bottoms in top gear- in their dead dusty talcum power soil... but for what? Not enough water to grow anything....

They don't use the moldboard plows here in MD. Most have went with no till and some with chisels. The Amish in PA still use moldboard plows with mules or horse drawn. Most of them that ship milk have generators to run their milk coolers and milkers. No electric in their homes. I still use a moldboard plow on my garden. Hal

Depends on what era you are talking about.
In 1939 a JD B or Ford 9N would sure look appealing compared to a pair of mules.

When I was a kid, I would say most farms of a quarter of land were considered a two plow size. But, we only plowed about 60 to 70 acres and rest was small grain that no one plowed stalks for and some hay and pasture. An M with three bottoms was coming up in the world.

What became of the 1805 and 7 bottom? I used to run an 1100 with a 6 bottom on land, I loved that setup.

I guess it all boils down to what you have to work with.Though you can calculate it to figure whats most effecient very easily.Ive farmed with mules,and ive farmed just like you ,pulling four or five bottoms.Back when we used mules,when we harvested one crop, we were back in the field next day getting ready for next years crop,when we bought a "a" model jd we farmed the same amount in half the time or less made more money and was able to expand,when we went to 4row tractors we could farm twice as much in the same amount of time.Will a 200hp tractor do a better job of farming than a 20 hp? no not really.It will do it a whole LOT faster though.The idea behind a larger tractor is not to farm better its to farm more economically.Say im plowing with my 8n and 2 bottoms burning 1 gallon an hour,if i can use my 7710 and pull 4 bottoms and burn 2 gallons an hour im just as effecient and making money.even if I burn 3 gallons an hour i'm probably still making money because im saving overall time in the feild.Thats the real money maker,how much time total in the field you spend for each bushel of whatever crop,thats what determines your next paycheck.BUT and heres the rub,dont make much sense for me to buy that 200 hp tractor if im farming just a small acerage,simply because i cant pay for it.my 8n will make money there because i can pay for it and make money from it.You see the huge tractors out west simply because of the size of farms.They dont spend less time farming than you do,but they farm several times the acerage.Heres an example, saw a fellow once unload two d9 cats in a field pulling as i recall correctly 12 bottoms with each one.his hands started at 8;00 in the morning,one trip around that field and it was noon.Thats a big field.Nowhere will you find a better example of hp=speed than in farming. i can use my 8n and get my farming done faster than any of my neighbors with thier big versitiles and things,but I farm 20 acres in the same time they farm 2000.The most i ever farmed was 2000 by myself,last year i was down to 160,and this fall i'll plant about 25 that i didnt get planted back to grass.ive sold all my big tractors and just have 2-8n's and 2-2ns left.i'll keep those,one with a mower permanently hooked up,one with a mounted hole digger and two for chores,maintaining roads, pulling trailers, etc.I'm too old for actual farming anymore,i can run these and do what i need to do economically.

Sold it to a guy up by Kinsman Ohio and he farmed with it for years . saw him last summer at a funeral and he had some health problems and sold it the plows went to north Carolina and were sold down there at a sale. should have kept the tractor. Sure could use it now. been looking for a 4366-86 CHEEP .

I haven't seen one in the field around here (SWND)since the late 1970's.

Rule of thumb.......doesn't matter what you're pulling or harvesting: mph times width in feet divided by 10 equals acres per hours......with a generous allowance for down time.

It all go's in line with the era of the century you farmed in.When I started farming in 1959 I plowed with an AC WD 45 w/3-14" mounted snap coupler plow and felt good about getting 10 acres a day at the most done.I had about 80 acres of corn ground period. Later in around 1972 I had an AC D21 w/7/14" mounted plow and felt good about getting 80 to 90 acres of ground plowed in a day. The point is it is all relavent.In the 1959 era I farmed only 180 acres and in the 1970 era I farmed 850 acres. My memory says that at the end of the year I was no better off in the 70's than I was in the 50's/early 60's. My farm sale in the spring of 1972 put an end to the profit/loss pit most every one of that era was caught in.

Call in the antique tractor club. They will plow it for fuel & the hot dogs & drinks. Just make sure they all know how to plow.

we dont have to worry about rocks down here in south La. parish putting in a concrete bridge about 1/2 mile from the house and while driving pilings i asked how long it takes, guy told me 800 to 850 blows per foot. these pilings were 72 ft long and they were getting 3-4 blows per foot.

About a half acre per hour per bottom, but there is a gain as plows get bigger, and fields are longer. Six bottom will do more than 3 ac/hr, especially on a half-mile long field. Same tractor will chisel 5 ac/hr.

I just moved back here ten years ago. LOL

WE always figured 1/2 an acre per bottom with a 16" bottom. 5/16"s = 2 1/2 acres per hour.

(quoted from post at 17:01:06 05/04/11)I had an AC D21 w/7/14" mounted plow and felt good about getting 80 to 90 acres of ground plowed in a day.

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John
How fast did you pull that 7X14 plow to get 80-90 acres per day?

I plowed with a 6X14 and 2 1/2 acres per hr was what I averaged @ 5 mph. 10 hr plowing = 25 acres

I liked to hear grandpa tell about plowing with horses. He used a one bottom plow. He said he got more plowing done with his single than the neighbors did with their two bottoms and teams. My memory isn't so good but I remember grandpa saying his was a fourteen and the neighbor used two twelves.

MAKES ME WONDER HOW BIG IS A ACRE AND HOW LONG IS A DAY?

Great discussion. I use a JD model 812 2 bottom plow and my wonderful Farmall M. I can plow a little over an acre an hour in second gear pulling the two 14's.