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About Plows

Growers have used plows in various shapes and forms for hundreds of years to tear into, lift, and turn over soil. They’re used for primary tillage (often later followed by some form of secondary tillage or harrowing) to improve drainage and to prepare seedbeds, as well as to bury weeds and crop residue. Although plow usage has become more limited as more growers have moved toward no-till or partial-till farming, leading manufacturers continue to produce plows for various applications, including in colder and wetter climate regions where harder soil surfaces exist and where drainage can otherwise be an issue.

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Case IH Flex-Till 600 Chisel Plow

Plow History

Plows are credited with being one of the most important agricultural innovations in history due to the considerable reductions in time and labor they created, which resulted in dramatic increases in farmers’ yields. As was the case with much early equipment, humans pulled the first plows before horses and then tractors took over. Thomas Jefferson is credited with determining the ideal curves for the wooden moldboard used on plows sometime around the 1790s. Later plows would feature the use of cast-iron moldboards. It was blacksmith John Deere, though, who invented the modern moldboard plow in 1837 featuring polished steel. Deere’s design allowed farmers to work longer and spend less time stopping to clean moldboards. By the 1870s, Deere’s Moline Plow Works factory was producing tens of thousands of plows yearly.

Plow Types

Common plow types include moldboard plows, or turning plows, that cut through and turn over the soil. These are commonly used in fields previously unplanted or that had a cover crop. Chisel plows, meanwhile, limit soil disturbance while simultaneously enhancing the ability for water and nutrients to penetrate the soil. They specialize at mid- to deep-level tillage to loosen or aerate the soil and to break up clods. Chisel plows such as the KUHN Krause 4000 series can reach working widths up to 40 feet (12.2 meters) or greater, offer precise depth control, and come with multiple shank options.

Ridge or ridging plows use two moldboards to create a ridge used to plant certain crops such as potatoes. Mole plows, meanwhile, are generally used to improve drainage in wet soils by installing underdrainage systems such as tunnels without the need for trenching. Mole plows have traditionally been particularly useful in heavier clay soils prone to waterlogging due to poor water-immersion properties.

Find The Right Plow

TractorHouse.com has a big selection of new and used plows for sale every day from leading brands like Case IH, International, John Deere, KUHN, Kverneland, LEMKEN, and White.