What Are They?

Compact tractor plows or moldboard-plows are plows that are small enough to be pulled behind a smaller compact tractor that doesn't have the weight or horsepower of larger commercial grade tractors, and are mainly used on small farms or around the house for a home garden. The compact tractor plow is distinguishable by its size, and by the standard single bottom or sometimes double bottom configuration which is the maximum number of bottoms for a compact tractor plow.

360 degree view

How Do They Work?

Compact tractor plows prepare a garden by penetrating into the unbroken ground, and due to the curve rolling to one side of the moldboard, it turns the soil over, burying whatever vegetation is on top of the soil, and breaking up the hardened ground to prepare the soil for a disc harrow or tiller. The plow attaches to the tractor by a 3 point hitch that is found on the back of almost all tractors, this gives the tractor the ability to lift and lower the plow, not only in and out of the soil, but also to the proper plowing depth. If your tractor is having difficulty pulling the plow through the soil, it could be due to the plow being too deep, and the tractor not having enough power to turn that much soil at one time.

Why Plow?

Plowing the garden before planting has been cutomary since gardens began, it loosens up the hardened soil and makes better growing conditions for the crops that are to be planted there. The hard soil will be difficult for the young plants to break through, and has had much of the nutrients absorbed by other vegetation that is currently growing. By the action of turning over the soil, the current vegetation is forced under ground where it will die and begin the decay process, giving its nutrients to the crops you are planting, and the soil that is full of nutrients is brought closer to the top where the new crops can begin feeding off of it immediately. Plowing is the beginning of a great garden, and has a dramatic effect on the quality of crops you will be harvesting from your garden.

 

Which Plow?

Generally the plow that a user purchases is based on personal preference, but their are some things to look for when you are purchasing a plow.

• Weight
• Material
• Manufacturer

The weight and material are two of the characteristics that really affect the behavior of the plow in the soil, if you have a lightweight material, the plow could be bent by hard soil, or it could be difficult to get the plow to penetrate the soil in the desired manner, and the manufacturer of the plow should be someone that has experience in the plowing industry, preferably a long term experience with a well known and respected name. Steel is about the only acceptable material to build a compact tractor plow, due to the various ground conditions in different parts of the country. 1 square foot sheet of 1/2" thick steel weighs around 20.4 lbs.

Manufacturers

There are many manufacturers of plows on the market today, one of them that stands out is Everything Attachments. Everything Attachments traces its roots all the way back to when plowing was done by mules, not tractors, and at one point they even had to carry mule plows and tractor plows in the same building. This type of experience around plows is rare in today's market, when a manufacturer has been selling an implement for over 150 years, they obviously know what it takes to make a good piece of equipment, and when they can sell you this top notch implement at a price that is equal to or less than all of their competitors, the winner is always the customer.