PLOWS FOR MECHANICAL POWER 169 



Where a number of furrows are plowed at once, as with 

 the engine gang, they are more uniform. Only the outside 

 furrow will vary in width provided the plows are given and 

 hold their proper adjustment. The bottoms tend to hold each 

 other in line, especially if provided with buffers which allow 

 free play vertically and but a slight amount sidewise. Fre- 

 quently, however, the connection between beam and plow 

 frame is weak, and where no other means is provided for pre- 

 serving the alignment, the furrows cut by the same sized bot- 

 toms will vary several inches in width. The depth of furrow 

 should be, and usually is, quite constant, with the flexible 

 plows; hence a more uniform seed bed is secured than where 

 several rounds are made with horse plows in covering the 

 same ground. Especially is this true if several teamsters, each 

 with his own idea of plowing, are working in the same field. 



Engine plows are made heavier and stronger in beam and 

 standard than those for horses, since an engine will not, of 

 itself, stop in time to avert damage to the plows in case of 

 a solid obstruction. The bulk of the extra weight lies in the 

 frame, however, which must span a wider interval, yet remain 

 absolutely rigid between points of support. A common walking 

 plow weighs about 125 Ibs., a sulky plow about 375 Ibs., and a 

 two-furrow horse gang about 325 Ibs., per bottom. A solid 

 engine gang weighs 350 to 450 Ibs. per bottom, and the large 

 flexible hitch gangs 600 to 800 Ibs. The additional weight 

 of frame is carried on rather small, though broad, wheels, 

 which largely overcome the advantage secured in engine gang 

 by changing the line of draft. 



Something of the added cost of constructing engine plows 

 is shown by the following relative prices: A walking plow 

 costs from $10 to $16; and a sulky, $30 to $35. A two-furrow 

 gang costs from $25 to $30 per bottom; a disk-engine gang plow 

 about $30; a solid moldboard engine gang about $40; a large 

 flexible hitch gang about $75; and a steam-lift plow $100 to 

 $125 per bottom. 



