out ploughing again

[Mrsmackpaul]

dunno if anyone is interested not really a farming type of site but between all the other jobs on the farm I have been ploughing again going to try and grow some peanuts this year am running out of time again seems to be a standard thing for me just encase anyone is interested I took some photos the boy came out and made some video not real flash but better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick as they say

opening up the paddock

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paddock opened up lets get ploughing

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this year has been the driest year on record in our part of north Queensland the ground is as hard as a rock and dusty as all get out
The old tractor choofing out some coal the plough has flung a few bearings oh the joy of it all

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjaiLXzdORQ&feature=em-upload_owner[/video]

before we ploughed we had to disc the old ratoon cane in

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2q-p_QIsPU[/video]

anyway enough from me I'll put you all to sleep

seeya

Paul

[taurus MK1]

hi Paul thanks for posting that, looks dry of dry! So fill us in with the start of a peanut to the end, any air con on IH ?



cheers John

[hair bear]

Nice one, haven't seen a disc plough in action for years.

[Mrsmackpaul]

John will do and try and fill you in I have never grown peanuts before so we can all learn what not to do LOL
the IH has aircon they all came out standard in Australia with aircon as did almost all tractors of that age with a cab

Rob not many moldboard ploughs used out here not many ploughs used at all I think the main reason Australia used disc ploughs instead of moldboard ploughs is because most of all the good farm land was scrub or bush and the tree roots broke the ploughs were as a disc plough rides up over them also in some parts of the country the south east Victoria moldboard ploughs were killing all the giant earthworms and soil fertility dropped off once that happened or at least thats what I remember being told years ago

Paul

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Gippsland_earthworm

[essexpete]

Good stuff Paul and thanks for posting. Are you a full time or part time farmer? I guess with the IH machinery you have a look at Red Power Mag now and then?

Has that model of IH got a semi power shift box or totally manual? We did not see many of that style over here.

[TrevorJ]

Yeah it's been a dry one, though not the worst in my region.

Mulboards have better soil inversion when the conditions suit, but mostly, in general conditions, disc ploughs used less diesel per acre compared to a mulboard, ... at least that's how it was in the cane country down my way. [Sarina - Mackay - Proserpine region]

Unless it's a stump jump disc plough, getting the disc plough caught under a good root (or a big rock) will break something ... and generally not the "sheer" bolt that some setups have. I for a time, got quite good at welding up discs.

The modern soft thicker disc on offer here to purchase are IMO, nothing to compare to the thinner harder discs commonly used up until the end of the 70s, when most farmers seem to have moved to bigger gear, 4+ reversible ploughs etc. Eventually around my way, there seemed a move to have bigger offsets (due to the availability of larger tractors with so much more HP,) a good set of rippers and either/or a rotary hoe or power harrow ... resulting in a shortened ground working period and side stepping the older system of letting time do it's part to let the soil get good tilth.

Another mention is that long life bearings (typically triple sealed,) which don't need a great deal of grease, were adopted by offset manufacturers and typically anyone replacing bearing and holders in older types, where as, any of the ploughs in our area, were still stuck with a poor design using felt or equivalent seal, which meant a good grease every couple of acres - else bearing failure.

Still though, I feel quite sad and nostalgic when I see a good plough or even a bigger reversible with near new discs in someone's scrap heap.

Paul, in those drier times, you might find you have to follow any ground work with a roller or something similar which can seal the top. I still when times are dry, stick the ground to smooth it out and seal it. (By sticking, I'm referring to pulling a nice sized log sideway across a field, with either a chain to each end or preferably three logs pinned to form an isosceles triangle, with a length of chain to the top of the triangle to pull it along. The main drawback for sticking is the variability of ground and a tendency for too much soil piling up on the log in softer conditions.)

[Mrsmackpaul]

Pete I am a full time farmer I used to milk cows down Victoria and we sold the dairy farm and shifted 3000 km north to the cane farm in 2006 ( wish I never did I would rather milk cows than grow cane )
I never read the red power magazine I never new about it till your post I was always a Chamberlain fella and I was out shopping for a big Chamberlain when I came across this IH and well I had a love affair it's still not over oh baby
The IH had torque amplifier as power shift they never much good from what I have been told unless I was told from a IH dealer then they were the greatest thing since sliced bread this one has had it removed and a straight shaft put in since before I owned it most out here from what I under stand are in the same boat no TA

Trev I am going to disc harrow it with a roller to flatten it out a bit after the fertilizer goes on this week the disc harrows have a roller on the back then I will bed form it up I have spent a few weeks making a bed former so I dunno how it will work but it will give us all something to chuckle about if dosnt
Then we will give it a drink and when its dry enough in with peanuts thats the plan anyway fingers crossed

By the way 8 and 1/2 inches of rain last wet season the Burdekin (the area I farm in ) is on water restrictions first time ever I would think 50% allocation people up river with no bores will be in a world of hurt in a few months we have bores but if we are not careful they will go salty so the plan is only water at night and no longer 12 hours at a time to try and conserve the ground water for what may be to come ah the joys of farming

Paul

[essexpete]

Thanks Paul. The Red Power Forum is good source of info for the US type tractors. The septics often have a different take on the world to everyone else but some are really very helpful. I used to look regularly before I discovered UK farming forums. I have to limit myself or I would never do any work!

[TrevorJ]

The older Inters over our way had a big "issue" with their TA -- mostly IMHO due to stupid oil companies and their sale guy drones, "recommending" certain types of oil that definitely should never go in them ... like Hydraulic Transmission oil (eg shell donex) rather than the SPECIFIED engine oil only. The symptoms and subsequent damage generally resulted with many blaming a design fault in the TA and opting for a straight shaft fix which was cheaper. Sadly many in the repair industry remained fixated with the "design flaw" and the business of putting in the new shaft; rather than wondering why most of these old inters first presented where it started to first slip in the higher gears under load and subsequently lower working gears. Some people don't stop until their wheels fall off though.

I had a wise, old oil peddler from a Caltex depot put me on the straight and narrow, (showed me the actual specs from an old chart,) got the RIGHT oil, flushed out what was left of the rubbish oil with kero, refilled, and presto back to near new, no slippage even in highest gears whatsoever. Impressive, considering that particular old inter had got to the stage where it wouldn't even move in the low range of gears, I had tried three times with gasket kits and orings (in the TA oil control circuitry ) in an exercise of renewing all the was practical to replace without pulling the actual TA out. I still to this day, meet experienced mechanics who would fiercely disagree, but after all, their bread and butter of the business is "fixing" things - not doing a simple oil change.


Yeah,I feel for you, 8 1/2 inches does set the year up very well at all, especially for cane. The coastal areas around Mackay and Sarina have had good showers on and off the last couple of months which spared the farmers a bit of drama, though there are a number of areas in pockets that got not much more than the dust settled.

During the 90s I experienced a few dry years, the worst year started with a big wet, but by the end of June the soil was dry, such that, what soil clumps were in lumps stayed that way (despite being worked) till next January as there was only 25 points (6mm) recorded where I was farming, during the period between June and the end of December.

[Mrsmackpaul]

The TA thing is interesting as I speak to some people and they swear by them the reckon when you turn the engine off always have the clutch fully in as the motor rocks when it stops and this causes the internal oneway clutch to fail
Old IH dealers have told never use them as a brake to slow the machine as the oil is at the wrong position in the box and the clutch is dry

dunno I believe that a lot has to do with oil type as you have stated Trev and the way they are driven also had a lot to do with it as well

It would be amazing to think IH would make the same thing for 30 years or more if it didnt work yeah most people just go with the hype that other people talk about with out thinking it thru and just go the easy way out when I have it all apart one day I will put a TA back in

Paul