Plowing M5660SUH

[oliverguy65]

So I recently acquired a barely used M5660SUH with loader and it fits my needs on everything but pulling a moldboard plow. I was in the market for a used M6060 or older m6800 or the like, but this one was too good of a deal to pass up. I knew this model lacked draft control, but for the price I figured I'd find a solution or just bump the position control when the machine bogged down. I assumed based on HP this machine should pull a 3 bottom plow fairly well and a 2 bottom handily. I have been struggling to get it to make a decent furrow with an old Dearborn 2-14" plow. Traction seems to be the issue, doesn't bog the engine, just starts slipping. I can't get it to stay in the furrow for more than 10' before it looses traction and I have to pull the plow out of the ground.

The rears are 70% full with methanol, I am looking into getting wheel weights ($$$). Do you think weight is my problem or is this a fools errand given that the machine lacks draft control? I don't want to sink another $1000 into wheel weights if its not gonna help and I ultimately have to sell the machine for something more suited to draft work. I don't have much experience with plowing with modern tractors, or frankly tractors without draft control. I could keep looking for a 6060 if draft control is ultimately the achilles heel to plowing with this machine, just thought I'd ask some folks with more experience than myself with the orange tractors.

Thanks

 

[BAP]

How deep are you plowing? Could be that you are plowing too deep. Is the tractor 2wd or 4wd? What tires do you have?

 

[BigG]

Plowing is not just brute force pulling the plow. Your tractor should have no problem pulling a 2 bottom plow that is adjusted correctly. The draft control will fix the problem by over coming a poorly adjusted plow by raising the plow up.

First what tires are on the tractor? Are the tires over inflated? Have you adjusted the plow so that it will pull correctly? For example, is the top link set so that the plows run level? Using the right side of the three point hitch are the plows tipped ever so slightly to run with the point down? You will find the sweet spot that makes the points dig in to start the row and drop down 5-7 inches and then stop going down. Adjusting the depth that you set the 3 point to will also affect the behavior of the plow.


Are you plowing virgin soil? The roots and rock will also give you problems the first time or two that you plow a field.

Does your plow have coulters on it? The wheels that cut the ground in front of each plow> Make sure that they are adjusted correctly.

Hope this helps if not let us know.

 

[NCL4701]

So I recently acquired a barely used M5660SUH with loader and it fits my needs on everything but pulling a moldboard plow. I was in the market for a used M6060 or older m6800 or the like, but this one was too good of a deal to pass up. I knew this model lacked draft control, but for the price I figured I'd find a solution or just bump the position control when the machine bogged down. I assumed based on HP this machine should pull a 3 bottom plow fairly well and a 2 bottom handily. I have been struggling to get it to make a decent furrow with an old Dearborn 2-14" plow. Traction seems to be the issue, doesn't bog the engine, just starts slipping. I can't get it to stay in the furrow for more than 10' before it looses traction and I have to pull the plow out of the ground.

The rears are 70% full with methanol, I am looking into getting wheel weights ($$$). Do you think weight is my problem or is this a fools errand given that the machine lacks draft control? I don't want to sink another $1000 into wheel weights if its not gonna help and I ultimately have to sell the machine for something more suited to draft work. I don't have much experience with plowing with modern tractors, or frankly tractors without draft control. I could keep looking for a 6060 if draft control is ultimately the achilles heel to plowing with this machine, just thought I'd ask some folks with more experience than myself with the orange tractors.

Thanks

I have zero experience plowing with an orange tractor so take this for what it’s worth, which may not be much. Have plowed a fair amount (probably 70 acres total plowing 7 acres for about 10 years) with a 9N Ford and Farmall H (which had an aftermarket 3 point hitch). Two 14” mold boards with a foot but no wheel hooked straight to the 3 point. 9N was WOT in first gear. Good times. Anyway, neither tractor had draft control, 9N didn’t even have position control, and it was a pretty constant activity to keep the plow at a consistent depth. Had to shorten the top link to get it started then lengthen it to level it out to run.

Point of all that is, yes it can be done but it ain’t easy and I wouldn’t want to do a lot of it. If I was going to do a lot with a tractor without draft control, I’d be looking for a plow with a back wheel and a hitch that pulls from the drawbar so the plow hydraulic running from a rear remote was controlling depth. That type plow also keeps your tractor out of the furrow so you get better traction being level on unplowed ground with both wheels.

Beyond that, if you’re running something other than R1’s you’re probably going to struggle with traction. I happily have R4’s on my Kubota so I do think they and other tread types have their place but it ain’t in a field in front of a plow unless your plowing well below the HP capacity of your tractor. If you want to stick with R4’s or whatever you have because you need them for other activities and plowing isn’t something you’re doing often, mud chains may offer an increase in traction sufficient for plowing closer to the HP limits of your tractor.

If your current tractor is a good fit for most of your chores but not working for plowing once a year for 20 hours or so, you might also consider picking up a larger, older, 2WD without a loader solely for plowing. Depending on the market in your area a 75 to 90 HP older 2WD with R1’s that’s not much good for anything other than small acreage tillage may be a reasonably cheap option, at least cheaper than trading up to a bigger newer machine.

Of course you could move up to a bigger tractor, add iron weights as you suggested, or switch to R1’s if you don’t have them already. How you address the issue has a lot to do with your overall use of the tractor, how much plowing you’re doing, how often you’re doing it, etc. There are multiple ways to address the problem, just throwing out some options for your consideration.

 

[mcfarmall]

There is a good article in Red Power magazine that goes into great detail how to set up and adjust a moldboard plow. It was probably 10 or more pages long and was in the last year or two.

There's more to plowing than you think. Not like hooking up and dragging a LPGS.

 

[oliverguy65]

Thanks for all the replies. The tractor has R1s. I wouldn’t say it’s virgin soil, it was turned 2 years ago. Soil around here is mostly red clay. The dearborn has no coulters, moldboards are pretty worn out, points are good. I am running it about 8”, uneven ground doesn’t make it easy to keep the cut depth consistent. I have an Oliver 360 3-14 around that has coulters. It’s almost too big to hitch up to the Kubota, but it pulls it about the same. Can skim along at 4-5” fine, but if I knock the position lever down more it looses traction.

 

[oliverguy65]

How deep are you plowing? Could be that you are plowing too deep. Is the tractor 2wd or 4wd? What tires do you have?

Sorry, 4wd

 

[SDT]

So I recently acquired a barely used M5660SUH with loader and it fits my needs on everything but pulling a moldboard plow. I was in the market for a used M6060 or older m6800 or the like, but this one was too good of a deal to pass up. I knew this model lacked draft control, but for the price I figured I'd find a solution or just bump the position control when the machine bogged down. I assumed based on HP this machine should pull a 3 bottom plow fairly well and a 2 bottom handily. I have been struggling to get it to make a decent furrow with an old Dearborn 2-14" plow. Traction seems to be the issue, doesn't bog the engine, just starts slipping. I can't get it to stay in the furrow for more than 10' before it looses traction and I have to pull the plow out of the ground.

The rears are 70% full with methanol, I am looking into getting wheel weights ($$$). Do you think weight is my problem or is this a fools errand given that the machine lacks draft control? I don't want to sink another $1000 into wheel weights if its not gonna help and I ultimately have to sell the machine for something more suited to draft work. I don't have much experience with plowing with modern tractors, or frankly tractors without draft control. I could keep looking for a 6060 if draft control is ultimately the achilles heel to plowing with this machine, just thought I'd ask some folks with more experience than myself with the orange tractors.

Thanks

R4 tires?

SDT

 

[SDT]

I have zero experience plowing with an orange tractor so take this for what it’s worth, which may not be much. Have plowed a fair amount (probably 70 acres total plowing 7 acres for about 10 years) with a 9N Ford and Farmall H (which had an aftermarket 3 point hitch). Two 14” mold boards with a foot but no wheel hooked straight to the 3 point. 9N was WOT in first gear. Good times. Anyway, neither tractor had draft control, 9N didn’t even have position control, and it was a pretty constant activity to keep the plow at a consistent depth. Had to shorten the top link to get it started then lengthen it to level it out to run.

Point of all that is, yes it can be done but it ain’t easy and I wouldn’t want to do a lot of it. If I was going to do a lot with a tractor without draft control, I’d be looking for a plow with a back wheel and a hitch that pulls from the drawbar so the plow hydraulic running from a rear remote was controlling depth. That type plow also keeps your tractor out of the furrow so you get better traction being level on unplowed ground with both wheels.

Beyond that, if you’re running something other than R1’s you’re probably going to struggle with traction. I happily have R4’s on my Kubota so I do think they and other tread types have their place but it ain’t in a field in front of a plow unless your plowing well below the HP capacity of your tractor. If you want to stick with R4’s or whatever you have because you need them for other activities and plowing isn’t something you’re doing often, mud chains may offer an increase in traction sufficient for plowing closer to the HP limits of your tractor.

If your current tractor is a good fit for most of your chores but not working for plowing once a year for 20 hours or so, you might also consider picking up a larger, older, 2WD without a loader solely for plowing. Depending on the market in your area a 75 to 90 HP older 2WD with R1’s that’s not much good for anything other than small acreage tillage may be a reasonably cheap option, at least cheaper than trading up to a bigger newer machine.

Of course you could move up to a bigger tractor, add iron weights as you suggested, or switch to R1’s if you don’t have them already. How you address the issue has a lot to do with your overall use of the tractor, how much plowing you’re doing, how often you’re doing it, etc. There are multiple ways to address the problem, just throwing out some options for your consideration.

All 9/2N Ford tractors have draft control but none have position control. This is one of the significant improvements of the 8N vis a vis the 9/2N.

SDT

 

[SDT]

Thanks for all the replies. The tractor has R1s. I wouldn’t say it’s virgin soil, it was turned 2 years ago. Soil around here is mostly red clay. The dearborn has no coulters, moldboards are pretty worn out, points are good. I am running it about 8”, uneven ground doesn’t make it easy to keep the cut depth consistent. I have an Oliver 360 3-14 around that has coulters. It’s almost too big to hitch up to the Kubota, but it pulls it about the same. Can skim along at 4-5” fine, but if I knock the position lever down more it looses traction.

OK. With R1 tires, your tractor should pull a 2X14" plow in most soils without difficulty even without draft control.

Your plow is not set up correctly and the lack of coulters is adding to the draft, especially if you are plowing sod.

Your plow will pull more easily when set up correctly and the shares and mold boards are scoured.

FWA helps little when plowing with a properly sized plow due to weight transfer.

SDT

 

[oliverguy65]

OK. With R1 tires, your tractor should pull a 2X14" plow in most soils without difficulty even without draft control.

Your plow is not set up correctly and the lack of coulters is adding to the draft, especially if you are plowing sod.

Your plow will pull more easily when set up correctly and the shares and mold boards are scoured.

FWA helps little when plowing with a properly sized plow due to weight transfer.

SDT

Sounds like I need to put coulters on the dearborn. Thanks

 

[BigG]

Have you offset the plow to the right side? If it is centered on the three point you may reduce the drag by offsetting the hitch to the right by making the left sway bar longer and the right one shorter so when you drop into the furrow it pulls straighter. I do not know how wide you have the tires set.

We used a Cockshutt 30 (28 hp on the drawbar) to pull a 3 bottom plow in SE Ohio clay without a problem.

Dad then bought a Farmall Cub. We spent days getting the plows setup on it correctly. We went from unable to get the plow into the ground to pulling the same plow for 40 plus years but it was a witch to get every detail set up correctly.

 

[oliverguy65]

Have you offset the plow to the right side? If it is centered on the three point you may reduce the drag by offsetting the hitch to the right by making the left sway bar longer and the right one shorter so when you drop into the furrow it pulls straighter. I do not know how wide you have the tires set.

We used a Cockshutt 30 (28 hp on the drawbar) to pull a 3 bottom plow in SE Ohio clay without a problem.

Dad then bought a Farmall Cub. We spent days getting the plows setup on it correctly. We went from unable to get the plow into the ground to pulling the same plow for 40 plus years but it was a witch to get every detail set up correctly.

Tires are 53" apart measuring from the inside edge. I have offset the right side. Set plow level in the furrow.

 

[BigG]

Is your top link set to the bottom hole on the tractor?

 

[oliverguy65]

Is your top link set to the bottom hole on the tractor?

Yes, I tried the position above it as well.

 

[NCL4701]

All 9/2N Ford tractors have draft control but none have position control. This is one of the significant improvements of the 8N vis a vis the 9/2N.

SDT

If ours ever had it, it was not operational, which would not surprise me at all on that specific tractor.

 

[BAP]

What size bottoms do you have on your plow. Rule of thumb for moldboard plows is to set the depth at 1/2 the width of the moldboard. Any deeper than 1/2 the width and the furrow doesn’t turn over properly, which also makes it pull harder.

 

[oliverguy65]

What size bottoms do you have on your plow. Rule of thumb for moldboard plows is to set the depth at 1/2 the width of the moldboard. Any deeper than 1/2 the width and the furrow doesn’t turn over properly, which also makes it pull harder.

14”. I might have been alittle deep in spots. Probably averaged 8", 10 in spots.

 

[Tx Jim]

Having successfully pulled a JD 2 bottom 14'' drag type plow(no colters) with a JD BO tractor (16.23 HP shipping weight 3400#s) with zero draft control I think you need to add a gauge wheel to the moldboard plow.

 

[oliverguy65]

Having successfully pulled a JD 2 bottom 14'' drag type plow(no colters) with a JD BO tractor (16.23 HP shipping weight 3400#s) with zero draft control I think you need to add a gauge wheel to the moldboard plow.

That was my thought when I learned the machine lacked draft control. Semi mount plows are rare here on the east coast, but I could put a gauge wheel on the plow easily enough. Thanks