His plough was of cast iron, but in three parts, so that a broken part might be renewed without purchasing an entire plough.

This principle of standardization marked a great advance.

The farmers by this time were forgetting their former prejudices, and many ploughs were sold.

Though Wood's original patent was extended, infringements were frequent, and he is said to have spent his entire property in prosecuting them.
In clay soils these ploughs did not work well, as the more tenacious soil stuck to the iron moldboard instead of curling gracefully away.

In 1833, John Lane, a Chicago blacksmith, faced a wooden moldboard with an old steel saw.