Seeking advice on a walking plow

[Anonymous]

Greetings all!

This will be my first post, after lurking for a while, I really enjoy all the discussions going on here. I am a young farmer and am new to draft horses. I am in the process of researching and finding a team, as well as the necessary equipment.

I would like to ask for your advice on the purchasing of a walking plow. The plow in question is a John Deere Walking Plow, model 462. The asking price for it is probably around $150 I figure, the fellow is an old farmer looking to part with his lawn ornaments. The owner thinks it it a 12″ but it looks a little small for that…

I have attatched some photos to help illustrate the situation, because I have a few questions about it. The first is, do you think this plow is worth purchasing for a first time horse farmer? Or will I just be buying a problem? The share (because there doesn’t seem to be a seperate/detachable point) is deffinitely in need of replacing, but the bolts look pretty dubious, is it possible to still replace it? There are probably more questions, but I mostly want to know if you think this is a good prospect, I am willing to do a little nut busting and refurbishing if necessary.

Thank you all for your time, I greatly appreciate it.

-Pablo

Also; where would you get shares for a plow like this? I did a little online searching and found JB Macknairs to a possibility…

[jen judkins]

You will probably get more insight from more experienced teamsters, but you will need some sort of coulter for that plow to make it work well and those, in my opinion are hard to find.

[dominiquer60]

Before considering it further you should make sure that the beam is not sprung, if it is, no matter what new parts you get it will never plow quite right. Rest the plow on a board and measure the distance between the board and the end of the beam at the bridle, from memory I think that depending on the plow this height should be in the 15″-17″ range (anybody feel free to correct me if I am off). If it is much more than this like 19″-20+” it is most likely sprung and will not plow well. I highly recommend Lynn Millers book on plows and plowing.

[Author]

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