skims on a plough

[mike.l]

Hi we were having a discussion the other morning before ploughing started about the placement of skim boards on the coulter, a good few of the older guys keep telling us the further forward the better in fact most run the skims in front of the centre line of the disc but guys that run the factory set skims do not have a lot of choice and they always get mounted behind the centre line what is the general opinion from the guys in england

 

[Howard150]

Hi we were having a discussion the other morning before ploughing started about the placement of skim boards on the coulter, a good few of the older guys keep telling us the further forward the better in fact most run the skims in front of the centre line of the disc but guys that run the factory set skims do not have a lot of choice and they always get mounted behind the centre line what is the general opinion from the guys in england

All depends what you want the work to look like and what skimmers you use.
Generally speaking then the further back the skimmer is then the more broken the work will be. Obviously the further back you have them then the higher you will need to lift them.
With KV discs you are fairly limited to where you can put them. Ransomes discs however are infinitely variable. There was a school of thought which said discs and skimmers well forward would give polished whole work. In hard or stony ground this can also lead to broken skimmers.
Whilst around and about judging I have seen work shine with the discs pulled well back behind the point, which would seem to go against the grain of what we were taught. As in all things then be prepared to experiment. Always keep your eyes open - every days a school day!

 

[kverneland es 80]

skims forward for grass ,back for stubble

 

[mike.l]

Hi kverneland es 80,
that might be your way to do it but explain why you think that is the way it should be
howard 150 gave a explanation of what he has seen work and that throws light on the subject . mike

 

[kverneland es 80]

same as howard really who has explained it well,my view is that lea ploughing should be held together more,and that stubble ploughing be a bit more broken

 

[mike.l]

Ok i have always suffered from broken furrow in plowing, going to try with the skims up front in the morning

 

[arcobob]

I try to make sure that the land is skimmed before it starts to rise over the share and therefore not pinched and the flow interrupted. This is what breaks up the work in my opinion. I use Ford skimmer assemblies which give infinite possibilities.

 

[kverneland es 80]

i have changed my kv discs to a 4 hole assembly great job ,pics later

 

[arcobob]

Picture

showing countersunk bolts and Ford skimmer assembly

 

[Howard150]

Ok i have always suffered from broken furrow in plowing, going to try with the skims up front in the morning

Two things! First of all it goes without saying that the less intervention with skimmers the better.
Secondly, and I am surprised nobody else has intervened with the part the discs play in all this - settings fore and aft, side to side - and most importantly height in relation to the share and the depth of ploughing.

Its all part of the attention to detail required to produce the best results.

 

[mike.l]

Hi when you are into the antiques a lot of the decisions are made for you when the plough was made and you got to go with what you get given to work with. Like moving the discs up and back along the beam doesn' t become a option but up down and side to side is standard also that i think goes with the field and conditions of the day.still got a long road of learning ahead of me but at the moment the skims are just not performing we have had a wet year and it is not the usual hard clay that is normal to start ploughing in mike

 

[rick_vandal]

This skim thing is doing my head! Last year I trialled concave drill marker discs with mixed success and bought a whole MF32 13 row drill for the concave discs and to really pee off the purists, I have some Merry Tiller rotors waiting. It is not real till KV brand it.

 

[mike.l]

Hi those ford skims in the picture above look like they fill all my wishes next winter i may have ago at building something like that . My skims worked great ahead of the centerline of the discs my problem now is they are to far away to get a nice angle on them they tend to push more than skim will continue to work on them

 

[arcobob]

Hi those ford skims in the picture above look like they fill all my wishes next winter i may have ago at building something like that . My skims worked great ahead of the centerline of the discs my problem now is they are to far away to get a nice angle on them they tend to push more than skim will continue to work on them

The arms on those Ford skims are home made as the originals are quite difficult to find. The other great advantage is that you can move them closer or further from the disc and this helps to achieve the right angle on the skimmer. The advised angle is as near as possible parallel to that of the mouldboard but this is hardly achievable in reality. I set mine on the plough where I think they should be and grind the inner edge to obtain a good fit to the disc. I also make my own skimmers and frogs and have several patterns to cover weak stubble or grass, a slightly wider, flatter cutting type for very strong autumn stubble and an even broader and flatter cutting one with extensions for maize stalks.

 

[arcobob]

This skim thing is doing my head! Last year I trialled concave drill marker discs with mixed success and bought a whole MF32 13 row drill for the concave discs and to really pee off the purists, I have some Merry Tiller rotors waiting. It is not real till KV brand it.

I thought about using a concave disc but \I was told that it had been tried some years ago in vintage and the powers that be kicked it out. I thought it may be particularly useful when forming the crown.

 

[kverneland es 80]

I thought about using a concave disc but \I was told that it had been tried some years ago in vintage and the powers that be kicked it out. I thought it may be particularly useful when forming the crown.

they are about the only thing that is banned in the world style class

 

[Howard150]

Hi those ford skims in the picture above look like they fill all my wishes next winter i may have ago at building something like that . My skims worked great ahead of the centerline of the discs my problem now is they are to far away to get a nice angle on them they tend to push more than skim will continue to work on them

Beware of making anything too big which will sit too far forward when fitted to the back body, especially if the angle is too abrupt or the skimmer will not clear and will block on the back of the front leg.

Skimmers are a wearing part and benefit from having an edge sharpened onto them in order for them to slice the skimming off rather than dozing it off.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

I try to make sure that the land is skimmed before it starts to rise over the share and therefore not pinched and the flow interrupted. This is what breaks up the work in my opinion

as above, skim before the plough share

Secondly, and I am surprised nobody else has intervened with the part the discs play in all this - settings fore and aft, side to side - and most importantly height in relation to the share and the depth of ploughing.

the below is only my thoughts and may not be right in some peoples mind

your right the disc does play an important part in the making of a good furrow, but really more so is the share its self,
some people think that it is the genuine Kristeel boards than do the job of good furrows, as long as it dont stick, then any board will do,
to put a good shine on the furrow is all done with the share, if you dont cut it out right, you will make nothing of it up the board, as its hard to polish a turd

and the disc plays a good part in all this, but you cannot get the disc to put as good a shine on as the share,
the further back you have the disc, ie behind the point, the more of a tearing action and more pressure is put on the point,
just the same as putting the disc well forward will put less tearing and less pressure on the point, as it is cut off on both sides, so only the bottom is holding it the the ground,but lifting the discs up, so they are cutting less will increase the pressure, this will give shine to the work,
some sharpen the shares to try to cut it out better, in my opinion this is wrong, the share needs to be dull and rounded on the cutting edge, this has the effect of forcing soil both up and also down, this action will compact the soil more than cutting it off with a sharp knife, when you think about it a JCB digger bucket is never sharp, yet while digging it puts a glaze on the soil, and it does not have discs on the sides,

as for discs they need to be sharp in stubble, the reason for this is, to cut the straw cleanly, if they are dull they will just bend the straw down the slot cut by the disc, and some will stick to the side of the furrow wall, and will end up on the top of the plot, and this will loss points for you,, however in grass a dull rounded disc will make a better job of putting a shine on the furrow side, and with the skim set forward before the lift, will all do better at keeping whole work with shine,

also if you put a little bit of under cut on the discs, this will make the work stand up better,

in all cases, only skim as much as is needed, and dont skim any more than needed

now to the down side, if you cut a real good furrow out, and place right it looks good, but it will show up all and everything you have done wrong on your plot, any bends, pairing etc, so it has to be right

thats my 2p
,

 

[mike.l]

Hi can i bring this back to the top Arcobob what do you make your skims out of ? welded a piece of mild steel on mine will try it on Saturday but do not think it will stand up for very long was thinking of making a pair out of cold rolled steel

 

[Howard150]

Hi can i bring this back to the top Arcobob what do you make your skims out of ? welded a piece of mild steel on mine will try it on Saturday but do not think it will stand up for very long was thinking of making a pair out of cold rolled steel

Ideal material is boron steel or some proprietary material suchas Hardox. Most profilers keep this in as either a 440 or 500 grade of hardness. Ransomes TCN shares were about 460.
Can be had in most thickneses from 3 mm upwards.
Cold rolled will not stand up to it And will stick if it is the same as what we call cold rolled - ie galvanised purlins and rails.