When it comes to restoring your Vintage John Deere Moldboard plow, knowing the right way to disassemble, clean, paint, and ultimately adjust your plow is a must.
This page is intended to provide tips and assistance on some best practices to restore your plow for Show or for the Field.
This fellow on the left avoids busted knuckles, losing his Religion, and excessive frustration by using the Proper Tools for the job...he likes to use a big wrench!
When installing new moldboards or shins it will be necessary to loosen the share bolts (if not replacing the share). The share should be the LAST item to be installed to ensure it doesn't interfere with the fit of the moldboard and shin as the share normally overlapps to a degree.
Starting with the moldboard, install all bolts & nuts but leave only finger tight. Install the shin in the same manner. Take care to keep the shin and moldboard as tight to eachother as possible while keeping the bottom edge parallel so the share will fit nicely.
** If parts fit good on one bottom and not as well on the next, be aware that when Deere workers put the bottoms together at the plow works they used shim stock to ensure a good flush fit. Once installed, the wear parts were surface ground & polished to achieve an excellent wearing surface.
The bottom line is to try to keep the wear parts a close together and as flush as possible. On occasion this may require use of shims. I prefer to use strips of 20 gauge sheet metal if necessary.
Spring Trip Plow Hitch Informaiton (New Link)
The above link is quite useful information when it comes to hitching your old pull-type John Deere plow to your tractor. This page also discusses several types of plow hitches and how they operate.
The Safety Trip Standard saved Mr. Farmer a lot of time and frustration, but how about restoring them? While the mechanism is fairly simple, mother nature has left many of these trip mechanisms frozen and inoperable. If you're planning on using your John Deere plow that has these safety trip standards it is best to get them in working order before heading to the field. Below are a few bits of information from original JD sales brochures and operator manuals.
A frozen trip mechanism usually means that disassembly is needed to properly assess the condition of the internal parts. Commonly the pivot pin will be frozen from lack of lubrication. Remove the large castle nut and carefully remove with a large wood block and a sledge hammer. The pin will come out with just enough room for the pin head agains the back of the moldboard. With the standard out of the safety trip mechanism the throw-out arm can be checked for operation. Using a pair of 15/16" wrenches or two adjustable wrenches and a lot of penetration oil of your choice, work the throw-out mechanism up and down repeatedly until it moves with little effort. Secondly check to see that the extension spring inside the mechanism isn't broken. If the spring has evidence of rust pitting, replacement is warranted as you don't want the spring to break during operation causing your plow day to turn bad in a hurry.
With any Tips & Tricks section, there is always room for more information. If you have a good idea for doing something plow related and would like to share, please don't hesitate to share it with Tyler at the Contact Link below.
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