Discs or no discs

[Ley253]

First of all, you dont have to finish deep with a world style plough, at this years North Somerset match the max depth was six inches, I managed to finish at this depth, and had the best finish points.I ploughed a two inch deep show furrow, and a three and a bit moulder, the rear board was moved out.
To be correct (unless the sop have changed the rules) the finish should be one furrow wide, and the depth of the ploughing. Problems arise when the finish is measured from the furrow crests, instead of adding the depth of show and mould furrows together

 

[Mydexta]

The size of the Mould furrow in the finish varies up here from Judge to judge. Some like it half way up, some like it 3/4 up the front furrow.

Doesn't make life easy

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

The best finish for a binder reaper, should look rather like an open book, furrow bottom no wider that ploughing furrow width, with no step on side away from the crown

PS, it makes it rather interesting with a couple of trees in your plot

 

[Mydexta]

We were told at a Scpa training day that if you have a step in the finish on the opposite side from you're own crown then you loose half available points.
Same for the throw out

 

[tomlad]

I thought we wanted shallow and probably narrow so as to make it easier to put the land back level for the seed bed.
but is this one of things were it's done for the judges and bears little connection to farming? ?

 

[Ley253]

When I started ploughing, in the vintage trailed about the mid 1970s, there were many old ploughmen about, and they always wanted to see a step on the side of the last furrow, the saying was, enough for a partridge to sit on, but not a pheasant. Indeed if you have one ten inch standing furrow, and a twelve inch open furrow(which you need to get the tyre in) to lift the moulder from when you finish, a step must be there. High cut work proves this, as the step there is around two inches due to their eight inch furrow width. The sop, are confused with the wider,twelve inch work, where no step is required. In fact the sop had little to do with vintage ploughing for many years, only jumping on the band wagon when it became obvious that it was by far the most popular of all the clases.

 

[arcobob]

Match ploughing is an art form and is moving further and further away from practicalities of the 40`s and 50`s. When clever buggers and judges start criticsising because vintage/classic ploughmen are taking care to produce a good even and level plot they should remember the hard work required in those days to put wrongs to right. Horse ploughmen were the founders of match ploughing for good reason.

 

[Ley253]

Indeed they were! My thoughts are that vintage work should be judged acording to the requirements in force when the ploughs were in regular use,otherwise it becomes modern style work done with a vintage plough, which is neither one or the other. I know of at least one Hereford man who will not judge vintage work now, because, as far as he is concerned, the ploughing is no longer vintage.