educate me on disc breakage

ericlb · Mar 22, 2012

grandpa tought me to pull his disc on the farm in 1968,with a farmall M he bought new, been doing it off and on since then, now i got a little ford 201 model i use behind the jubilee, [ know you guys pull ones that can use this thing as a replacement for just one disc] to break up the clay soil in my roping arena, i pull it straight, lift it out of the ground when i turn, but i cant seem to use it one time without breaking at least one of the disc at the center, it breaks the center where the spools are off the rest of the disc in one piece, and not nessessarily at the outside discs, the nuts are tight and the thing is in pretty good shape overall for being of unknown vintage, out here nobody has replacement discs with a 1" round hole

IaGary · Mar 22, 2012

Is the area free of underground obstructions.

Sounds like there must be a big rock out there just below the surface.

Disc blades should not and will not break that easily.

Gary

RLA · Mar 22, 2012

As what the other poster said, the only other
thing that comes to my mind to lengthen the top
link a couple turns? Disc might have too much
weight on the frt gangs...

ericlb · Mar 22, 2012

i thought of that too, but im not hitting anything i know of usually on a small tractor like the jube when you hit an underground item its a pretty good jolt, when i disc i adjust the top link untill both sets [ front and rear] look like there pulling equal, should i maybe lift the front set more?

RodinNS · Mar 22, 2012

Metal fatigue. When a disc gets like that you put a new set of plates on it and store the old ones in a corner out of the way for spares when the new ones eventually start breaking.
Shoup should have the plates you need.
There's likely some ruck under the surface that you're hitting... but I found that hard packed ground and rock will do that. If it was loose ground and it hit a rock the disc would want to jump or slide sideways away from the rock but if it's packed hard the disc kinda stays anchored where it's at and the plate gives way.
Put the new plates on and then you get to break the frame... or gang bolts... or bearings.

Rod

mkirsch · Mar 22, 2012

Yup, metal fatigue. Banging around for decades has work-hardened the discs, which makes them brittle. Any little stress, and they snap like a potato chip.

Basically that disc harrow is shot as it is. Unless you replace all the discs, it will continue to give you problems. You may run into issues with the bearings, and the framework down the road here as well, also due to metal fatigue.

El Toro · Mar 22, 2012

It's metal stress just like those airplanes taking off and landing. Hal

GordoSD · Mar 22, 2012

No, Always run a disc level and with the same angle on both gangs. You want to move the same amount of soil both out and then in, or you will crate humps or valleys.

ericlb · Mar 22, 2012

thanks guys, sounds like its time to hunt me another whole disc to use , i dont know what vintage a ford 201 is, i got it at an auction but im guessing the 60's or so the northern ones look cheaply made and expensive to buy, guess ill hit some auctions and find another american one lol

RodinNS · Mar 23, 2012

Just put a set of plates on the one you have. It'll cost about the same as buying another piece of junk that needs plates.

Rod

educate me on disc breakage

ericlb

Well-known Member

IaGary

Well-known Member

RLA

Well-known Member

ericlb

Well-known Member

RodinNS

Well-known Member

mkirsch

Well-known Member

El Toro

Well-known Member

GordoSD

Well-known Member

ericlb

Well-known Member

RodinNS

Well-known Member

Similar threads