RE: Plows, settings, and weight....
Brinly plows cannot be directly compared to big plows. The draft line is not nearly as adjustable, nor is it as predictable. What has said about weight and settings is VERY true for big tractor plows with wide ranging hitch adjustments, etc., but unless you are pulling a Brinly in the lightest and softest of soils the "ideals" associated with larger plows cannot be maintained....at BEST a Brinly is a compromise between plowing depth, speeed, and furrow quality...with precious few meaningful adjustments to help with the "dial in" (point, hitch position, and landing being the most obvious). Those who are only plowing soft gardens or 1/2 clay x 1/2 sand soils can achieve the "ideal", but other conditions really begin to take a toll on a Brinly.
Also consider that a brinly plow is VERY light weight in construction for it's size (relative to big tractor plows). Many Brinly plows are being asked to do a job that is 80-90% of what some of the old antique Farmalls are doing with a Little Genius plow (they usually don't plow more than 8-10" deep pulling 14" bottoms....yet a Brinly weighs consideribly less than the big plow......doing colse to the same work.
For those who can manage it, 30-40# of weight on a Brinly makes ALL the difference......in almost all of the cases......you can do better work because you have taken some of the compromise out of the "point" setting. You can flatten the plow out to do better work without loosing depth.
Brinlys do amazing work in conditions for which they were not designed (soybean fields)......and flat out fantastic work in the typical garden (their intended market).......but some weight, clearance, and rolling cutter work can make them even BETTER all around.
I don't view weight as "cheating", instead it's a tool to make your implement run better.....ideals shouldn't cloud "in furrow" performance for their own sake. I use to consider weigth a crutch....until I started playing with what it can do for a Brinly set up and realized I had left a "tool" back in the tool box.
Hope everyone enjoys their spring plowing, be it gardens, plow days, or (heaven forbid) that last monster snow storm!!!!