Virtual Ploughing Tuition

[TrickyT]

That is something that not everyone does. Its sometimes head scratching that it looks ok from one end but paired from the other.

It is also worth taking a 'time out' in the middle section. Funny how it looks ok when just ploughed, but then changes when the soil has dried a bit!

Trevor

 

[MrNoo]

From the "Pairing Master" himself, most flattered @TrickyT !!!
Even if you cant see pairing to the eye, take a picture of the work with a mobile phone and if there is even a hint of it, it will show up readily. Amazed how in the "flesh" some work looks lovely and yet take a picture, put it on your computer and it looks paired!! But you can of course see this on your phone at the match. It works, not that I tend to use it mind!!

 

[TrickyT]

From the "Pairing Master" himself, most flattered @TrickyT !!!

I resemble that remark!

Top advice on taking a photo.

Trevor

 

[Ley253]

From the "Pairing Master" himself, most flattered @TrickyT !!!
Even if you cant see pairing to the eye, take a picture of the work with a mobile phone and if there is even a hint of it, it will show up readily. Amazed how in the "flesh" some work looks lovely and yet take a picture, put it on your computer and it looks paired!! But you can of course see this on your phone at the match. It works, not that I tend to use it mind!!

I think the camera picks it up because it is mainly concerned with light and dark, on a photo, pairing seems to show as one darker furrow than the other, where as the eye picks out much more, and gets side tracked, looking for different shape, or finish.

 

[ploughman61]

I think the camera picks it up because it is mainly concerned with light and dark, on a photo, pairing seems to show as one darker furrow than the other, where as the eye picks out much more, and gets side tracked, looking for different shape, or finish.

Always found camera best way of showing faults, much to the annoyance of many ploughmen.

 

[arcobob]

Always found camera best way of showing faults, much to the annoyance of many ploughmen.

Polaroid sunglasses are a great aid . Sometimes helps to drop the eyelids and squint a little. Is this about ploughing tuition or applying commonsense ?

 

[Cordiale]

I think sometimes as has been mentioned the light conditions can make what would have looked good on the day, look mediocre in a photo. But they can also tell the truth. I remember one match where I felt my ploughing was fairly good, only to see some photos later and realise it left a lot to be desired.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

No its that the camera is not bias to the competition, it only takes a picture of what it sees, nothing more nothing less, just how a judge should be

 

[Fergie Ploughman]

Well bugger me Allan that's stirred up a hornets nest and you certainly have got many great Ploughman giving their thoughts now which I presume is all you were asking for
And as for trade secrets their are many great ploughman on here now and in the past who have given great advice and I for one have benefited from some very sound views given on here

All he was trying to do was wake you miserable bunch of old buggers up out of your slumber and start talking about ploughing a past time all of us love and one which if we talk and discuss will take our minds for short spells off of the horrors of the virus and by talking and chortling on about any thing to do with this art form no matter how small or mundane it might seem, you will be making the lock down seem that much more tolerable and who knows it might even save lives by preventing people going out and about
Stay safe and for God's sake keep smiling

Less of the miserable and old!!!

 

[Howard150]

Less of the miserable and old!!!

I can easily adapt to both when the need arises - note the WHEN bit.

Well it looks like you are right Spindle old chap, as you said none of these are going to reveal their trade secrets. It's really sad because, it's one thing reading about how to do it, but a different ball game trying to do it.

Probably a good job you didn’t start 25 years ago. There was no internet then so no information you could browse at a later date. Some of them would put you into information overload knowing full well that most of it wouldn’t register, then when you started to show a bit of aptitude, would start to fill your head full of rocks.

it is virtually impossible to give virtual ploughing tuition over the internet,
the reason is this, for a start off there is lots of different classes,
and each class is, well different, and also what will work for one ploughman will not work for many others, never mind all ploughmen, as the same make of plough with same bodies on will be different from the next,
then there is the tractor, there not all the same, some are more comfortable that others,
oh and soil and field conditions can alter so much from plot to plot on the same day in same field,
now I know this is not much help at all, but sadly that is how it is,

most important thing is to
A, the tractor, have the tractor wheels set right, and everything is in good order, without this your not going anywhere,
B, the plough is square and true, and everything is free with good threads, all nuts and bolts are easy to adjust,
you need to (assuming its a 2 furrow) have both bodies set the same,
pitch on point, push on boards, height of boards, setting on skims, and discs, ALL need to be the same for each furrow,
its a bit like fell walking you would have same foot wear on your feet, and a lace boot and a wellie, get them the same on the bodies both front and back,
C the bum on the seat, now many want to do a real good job, yet dont put the effort in for whatever reason,
the top ploughmen will be eating drinking and sleeping ploughing, and many will be working away night after night getting the plough ready, to the fact it may become an obsession,
you really need a very strong interest in ploughing, and watch the soil as it flows over the board, and not be afraid to try something new, however if at any point you alter anything ONLY do 1 adjustment at a time, if its wrong then put it back to where it was, and try something else,

the quickest way across the field is in a straight line, and bent ploughing looks bad,
if something looks wrong,try adjusting something to make it right, dont just keep ploughing hoping it gets better,
they say practice makes perfect, well in a word not in ploughing it dont, as in do not pratice and home or somewhere on your own, 2 reasons for this,
1 you have no other ploughing to compare it to, and secondly you will pick up bad habits and not have that competitive edge to better yourself, and will slip in to a lazy way of ploughing,

I know this may be not some want to hear, but pay heed to the above, and you will be starting off on the right foot,
and remember no 2 ploughs are the same,
and in the words of howard150, " failing to prepare, is preparing to fail "

Some very good points here from John.
Just a few small points to add.
It helps if you have an enquiringly mind.
‘Near enough’ is never enough.
It helps if you can drive straight.
It helps even more if you know what straight is (NB last 2 points)
It’s an added bonus if you have an engineering background.
It helps if you can weld.
Ploughing is like welding. No two of us can weld the same using the same settings.

Every day’s a school day. You can learn from anybody on a Ploughing field, even if it’s just to keep your gob shut sometimes. Here’s me thinking I had the job sussed then along comes a trailer plough. Coming along in stages just now.

 

[Mydexta]

Not sure I agree with the part about not practicing, as there is a lad up here with a blue tractor and green plough, who does more practice plots in a season than I do competitive ones.........and he seems to do very very well

 

[Cordiale]

I can easily adapt to both when the need arises - note the WHEN bit.



Probably a good job you didn’t start 25 years ago. There was no internet then so no information you could browse at a later date. Some of them would put you into information overload knowing full well that most of it wouldn’t register, then when you started to show a bit of aptitude, would start to fill your head full of rocks.



Some very good points here from John.
Just a few small points to add.
It helps if you have an enquiringly mind.
‘Near enough’ is never enough.
It helps if you can drive straight.
It helps even more if you know what straight is (NB last 2 points)
It’s an added bonus if you have an engineering background.
It helps if you can weld.
Ploughing is like welding. No two of us can weld the same using the same settings.

Every day’s a school day. You can learn from anybody on a Ploughing field, even if it’s just to keep your gob shut sometimes. Here’s me thinking I had the job sussed then along comes a trailer plough. Coming along in stages just now.
View attachment 871049

Well Dave I wondered how long it would be before you shared your thoughts with us. All I will say is if I could set a ridge anywhere near as good as that, I would be a very happy boy. When I started this thread it was to get the more experienced boys on here telling us for instance how they go about producing a start of the quality shown in your picture, then others reading it commenting that they find it easier to do it like so. One area that is hard to achieve is neat ins and outs, particularly without the aid of hydraulic levelling boxes. It took a while but in the end there has been a reasonable response to the thread. And before I get told that you can't give settings because soil conditions vary, surely most of the time you don't deviate much from a basic setting, you just fine tune it as conditions dictate.

 

[Ley253]

Not sure I agree with the part about not practicing, as there is a lad up here with a blue tractor and green plough, who does more practice plots in a season than I do competitive ones.........and he seems to do very very well

It depends what you practise!

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

Not sure I agree with the part about not practicing, as there is a lad up here with a blue tractor and green plough, who does more practice plots in a season than I do competitive ones.........and he seems to do very very well

but Ewan you say he is doing very very well, and practicing,
I would be most sure if as you say he is doing very very well, then he will not be practicing,
it will be more of fine tuneing of his tools of the trade, more likely to be trying different things,
things like, twist, push and height of boards, share pitch and profile, disc and skim setting, landslide, and anything you have changed on the tractor
none of the above are practicing, it more of setting the plough to suit his needs and run right,
and after you alter something you need to do more than 2 furrows to see if its any good, as if you alter 1 thing, it can make other things move out of line, and could pair the work as it were, really need to do more than a few yards,
back to what I said above, you need to eat, drink and sleep ploughing, you should know,as you yourself as probably
spent more hours working on your plough, than hours ploughing at a match

and in my case ploughing high cut at the moment, it alters 4 furrows at a time, as your ploughing 2, but pressing and boating the 2 previous in one pass, so with boats and press wheels attached to the plough, if you move the plough, or put a bend in on 1 run, it shows up on 4 furrows,

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

Well Dave I wondered how long it would be before you shared your thoughts with us. All I will say is if I could set a ridge anywhere near as good as that, I would be a very happy boy. When I started this thread it was to get the more experienced boys on here telling us for instance how they go about producing a start of the quality shown in your picture, then others reading it commenting that they find it easier to do it like so. One area that is hard to achieve is neat ins and outs, particularly without the aid of hydraulic levelling boxes. It took a while but in the end there has been a reasonable response to the thread. And before I get told that you can't give settings because soil conditions vary, surely most of the time you don't deviate much from a basic setting, you just fine tune it as conditions dictate.

just 2 questions, what are you ploughing with ? and how wide do you make the chip ?

 

[ploughman61]

Well Dave I wondered how long it would be before you shared your thoughts with us. All I will say is if I could set a ridge anywhere near as good as that, I would be a very happy boy. When I started this thread it was to get the more experienced boys on here telling us for instance how they go about producing a start of the quality shown in your picture, then others reading it commenting that they find it easier to do it like so. One area that is hard to achieve is neat ins and outs, particularly without the aid of hydraulic levelling boxes. It took a while but in the end there has been a reasonable response to the thread. And before I get told that you can't give settings because soil conditions vary, surely most of the time you don't deviate much from a basic setting, you just fine tune it as conditions dictate.

One aspect that nearly all ploughmen don't pay enough attention to easy points to gain, watch all your top men all have good ins and outs can be difference in placings, as a judge it annoys me when you see a good plot with poor in's and outs.

 

[TrickyT]

Practicing, not that is a discussion point.

I have been ploughing about 6 years. The first couple were only a couple of matches a year as I had to drive my Fergie to them as I didn't have a trailer.

I then did more matches as I got a trailer and managed to badger a farmer for some land to 'practice on'.

What I didn't realise was that I was 'practicing' a poor technique with a poor set up. Only knowing that things were wrong when I was at a match and either a fellow ploughman or judge pointed it out.

The best thing I did was had a 'ploughing lesson' and then go to a judging seminar. Complete eye opener.

The other thing was that I cannot imagine any farmer giving up an area of land for you to do openings and finishes all day long!

Trevor

 

[Cordiale]

just 2 questions, what are you ploughing with ? and how wide do you make the chip ?

Currently using an old fiskars on 13 inch furrows, but hoping to have a Ransomes TS 63 on yls next season. As for width of chip about 30 inches.

 

[spindle]

Not sure I agree with the part about not practicing, as there is a lad up here with a blue tractor and green plough, who does more practice plots in a season than I do competitive ones.........and he seems to do very very well

Eamon Tracey "practice practice practice" apologies if the name is spelt wrong but that man knows a thing or two and probably why the majority of us on here are always looking for the Holy grail of straightness uniformity and consistency

 

[Howard150]

Well Dave I wondered how long it would be before you shared your thoughts with us. All I will say is if I could set a ridge anywhere near as good as that, I would be a very happy boy. When I started this thread it was to get the more experienced boys on here telling us for instance how they go about producing a start of the quality shown in your picture, then others reading it commenting that they find it easier to do it like so. One area that is hard to achieve is neat ins and outs, particularly without the aid of hydraulic levelling boxes. It took a while but in the end there has been a reasonable response to the thread. And before I get told that you can't give settings because soil conditions vary, surely most of the time you don't deviate much from a basic setting, you just fine tune it as conditions dictate.

Just had a torturous 3 weeks on a massive job with a few glitches. Too much screen time continuously is very tiring coupled with trying to catch up with the rest of the day leaves sparse time for anything much else.

The makings of a good start is a good opening. There are several schools of thought.
The first is really shallow. Can have mixed results and if a judge is worth his money will cost you dear. Many shallow openings are hard to read and unbalanced but in my opinion are overpointed. Usually exponents of a shallow opening can put a good rig together by virtue of having a bit more meat in the crown furrows. There is no prescribed depth in the rules nor is there any stipulation as to what well balanced actually means.
At the other end of the scale is really deep. Exponents of this will always tell you that going deep leaves a big enough hole for you to get it all back in. There is no restriction on the depth. One thing a deep opening does is to disturb the two crown furrows before you even get to them. Points are awarded pretty much on the basis of how the judge used to do it, not particularly relating to the various merits of the actual opening.
The third option which has always appealed to me is one which is neither too deep nor too shallow. Pretty much middle of the road. I have a 6” deep landside stepped down at the back to 4”. Not for show. This is the depth gauge. 4” deep first time across with the plough laid back so the mouldboard is only just in work without leaving any unploughed ground. Second time across leave a furrow wall in the bottom no deeper than 4”the overall width will be determined by how much push you have on the boards. Ensure the chip covers the heel mark left by the mouldboard.

Chip back in. The depth is critical and should be similar to the second time across. The width you leave this at is also critical and varies According to the bodies you are using.

If you are correct then there should be a furrow wall to run down 4th time across, your rear wheel should flatten the chip and leave a wall to turn the first furrow up against, preventing it from spilling over and breaking up.

Good luck trying and stay safe.