Plow Anchors?

[massnspace]

The PLOW was invented about 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent area to MOVE through soil to cut it apart.

Since it is specifically designed to MOVE through soil, it is a mystery how it became adapted to be used to STOP a boat from moving. It is literally the OPPOSITE of what you want, assuming you want the boat to STOP, not MOVE.

Then a few decades ago someone invented the inverse plow (spade). It STOPS. It doesn’t MOVE. It STOPS.

So, so surprising to walk through marinas to this very day and see almost every sailboat has a plow anchor. Makes zero sense…

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by massnspace

The PLOW was invented about 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent area to MOVE through soil to cut it apart.

Since it is specifically designed to MOVE through soil, it is a mystery how it became adapted to be used to STOP a boat from moving. It is literally the OPPOSITE of what you want, assuming you want the boat to STOP, not MOVE.

Then a few decades ago someone invented the inverse plow (spade). It STOPS. It doesn’t MOVE. It STOPS.

So, so surprising to walk through marinas to this very day and see almost every sailboat has a plow anchor. Makes zero sense…

The plow was designed to dig into the soil and break it up by forcing the plow thru the soil with excess power.

The CQR plow anchor was invented in the early 1930s and was a massive improvement on the previous anchors.
It was designed to dig into the soil and hold fast unless it was overpowered or had too short a scope.

Farming plows generally had 1 blade that pushed soil 1 direction and were sized so that 1 or 2 horses could pull it thru the soils at hand.
A plow anchor has 2 opposite hand blades so once it starts to dig in it tries to keep digging in unless the scope is too short or it is overpowered. It operates under the handicap of generally not knowing what soil/sea bottom it will be digging into unlike farming where the farmer knows the history of plowing previous years and what rains have been like recently which affects plowing.

Most recreational boats buy one anchor and continue with that anchor for years. It is not adjustable generally and it was an expensive purchase. Still kinda is.

Farming plows can have various adjustments so they don't dig in too much and stop turning the soil by overpowering the horses.

You have mistaken similarity of nickname and design for similarity of function.


In the 1970s the Bruce appeared, which like the CQR, was designed to dig into the soil and hold fast unless it was overpowered. In performance it was generally comparable to the CQR with one or the other sometimes holding better for a specific bottom and boat.

In the 1990s the scoop anchors began appearing with the Spade being the first. They too were designed to dig into the soil and hold fast unless it was overpowered. In general a somewhat lighter scoop gave similar performance as a CQR or Bruce. Or you could have somewhat better performance for the same weight.

The fact that the new scoop anchors are better than the Bruce and CQR anchors that preceded them doesn't negate the fact that they gave good performance for decades prior.

That fact that many or most boat owners don't anchor out much, or even use the boats much for that matter, explains why many of them still have Bruces and CQRs, they are still giving good service to the use the boats are being put to.

For some who started with oversized CQRs and Bruces and who use their vessels regularly, newer scoop anchors would be an unnecessary expense since what they have is performing just as well, though at the cost of a minor weight penalty.


When I get my next boat and am outfitting I will pony up for a scoop anchor, oversized no less, but I will hold onto whatever came with the boat as a back up.

[massnspace]

[QUOTE=Adelie;3938504]

You have mistaken similarity of nickname and design for similarity of function.


No I haven’t.

They are very similar in both name and how they interact with what they are moving through. Please see attached picture of a plow. Has two blades. Designed to MOVE thru soil. MOVE.

I will continue to sleep soundly when my Rocna sets and DOESNT MOVE all night long, and continue to see dozens of CQR anchors that MOVE for sale for dirt cheap (pun intended) at every used marine store I visit….

[Bowdrie]

The oil embargo hit in the early '70s and kicked-off a much higher degree of exploration and drilling in the North Sea.
Right at about the same time the "Bruce" anchor was invented, and it was first designed and built as a huge anchor for mooring the oil rigs.
The design was especially shaped for high holding in what constitutes the prevailing bottom conditions in the North Sea, and the calculated scope requirements needed, (they were for permanent mooring use).
That the Bruce design was made into a much smaller version for use in pleasure craft was a stroke of marketing genius.
Many fawn over them, but they're not that great of an anchor for the myriad bottom conditions that a world cruiser is likely to encounter.

[Kettlewell]

A couple of comments on plow anchors. Personally, I think the CQR is in a different league to most of the others. Many are crude knock-offs meant to look like CQRs in order to sell. In any case, those of us of a certain vintage used genuine CQRs very effectively for many decades all over the world. Many famous voyages were completed using them. We rode out several hurricanes in New England using them along with other anchors. I voyaged down to the Bahamas and back several times with one, went down to the Virgin Islands and back with one, up to Canada and back, and all up and down the East Coast many times before there were any better anchors out there. Used properly they were good anchors. A lot of the knock offs are not so good. But, bottom line is I think some of the new-gen anchors, like the Mantus M1 I currently use, are much better. One huge advantage of the newer anchors is the very sharp point (watch your shins!) that promotes fast penetration and a quick set. It often took more time and care to get a CQR properly buried.

[barnakiel]

I think in mud bottoms plows (hinged/unhinged) are hard to beat by a meaningful margin. I had very little good to say about our CQR copy BUT I heard great reviews from countless sailors, so I am bound to say plows are at times quite fantastic hooks.


I have seen boats anchored on hinge-less plows (Delta) and it was blowing hard and we were in sand and coral (Polynesia) and we both remained put (we had a Bruce copy by then). Wind gusting 55knots, short chop, maybe 4-5 of it.



So I would keep my CQR or otherwise if I had one and if my grounds were varieties of mud.


I would pick a second anchor for sand - if only that the same weight could give me more holding (there).



Horses for the courses.



b.

[Knotical]

[QUOTE=massnspace;3938513]

Originally Posted by Adelie

You have mistaken similarity of nickname and design for similarity of function.


No I haven’t.

They are very similar in both name and how they interact with what they are moving through. Please see attached picture of a plow. Has two blades. Designed to MOVE thru soil. MOVE.

I will continue to sleep soundly when my Rocna sets and DOESNT MOVE all night long, and continue to see dozens of CQR anchors that MOVE for sale for dirt cheap (pun intended) at every used marine store I visit….

I think angle of pull can explain it - with adequate chain rode the CQR tip will dig deeper into the substrate and provide holding, whereas a farm plow tip is generally kept horizontal to till surface soil.

Or, farmers may have invented the CQR after realizing how difficult it was to move their plows through soil

[nofacey]

There’s no reason to keep the old Danforth - most any decent 85lb anchor is going to out perform it.
You have 3 decent anchors - clear the deck, reduce non-performing weight & ditch the 4th

[sinnerman]

The Mantus IMHO is also a plow-type anchor.

It is a high-tech anchor who's main selling point is that it sets (digs in) quickly and efficiently in various bottom types and also resets well when the wind shifts and the boat spins around, pulling the anchor out of the bottom

In some bottoms, with a lot of soft silt or the gooey "muck" like Galveston Bay, a fluke anchor does well, especially if the flukes are set at a sharper (i.e.45 degree) angle.

My two cents

Cheers.