Plow advice, compact B7100

[FisheyeFarmer]

Hey Buds

I'm pretty new to working with tractors and I inherited a b7100 (circa 1980-90's.) I do not think it is a b7100 HTS, or maybe it is.

I have been using it to move soil and remove rocks. I recently purchased a Tar River 41" Rototiller to help me set up garden plots. When I use the tiller on fallow ground it has a real hard time making it through and stalls the tractor unless I am really attentive to the clutch. I heard that a chisel plow would help me break the soil first, before I till it and prepared the beds.

Can anyone give me advice on what kind of plow I should be using, or tips on how to use the rototiller in an effective way? I am worried that this b7100 is too small for the kind of work I need it for. I am a market farmer and will be using this tractor to set up vegetable plots in fallow land.

 

[Steve NC]

According to the owners manual I have it says a 14 inch single bottom plow is the recommended size for it. Depending on your ground it could still have trouble with that plow. 4 wheel drive and r1 ag tires help tremendously as would a set of weights or have the tires filled with fluid. The 7100 is a great tractor and is capable of doing a lot more than the manual recommends. but yes the plow would make it a lot easier for the tiller. hope that helps and enjoy the tractor!

"When I use the tiller on fallow ground it has a real hard time making it through and stalls the tractor unless I am really attentive to the clutch."

If your tractor is a gear drive model like mine you might need to use a lower gear in low range. If its a HST model it is easier to do, use low range and adjust the pressure on the forward/reverse pedal to make the tractor move slower

 

[FisheyeFarmer]

Killer info Steve,

I am going to look into weighing down the tractor with weights or liquid filled tires. Any words of wisdom?

It sounds like my tractor is not the HST model because I am not aware of a forward/reverse pedal. Left side has the clutch and the right has the break and small pedal that seems to just boost RPMs for a second.

I am also going to look into the R1 tires. A quick look into and I am seeing them for 1500 on eBay? Is there a specific type or size I need to look at?

 

[clay45]

I would think this is all you would need:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-middle-buster

Would be handy for gardening anyway.

 

[skeets]

Welcome farmer,, OK first off,, when you till new ground, you will stall that puppy out if you just drop it down and sump it in. Figure out what you want to till and then drop the tiller down until it hits the ground first and run over everything, then go back and run the tiller letting it eat its way down maybe 2 inches then run all over it again, and so one and so on till she full depth.. New ground, especially if horses have been stomping on it, is hard as an an old hoes heart!
Also check your tines make sure they are clean and sharp, and check the gear case too make sure its full and the chain and stuff.. Main thing is to go slow at first taking a little layer at a time. Remember you got a little tractor not a humungis turbo MF,,,,,,, thats Massey Ferguson gezzzz

 

[ShaunBlake]

Hey, FisheyeFarmer, welcome to the forum!

Seems you have a gear drive; gear drives are either D or E models (B7100D or B7100E), not B7100HST.

Behind your right heel you should see a lever that goes into the back axle -- it's the high/low range selector. Put it in low when you start plowing.

If there are two levers in that area, then you have a 'D' model, a 4-wheel-drive model. Otherwise, it's the E, only the rear wheels drive it.

If yours is a D model, then you must pay very close attention to the circumference of the tires you put on it. If yours is an E model it isn't so important, but if you have a D, it is critical to the health of your differentials!

Hope that helps.

 

[Steve NC]

did a little digging for ya Farmer, here are a couple pdf files that contain an owners manual and the service manual for your tractor. It should help with several questions.

owners manual

http://kubotabooks.com/AutoIndex/in...df&AutoIndex=b72b2b903a5b8f3391dfa564060afe07

service manual pt 1

http://kubotabooks.com/AutoIndex/in...df&AutoIndex=b72b2b903a5b8f3391dfa564060afe07

service manual pt 2

http://kubotabooks.com/AutoIndex/in...df&AutoIndex=b72b2b903a5b8f3391dfa564060afe07

service manual pt 3

http://kubotabooks.com/AutoIndex/in...df&AutoIndex=b72b2b903a5b8f3391dfa564060afe07

 

[hodge]

Welcome to the forum!
I use a 48" tiller with my B7100, and it runs it fine. The key is that I'm not breaking ground. Also, if it is hard to till, I don't souse the tiller all the way down. Better to make two passes than tear your equipment up.
The B7100 is a small tractor, but it is capable of more work than one would imagine. As you get more used to it, you will learn the nuances to get the most out of it.
As suggested, utilize low range- that will protect the clutch and the rest of the driveline.
You need to stick to the same size tires that are on it, if it is a 4WD. It is important not to change the size ratio between the front and rear tires- that will create tension in the driveline, and eventually damage things.
I switched from turfs to ags on my tractor, and spent a little less than $800 on them.

 

[Steve NC]

there are a couple of good threads in the tires and wheels section of the forum that can help with the tire selection and also adding rim guard for weight. might be worth a look

btw dont worry about over working the tractor with the tiller. The B series was originally designed for use with a rototiller in the Asian market. Just take your time to get the ground opened up and you should be fine. The one major weakness on the tractor is the cooling system. Make sure the radiator is clean so the fan can move air as it should. Flushing the system is also a good idea, completely empty it only holds a little over a gallon. Most of these tractors work best with a little more water in them than the 50/50 mix. Just make sure you keep enough antifreeze in the coolant so you dont have freezing issues during the winter. There should be a whistle attached to the overflow hose coming off the top of the radiator. Make sure it is clean and is working. It will tell you if you are working the tractor too hard. Hope this helps.

 

[FisheyeFarmer]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone, SteveNC, skeetz, hodge, ShaunBlake and Clay45. Thanks for making me feel welcome and for the laughs skeetz.

I am going to look into the middle buster that Clay45 posted. It seems like a easy option for a newbie like me.

I will check the right side for range selector levers as suggested by ShaunBlacke and find out if I have the B7100D or E. I am pretty sure it is the E model.

As for the tires, I am pretty sure that I have ag tires, or bar tires, on the tractor now. I am going to hold off on filling the tires for the time being for ease of transportation. I have been hauling the B7100 with a V6 4x4 Mercury Mariner, I'm afraid the weight of this little tractor might already be a lot for my little suv to handle.

 

[jrslick]

I am a market gardener and I have a B 7100. It is a beast of a little tractor.

It does everything I need it to do and more.

I have a 54 inch Caroni tiller I use with it. https://youtu.be/aS67b0sElh0

I have built a mulch layer to use with it. https://youtu.be/3MhvCDTdbgs

https://youtu.be/YF7gHcKWaMA

To answer your question about tilling unworked soil, I always rip the soil with this homemade ripper, but a middle buster, lister plow or a plow would work. If you do this, the tiller will go right in and be easier on your tractor.

Here is my ripper I use. The tractor can pull this 12-15 inches deep (or more) then I till right through it. I have tried it with a grass field and it does work, but you have to make multiple passes.

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I have also used a single shank ripper

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Here is what it looked like after pulling it through the ground. Before I had this tractor I used a walk behind tiller. I would only till the bed area to save time. The problem is I made a hard pan in the ground because of this. Now I don't have that issue.

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Also as it has been said before, make several passes.

Jay

 

[comfun1]

I have a b7100 and tried using a plow on sod and it did not work well at all. I bought a tiller and it works on sod (mow as short as posible first). It is very slow going on first pass however. I have the hst so it wasn't much problem. After the soil has been worked several times it's no problem. I used mine to grow several acres of pumpkins. Once the soil was mellow and I was tilling weeds between rows I could move along at a pretty good clip.

 

[FisheyeFarmer]

Update,

I tried out the tractor on the new field today with the mower and middle buster picked up from TSC. While I did not succeed in busting or ripping the ground, I did learn a lot from the tractor today.

I bought the middle buster suggested by Clay45. It seemed like a good buy over the subsoiler because of its use with potatoes and trenching. However I could not get the buster to penetrate the ground. It seemed to just skid along the cut grass.. I tried adding weight and angling the plow downwards as much as I could with the top link. I could have tightened the link more, but it is seized on one end. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? Am I supposed to angle the plow more? Will a subsoiler work better for me?

I mowed the grass as short as I could with the deck mower. I might be able to adjust the mower to go lower as well. But it seemed unnecessary and I was running out of daylight as well.

I found out that I have the b7100D, the 4-wheel drive model. Good to know, I have never lowered the range selectors before. Can anyone give me an "explain like I'm a 5th grader" run-down as on the workings of the range selector? What exactly does the range selector do? Anything to be careful of, or situations to look out for?

JrSlick, that black mulch layer is DOPE! Do you have any threads on the build or more pictures of it?

I will post a few pictures and a few more questions once I upload them to the computer.

Sorry for all the questions guys, learning a lot.

 

[ShaunBlake]

Well, fishy (oops! Sorry! Fisheye), the range selector changes your transmission between two gears -- one for high ground speed, and the other for very low ground speed.

Yours is probably in the high-speed location. To change it into low range, lift it up (think, "Whoa, Nellie!"); to change it into high range, push it down toward the 'floorboard'.

I expect for all your ground-engaging activities, you will want it to be in low range, in first, or maybe someday in second, gear.

I'm sad that you didn't get your sod busted like you expected. It seems you made a good choice, and your setup seems good. Hopefully some of the gurus will chime in with some advice if you need some weight on the middle buster but I would have expected its own weight would be sufficient. I think it's likely that you are driving too fast (need to be in low range) but that being said, I'm surprised it didn't dig in and stall the tractor.

 

[FisheyeFarmer]

Well, fishy (oops! Sorry! Fisheye), I think it's likely that you are driving too fast (need to be in low range) but that being said, I'm surprised it didn't dig in and stall the tractor.

Thanks for the reply ShaunBlake. I was running the tractor in low range, and tried 1st and 2nd gear. The throttle was high, but not maxed out. Should I lower the throttle too? Im talking about the black lever at my right hand.

When in low range, are you running on a separate transmission? Do I need to push the clutch in order to switch over? I using the clutch, didn't even want to try without.

I liked the "whoa nellie!" analogy

 

[FisheyeFarmer]

This is the field I am working on right now? It has been fallow for at least 5 years. It seems like there was some top soil dumping happening in the middle. I flattened it as much as I could and removed rocks, concrete and brush that was buried under the dumped soil.


Here is a photo of the Middle Buster skimming just under the cut grass.


This is how I had the plow setup on the 3-pt. You can see how the top link is shortened at the end closest to the tractor.


You might have noticed in the last picture that the PTO shaft from the deck mower was still attached. Newb move.. But for some reason I could not get it off today. I have taken it off before, but not in a few months. I should be able to just push the tab on the right and slide it off, no?

Last pic tonight, promise

This is attached to the 3-pt hydraulic lever, is this some sort of limiter or safety stop? Does this need to be adjusted to allow the 3-pt to be lowered even more?

 

[comfun1]

Take the top link completely off unscrew both ends ( one end is left hand threads the other right hand threads) then screw them both together at the same time. Now your link will be adjustable.

The "button" on the pto shaft often sticks from rust, dirt etc. Sometimes when mine has been sitting for awhile I spray it with WD40 and squirt oil on it, then tap it with a small hammer. Once I get it off I clean the splines and shoot some WD40 on them. I put it on and off a few times and then coat the splines with grease.

You should oil and grease the limiter rod and moving parts. If you are on level ground drop the plow all the way down and look at the limiter and you can see if it is at the end of it's adjustment or not.

I never had any luck with the plow. My plow is not a middle buster. It would either go to deep and stop my forward momentum or come up out of the ground. When it did stay down I could never keep it in a straight line. I bought a tiller and it's a little slow going through sod the first couple passes but after that it's no problem. I find the tiller to be very useful.

 

[comfun1]

I just went back to your original post and see that you have a tiller. When I use mine it is wide open throttle. I am wondering if yours is a gear drive if it goes slow enough for tilling. Also you might try after a rain and before the soil dries really hard. Try tilling just deep enough to remove the grass the first pass and on the second pass till perpendicular to the first and slightly deeper.

 

[D2Cat]

If you're going to break ground for the first time, you need something like this. That round disc is called a coulter. The coulter cuts the grass ahead of the plough share, making plowing fun not work!

You can adjust it up or down to slice the vegetation. It's also extremely important to have/keep the plough share clean, shiny clean. You can use a wire brush. Plow some sand. The best, quickest to clean the plough share is to pull it through an abandoned RR bed. (sometimes hard to find!!)

I made this years ago from a John Deere 2 bottom plow being hauled to the recycler. Didn't take much work or time and it's about 1000 time better then anything bought at Tractor Supply or similar implement dealer today.

 

[zload]

A middle buster plow is not really designed to work new ground. If you think about the uses as a potato plow or leveling a row everything is done on cultivated ground. A subsoiler will bust it open but only a relatively small area.

Back in the day this is what a turn or bottom plow was designed and used for, some will use a roto-tiller as a replacement but even then it will usually require multiple passes as they are not terribly effective at tilling new/compacted soil in a single pass. By design the turn plow with coulter will slice the soil open and then dig down until the hitch adjustment stops it all while rolling the soil over from bottom to top on a 12" to 16" swath per plow bottom.

A 3 pt. hitch will force the plow to follow the tractor rather than the ground so somewhat difficult to control. One way to help with that is to use a gauge wheel on the implement, this allows you to drop the implement all the way down and the gauge wheel will hold it at the set depth relative to the ground rather than relative to the tractor.