It takes x horsepower to pull a plow of a given width in a given soil to a given depth at a given speed. However, that is horsepower AT THE DRAWBAR. Tractors are typically rated by PTO horsepower, which is pretty close to net engine horsepower. But tractors differ widely in how efficiently they can convert engine horsepower to drawbar horsepower. The JD 850 is rated at 22 PTO HP and 19 HP at the drawbar. So it can get 86 percent of its horsepower to the ground. It can do that because it weighs around 2400 lbs, maybe more with ballast.
Now if we look at the top-of-the line Cub Cadet, the GTX 2154, it has an engine rated at 22.5 horsepower, fairly close to the JD 850. But how much does it weigh? I'm guessing less than 1000 pounds. You could probably get it up to 1000 pounds with ballast. So it's at a huge disadvantage to the JD on weight alone. Plus the 850 would likely have agricultural tires, while the Cub Cadet is on turf tires, which offer very little traction on soft ground. How much of that 22 engine horsepower can the Cub Cadet get to the ground? At plowing speeds, say 2 to 4 mph, my guess is it would be doing good to get even 5 drawbar horsepower. And let's say you managed to add enough ballast to get the Cub Cadet up over 2000 lbs. It's unlikely the drivetrain components were designed to handle forces generated by 20 drawbar horsepower; something would break.
So why does the Cub Cadet even need a 22 hp engine? Well, its primary purpose is mowing. Mowing takes a lot of power, and it can deliver almost all of its engine horsepower to the mower.
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Today's Featured Article - Restoration Story: Fordson Major - by Anthony West. George bought his Fordson Major from a an implement sale about 18 years ago for £200.00 (UK). There is no known history regarding its origins or what service it had done, but the following work was undertaken alone to bring it up to show standard. From the engine number, it was found that this Major was produced late 1946. It was almost complete but had various parts that would definitely need replacing.
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