When was plow invented

In the days of conventional ploughs using right hand bodies only , the front furrow width could be adjusted by sliding the cross shaft to the left or right or by rotating it. When rotated, it enabled the plough to be steered either towards the unploughed land or ploughed work, thus making the front furrow wider or narrower.

The correct way is to move the whole plough literally sideways at 90 o to the direction of travel to change the width of the front furrow. This is achieved by using a simple slide and rail system or parallel linkage which moves the plough sideways with very little variation in landside pressure. The ploughing would then be cross harrowed covering the seeds with soil. Early reversible ploughs were constructed from rectangular or rail line shaped solid steel bars. Modern plough frames are produced from a one-piece box section, heat treated for strength and to help keep the weight to a minimum.

Manufactures without sophisticated heat treatment equipment use simple welded fabrications. These can be very heavy and impose additional high forces on the rear of the tractor. A plough frame must withstand high twisting forces, especially when in a transport position, therefore, must be flexible to absorb the stresses and strains, yet rigid enough to maintain alignment accuracy. The majority of early tractor mounted reversible ploughs had the furrow width fixed at 12 or 14 inches.

To improve output efficiency and plough versatility, furrows had to get wider and be capable of being adjusted. This was not only to suit soil conditions, but to help reduce manufactures and dealers stocking levels.

Output was the key factor and 16 inch ploughs began to appear from Europe. They have been proved wrong, because ploughs are now capable of operating with furrow widths of over 20 inches wide.

However, this was not possible without the development and changes to the shape of the mouldboard. With this change, it allowed for wider furrow slices and faster operating speeds. This was because of the simplicity to hydraulically change the furrow width from within the tractor cab to suit the type of soil being ploughed. As a result, output and ploughing efficiency improved as the operator was able to plough more acres a day. A plough frame with bodies having an interbody clearance of 85cm All the latest mounted and semi-mounted ploughs can be equipped with either shear bolts, or auto-reset systems.

These are to protect the plough from rocks and occasional obstructions. Trivia John Deere was born in Vermont in In he started his career as a blacksmith. He moved west in the 's when times got tough. Many problems prevented the making of the steel plows. Steel was hard to find. In the beginning steel had to come from Great Britain. In hopes to find work, he left the proceeds of the sale to his wife, who was carrying their fifth child, and headed west. With no blacksmiths for a near 40 miles, he began work right away.

He learned that farmers were have the same difficulty in Illinois, however the soil was much heavier. In many areas the plows required 8 yokes of oxen to be able to pull the plow through the land. While visiting a sawmill, John noticed a broken steel saw. He took polished steel back to his shop and shaped it to fit a plow.

This new plow worked much better than any other plow previously used. In , John built two more plows. The following year he built 10 plows and sold them for ten to twelve dollars a plow. Plows of this sort were used in Illinois as late as Evidently, improvements were desperately needed, particularly a design to turn a deep furrow for planting seeds.

Early attempts at improvement were often just heavy chunks of tough wood crudely cut into shape with a wrought-iron point and attached clumsily. The moldboards were rough, and no two curves were alike—at that time, country blacksmiths made plows only on order and few even had patterns for them.

Additionally, plows could turn a furrow in soft ground only if the oxen or horses were strong enough, and friction was such a big problem that three men and several animals were often required to turn a furrow when the ground was hard. Several people contributed to the invention of the plow, with each individual contributing something unique that gradually improved the efficacy of the tool over time. Thomas Jefferson worked out an elaborate design for an effective moldboard.

However, he was too interested in other things besides inventing to keep working on agricultural tools, and he never attempted to patent his product. The first real inventor of the practical plow was Charles Newbold of Burlington County, New Jersey; he received a patent for a cast-iron plow in June of However, American farmers mistrusted the plow. They believed it "poisoned the soil" and fostered the growth of weeds.

Ten years later, in , David Peacock received a plow patent and eventually procured two others. However, Newbold sued Peacock for patent infringement and recovered damages. It was the first patent infringement case involving a plow. He received two patents , one in and the other in His plow was cast iron and made in three parts so that a broken part could be replaced without purchasing a whole new plow. This principle of standardization marked a great advance. By this time, farmers were forgetting their former prejudices and were enticed to buy plows.

Though Wood's original patent was extended, patent infringements were frequent and he is said to have spent his entire fortune in prosecuting them.