XVI 



PLOWS FOR ANIMAL POWER 



ONLY a small percentage of all the thousands of pat- 

 ented plow forms remain in use, yet the variations in 

 modern plows are so great as to render a complete 

 classification next to impossible. The essential 

 features, however, are well defined. Plows for use with 

 animal power may first be divided into walking and riding, 

 the latter including sulky and gang plows. The single mold- 

 board plow is the most common, though double moldboard, 

 reversible, and two-way plows are made for special purposes. 

 Cast iron or steel, Bessemer steel, soft centre steel, chilled iron, 

 wrought steel, malleable iron, and wood all enter into the con- 

 struction, and various attachments added to the essential 

 features multiply the possible combinations. 



The features of the single moldboard are landside, frog, brace, 

 beam, clevis, handles, and coulter. The share forms the 

 horizontal cutting edge and joins the moldboard to form the 

 "shin," which cuts the land vertically. The point is the part 

 which first enters the ground, and the heel or wing is the outer 

 extremity of the cutting edge. The share is sometimes welded 

 to the landside bar and called a "bar" share. Otherwise it 

 is called a "slip" share. The "sock" share, a very old style 

 which is still used largely on English and Scotch models, fits 

 over a tongue on the lower end of the moldboard. One type 

 is known as a "slip nose" or "cutter" share, in which the share 

 and shin are cast in one piece. This protects the moldboard, 

 and when worn may be renewed at less cost than the latter. 



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