# Dearborn Moldboard Repointing



## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Yesterday when to haul sweetcorn stalks from a place. Guy come out and said a neighbor would like to talk to me about his two-bottom plow. Went to look at it. Apparently a very early model Dearborn. Rather than the moldboard being bolted together pieces it is one piece. Held on by one bolt, when it is taken out entire moldboard comes off. (Above moldboard is a finger-like structure apparently for turning the furrow).

Both moldboards (perhaps one-piece shares is a more correct wording) have become dull to where it no longer wants to plow properly.

I can take a stab at repointing them, but I'd rather find someone with experience in doing so. Any suggestions?

I'm probably looking for a 70-80 year old, still active, farm community blacksmith.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Hard to give advice without seeing it. Plows need to have "suction", concave underside. Slight concave on the landside, too. Maybe you can look at a good plow point and replicate that.

May be able to find a source for a replacement. I enjoy bringing old equipment back to life. Two bottom trailer plows are common and cheap. You might better find an old John Deere and buy plow points. A good coulter is important for good plowing, too.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

He has been unable to find a replacement. Dearborn was essentially Ford. Ford/New Holland dealers apparently no longer carry Dearborn parts.

It is a 14" model. I'm not a farmer. Have never plowed. He said plow is in excellent condition except for dull points.

Agree it may be cheaper to simply find another brand with a multi-piece moldboard. Guy is probably in his late 70s if not 80s. Plow likely has sentimental value to him. Actually neighbor has a two-bottom one also. Why not borrow it for the little plowing (garden) he does???

We noticed the point is tapered away from the body of the share.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I don't know if they can be found today as the last I seen was the early 60's.
Welding shops used to sell and install new tips on the plow point that were still in good condition other wise. Of course the welding shops that did it were in heavy farming areas. We used to have it done each fall for getting th plows ready for spring plowing. If I remember right we couldget the shares redone 3 times before we had to replace the whole thing.
There were some farmers with their own welders who would rebuild the point them selves then run beads of harder rod to prolong the life. And some not so handy would just weld a chunk of car leaf spring on the point and sharpen it. 

 Al


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## FordJunkie (Nov 23, 2007)

Here is a link to a super ford tractor site. The guys here will be able to tell you most anything you need to know about Ford/Dearborn stuff. Just post in the Implements section asking about the plow and someone will have or get you some info. There is also a listing of links to a lot of parts suppliers.

http://www.ntractorclub.com/index.htm

HTH
Tony


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Ken, this pic http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...2612d1160581984-dearborn-plow-help-plow-8.jpg is the earliest Dearborn that I am aware of but it does not have a one bolt mount. You can see where the point has been welded to the slide to make a repair. If the moldboard itself is worn you will have to make one. I cannot find a pic of the type moldboard (slat moldboard) you mentioned but I have seen one. Here is a pic of a JD slate plow that is very similar http://www.antiquetractors.com/contents/adpic8008.htm


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

The folk on Yesterday's Tractors can also lend information on Dearborn, plows, etc.

After reading a book all I can say is learn to do a soft temper so the point won't be brittle and snap if it hits a rock.


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## Ozarka (Apr 15, 2007)

Ken
Don't know if you are wanting to know how to repoint or what it needs to look like from your posting. Old Country Blacksmiths hereabouts would arc weld a suitably shaped piece of grader blade to the cutting edge, heat it back up in the forge and draw out the edge a bit with their lil' Giant. Grader Blades are the hardest junkyard steel us scroungers have access to: Stop by the county road dept or State yard and ask. I have a next door neighbor who is an operator for the county and he has 20% of the 1,800 miles of gravel roads in our county to maintain, goes through a set every 2-3 weeks. The blades are made from a proprietary steel called Astralloy 5 and are around .95% carbon, plus additives for abrasion resistance. I know that you have to get it almost white hot to even make a dent in the stuff. The alloy is also rolled into plate and used on armored cars...


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Maybe you could get two holes drilled or blown through with a torch and use some bolt on points?


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I dont think I've ever seen a one piece plow bottom. All even most of the old walk behind horse plows had removable/replacable point or lay.

I'd either modify the plow bottom to accept a readily available plow lay (cheapest I could find) from farm store. Or else I would replace the entire plow bottom with one off some other plow that does have a replaceable lay. Usually not hard to find a plow for scrap price. The plow I use on place was purchased for a whopping $2. But that was back before scrap prices zoomed, back in 1990s I think.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

More info: It is a Ferguson Mfg. Co., Dearborn, MI No. 7777. Also on tag is 12-AO-4D. Apparently the AO is a series number. The entire moldboard is two pieces. The bottom share and the top part which turns the furrow. Rather than being solid it has about seven fingers. From what I can tell it was a transition from a draft-animal plow to a tractor pulled plow (3-pt hitch). Apparently after this series they went to a multi-piece moldboard with a replaceable point.

If you go to http://balsters.net/plowshares.html the share/shoe looks very much like the one in the picture near the top of the listing. On this one on the backside is a type of mushroom head. An eyebolt goes over it and is used to lock the share/shoe in place.

Guy is going to take the two off. Will see if it has a part number stamped on it.

Plan for the moment is to try to draw out the current points and then weld on beads of stainless for work hardening. Will recommend swapping the old front and back so the front is the one with the least wear.

Still though he would like to find new replacements.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

There is always the chance of new old stock out there on shelf someplace, but likelyhood of finding it is nill. The rarer the item, the less likely to find parts. I didnt think you had full size plow with one piece bottoms. That wouldnt make sense on any level, and a throw away plow would have been hard sell back in day Dearborn plow was made. Yea old plows used the wide lays/shears, whatever you want to call them. And those old ones even when they were stocked were lot higher priced than modern narrow ones. Usually you could buy 3 or 4 old plows for what one new lay would cost. so people just bought spare plow or two for parts and demand fell to nothing and guess what, no demand = discontinued item

So you either adapt, or repair or fabricate. Like other person said, grader blade is nice tough metal. Or adapt mounts on the plow bottom so a modern plow lay that is available and likely to be available into the future can just bolt on. Thats probably smartest thing for an owner that doesnt do his own metal work. Not that it sounds like this guy would ever wear out a set of new lays.

The replacement blades on rotary plow attachment for my Gravely were some crazy price. So I cut off worn edge and welded on section of old leaf spring and sharpened it with a grinder. Yep, me not buying factory meant that much less demand just like people not buying Dearborn plow lays. So that means less likelyhood of more of them ever being produced again as walk behind Gravelies fade off into history.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Yeah, guy is in his 80s. All he does with it is to plow two gardens, and his neighbor now has his own 2-bottom plow. Sentimental value. Will try to guide him to a cheap solution.


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