What all does everyone prefer and what are the pros & cons of each? Thanks!

Sulky plow , I'm too lazy to walk and I have never mastered the walking plow.

Sulky, at a certain point in life riding makes more sense if you have much acreage to do.

I have tried a walking plow...If I was younger it might have been more fun but the team needs to be pretty slow I have a oliver sulky plow 12in. that pulls easy...and I can ride as fast as they want to go

I will start by saying it kinda depends on you. I have from walking plows up to 3 bottom gangs the 1 bottom sulkies get used the most followed by walking plow then 2 bottom andleast the3 bottom. The walking plow can be obtained for the least money but takes some work to get good at where the sulky is a little easier to master. I thoroughly enjoy plowing with horses and or Mules but I grew up plowing with old farmall tractors and trip plows and a dad who was very good at making them work good. In the end it all amounts to how much determination ,money,desire do you have?

I took the seat off of my sulky plow and walk behind, since I didn't find riding very comfortable and walking is healthier. This way I can see the soil turning without having to wrench my neck.
The advantage of a walking plow is that it is simpler to maintain and after some practice also to use, the disadvantage is that it takes more practice with the horses till they get the hang of it. The sulky plows that have a tongue also provide more safety in case the horses would suddenly lunge forward while the plow is out of the ground -it cannot bounce into their heels.

Thanks. I was a little concerned about the coordination level/learning curve with a walking plow. Even though the lower expense is nice, I want something that will work.

Klaus, I think you've suggested a good compromise. Thank you.

I've only used a walking plow my entire life. In fact this year was the first year that I've ever done any plowing with a tractor. One of my neighbors asked me what I thought and was really surprised when I told him, I hope I never have to plow with a tractor again. I've only used a sulky plow once also when I traded a mule for an old oliver 11 riding plow. It threw me the first time out and I said I believe someone else needs this more than me. So, I've stuck with the walking plow and I really enjoy it. If everything is set right and in a good field, I can walk on the land and hold to one handle, the plow just about runs itself. I've had two good plow teams in the last 11 years. I had a couple of teams in that time two that weren't so good but we made do.

Walking plow is brst when breacking out new ground. Sulky best on ground farmed every year.

It is best to have both. The riding plow for bigger jobs and open fields and the walking plows for smaller tighter areas or along fence rows. Single horse walking plows are useful as well. For small headlands the walking plows are better.
A walking plow is safer-wont tip you over sulky plows are prone to tip both in turns and backing up. If you hit a rock you won't be thrown on a sulky.
You will do your best plowing with a walking plow in my opinion but the difference is small for most situations.
I use the single walking plow in high tunnels, the single or team plow for small areas or around irrigation headers in the field and the riding plow for the bigger areas. I try to plow counterclockwise with the sulky if I have tight areas and real sharp turns as they are less likely to tip when turning left. You can easily plow square plots to the left without taking the plow out of the ground

wally

Great thread here! Thanks for chiming in Wally---you give a wonderful description of the versatility of plowing with horses. Like Klaus, we use an old Syracuse two-way plow for most of our plowing in the market garden. With ten inch bottoms, it is a perfect size for our Fjords plowing in cover crops. However, on sections where we need a really clean seed bed--like for seeding carrots---we use a Pioneer 12" walking plow, which goes a little deeper and turns a real clean furrow. We also think it makes sense to plow a couple of sections within our garden rotation deeper with this plow to try and avoid a shallow hard pan from only ever using the Syracuse. We have also used this walking plow when we were converting some sod to garden ground and it worked well.