COST OF USING POWER ON WHEAT FARMS IN OREGON 5 
HOME DRAWBAR WORK 
Twenty-seven of the thirty-one tractor owners reported the use 
of the tractor for spring plowing, which amounted to 45.9 per cent of 
the total days of tractor work per farm (Table 3). On 16 farms 
all of the plowing was with tractor-drawn plows. On these 31 
tractor farms, an average of 553 acres per farm was spring plowed, 
of which 421 acres were plowed with tractor-drawn plows (Table 
4). Practically all of this plowing was in the preparation of land 
for summer fallow. Large equipment was used. Usually the out- 
fits pulled packers behind the plows (fig. 1). A common size of 
plow for use with 10-horsepower tractors consisted of two 14-inch 
bottoms; for 20-horsepower tractors, four 14-inch bottoms; for 28- 
horsepower tractors, six 14-inch bottoms; for 40-horsepower tractors, 
six 16-inch bottoms; and for 50-horsepower tractors, nine 16-inch 
bottoms. The outfits usually required a man to manage the plows 
in addition to the tractor operator. The man days for a total 
of 23.3 tractor days of plowing was 29.4 per farm. 
Fic. 1.—Spring plowing in preparation of land for summer fallow. ‘Tractor of the 
40-drawbar horsepower size hauling six 16-inch plow bottoms with a packer 
attached behind. Seventy-six per cent of spring-plowed acreage was done with 
tractor-drawn plows and approximately one-third of the tractors owned on these 
farms were of the 40-horsepower size 
Four men reported the use of the tractor for spike-tooth harrow- 
ing, and three for spring-tooth harrowing. On the average, spike 
and spring-tooth harrowing represented 3.5 per cent of the total days 
of tractor work per farm. 
Disking before plowing with tractor-drawn disks was reported 
by 16 men. The total disking before plowing amounted to an 
average of 221 acres per farm, of which 95 per cent was with tractor- 
drawn disks. The common size of implement for this operation 
with 10-horsepower tractors was one 8-foot disk; for 20-horsepower 
tractors, two 8-foot disks; for 28 and 40 horsepower tractors, three 
8-foot disks; and for 50-horsepower tractors, four 8-foot disks. 
Three men used a two-man crew. The average tractor days per 
farm for this operation was 3.7 and the average amount of man 
labor was 4.4 days. Disking before plowing constituted 7.3 per 
cent of the total tractor days per farm. Other disking was reported 
by only three men. One disked plowed ground and two disked 
stubble land which was seeded without further preparation. 
Weeding with tractor power was reported on only two farms 
where 30 and 36 foot weeders were used. 
