HP Requirements

[neilw]

How accurate are manufacturer horsepower requirements?? I know of a 6 furrow kuhn plough being pulled by a 200hp fendt 820, their website says this needs 260 horses to pull it?? Do manufacturers put worst case scenarios to cover themselves on this kind of thing?? If so, what can be pulled, realistically, with what HP....

[Lord Ferguson]

I guess the answer to that queastion is that it depends on the land you have I guess....

[Tractorman810]

indeed mark, a conversation we have had before, light land equals s bigger plough on a smaller hp tractor, and of course that works the other way to, heavy land will render some big tractors useless and down to say 3 furrows

so many variables in this one 

[schw84]

and how wide the furrows are....

[ploughmaster]

The principal factors are the type of soil, the number of furrows and the depth of ploughing/type of mouldboard.

In fact, furrow width has only a slight impact on draft, and thus hp required.

Not many years ago I had experience of a 6 furrow Dowdeswell ploughing 12" furrows to around 10" depth.  The tractor couldn't pull it in the wet winter, so we dropped it down to 5 furrows - still struggled.  We swapped it for a similar Dowdeswell (same soil engaging parts) which was only 4 furrows, but set at 14".

4 x 14" = 56" overall width of ploughing

5 x 12" = 60" overall width.

We ploughed at the same depth, and the 4 furrow was massively easier to pull, in spite of only taking 4" less width - it's the number of legs stuck in the soil that has the biggest influence 

[MODELFARMER]

Yes

For my 6930 my next plough will be a 4 furrow kv vari width, easy goin open it out and plough as mush as a 5 furrow and in tough goins close her down

[archbarch]

its down to traction the same tractor ballasted properly, plough set right will pull another furrow.

Vari-width ploughs are ok but can be used badly, alot of people open them out just because the tractor can pull it, not caring about the finnish!!!

[neilw]

So what about things like seeders, obviously a 4 mtr will need less than an 8 mtr, in theory it should be double but is this the same in practice??

And is the size to HP ratio variance the same for other implements??

[ploughmaster]

So what about things like seeders, obviously a 4 mtr will need less than an 8 mtr, in theory it should be double but is this the same in practice??

And is the size to HP ratio variance the same for other implements??

It depends very much on the type of drill/seeder.

Back in the 80's, I used a 6 metre Accord quite happily on a 75hp tractor (though it would have been a little better on something 80 to 100hp).

A 4m Vaderstad Rapid will want nearer 150hp at least, and the old 4 metre Simba FreeFlow needs a minimum of about 160hp.

A power harrow mounted drill will obviously be governed by the needs of the harrow, so a 4 metre combi would probably need 120 to 150 hp (more in heavy going).

[Kiwi6920]

its down to traction the same tractor ballasted properly, plough set right will pull another furrow.

Vari-width ploughs are ok but can be used badly, alot of people open them out just because the tractor can pull it, not caring about the finnish!!!

Rickys name springs to mind there

[turbohealy]

a 6m rapid sytem disc 300 hp we have a 4m vaderstad sytem disc and have a t7060 chipped to 250 hp and it wants it all im in  the rep of ireland land can be difficult pull but 150hp wudnt luk  wouldn't look ? at my 4 meter but system disc is unreal hard to pull towards agrilla tine vaderstad \

PLEASE USE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND NOT TEXT TALK WHEN POSTING ON HERE - MANY THANKS

[Paul Palmer]

hp amount is not just about ploughing, all machinery has there needs,but as a rough guide,rough guide mind  only, check the manufacturers brochures,all depends on soil,hills or is the land flat,etc,hope this helps

[Eurodeere]

The answer to all these questions is: How long is a piece of string?

[archbarch]

The answer to all these questions is: How long is a piece of string?

How long is a piece of string and what thickness rope?

Years ago we had a set of Simba discs pulled by a IH 1455 we borrowed a Simba press to put behind them with a view to buying it, Simba said we wouldnt have enough power, the farmer we borrowed the press off had identical discs pulled by a JD 4850 on same soil type, he said we wouldnt pull them together, it was long before he was looking at a Case IH 1455 to replace the JD.

Power requirements are a guide line some tractors pull better than others, tractor manufacturers quote so many different figures for power  but fail to quote drawbar power in most cases.

[Lord Ferguson]

I've got a guide in an MF export book somewhere... I am blowed if I can find it at the moment mind you    .. when I do I will post it up for all to see of course

[MODELFARMER]

Rickys name springs to mind there

REFEREEE!!!!  ;D

Depends if the field can be seen from the road or not, if not , , , ups the speeds wee go, powerharrow sort it out ha ha if beside road 4-5mph nice and neat

[Murray]

seen a 7030 pass a 820 fendt.  fendt had the old style 4m vaderstad seeder. 7030 had 4m press on front and was pulling the new vaderstad with the new wheel  design. the vaderstad agent is 100% certain that the new design is easier going and requires less horse power to pull

[Jdeere6910]

We have a 5 furrow dowdswell that we pull with a JD 6910 which is about 140hp on some very heavy land, however when it is wet we have to drop a frrow off the back or she really struggles. Also the plough needs to be set up correctly the link arms on the tractor should converge under the front weight for ideal weight distribution etc. A contractor near us bought a brand new 7530 but she wouldnt pull a 5 furrow lemken plough so they contacted the sales rep and he brought someone from lemken with him who set up the plough correctly and it runs perfectly now. They even have run a 6 furrow behind it for a while.

As for drills we run a 4m Simba free flow that runs behind a JD 6900 thats been opened up a bit, but she runs on a set of duals all round and without them she just wont pull the drill.

[ploughmaster]

....the link arms on the tractor should converge under the front weight for ideal weight distribution etc.

This is the 'virtual hitch point' you are talking about:

High virtual hitch point for traction (implement is effectively pulling down on the rear of the tractor, but has a negative effect on penetration in hard soils))

Low virtual hitch point for penetration (tractor is effectively pulling down on the implement, but traction is reduced)

[Jdeere6910]

This is the 'virtual hitch point' you are talking about:

High virtual hitch point for traction (implement is effectively pulling down on the rear of the tractor, but has a negative effect on penetration in hard soils))

Low virtual hitch point for penetration (tractor is effectively pulling down on the implement, but traction is reduced)

Thats what it was called. I remember him saying about it now you mention it.

[bd contracts]

there s a contractor beside me who has a t6080 on claas butterfly mowers and next contractor has a claas zerion on the same mowers. some hp difference.