See the rope attached to the lever on this plow? That is the "trip lever". If you pull that rope and KEEP it pulled while the plow is moving, the plow bottom will go up and down with every revolution of the wheel. If you let go of the rope, the lever will catch on one of the "ears" on the lift cam, and the plow will stay in whatever position it happens to be in. You can see one of the "ears" in this rear view.     So... you see... if you pull the rope and then release it while you are plowing, the plow will lift and stay lifted. If you pull the rope, then release it, when you are READY to plow, the plow will drop and stay dropped. It all depends upon which "ear" the roller at the bottom of the lever happens to catch.     On some of the "newer plows" the mechanism is enclosed like THIS one. There is a cam inside with two indentations 90 degrees apart. This accomplishes the same purpose as the "ears". When I say "newer", I'm talking about plows made from the mid 1940's on, as opposed to the "open" type, which was made earlier.    By the way, the reason I am showing you old rusted plows as examples is so that you won't feel bad about how YOURS looks!

NoooOOOOoooo!!       GRAVITY plays a HEFTY part in the motion of this mechanism when the plow is "up". DON'T monkey with the lift lever while the plow is parked! It will drop from its own WEIGHT!! This is a good reason to keep a block under the plow bottom when it is not in use, and also a good reason to keep children's TOES out from under there!    ANOTHER thing.... What to do with YOUR end of the trip rope... Look HERE.

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