Restoration of an old Athens Offset Harrrow

[HCJtractor]

I am in the process of restoring an old Athens Harrow, Series 166, that has been abandoned for several decades. After dragging it out of the briars, I discovered it was salvagable. I plan to replace the wheels and tires, the discs, and check the bearings. Of course it needs all new hydraulics. Athens Plow out of Tennessee was great in providing an original owners manual/parts list for free, and they still sell most parts, as do many others tractor supply dealers. When I get the wheels installed, I plan to lift it, and trailer it back to my shop and get started.

As far a discs (it has 20 total), I plan to place 24" discs, which are about $60 each. Athens Plow sells them as do Agri Supply, Valu-Built, and Tractor Supply. I want to get 1/4" thick discs, which are about the thickest I see. Any opinions on which company has the best, or are they all about the same. I see some Indian and some Brazilian, and wondered which is better. I also wonder if I should go all notched or notched on front and plain on the rear. I plan to use this for food plots, some established and some breaking new ground in S.C. clay with some rocks.

My next decision is whether to hire someone to sandblast it or use Gemplers magic rust conversion product (can't remember what it is called). Obviously it is pitted pretty badly, but it doesn't have to be pretty.

I figure the restoration will costs about $1700 ish. Do you think it is worth it?

 

[flusher]

Nope, way too pricy unless you're deep into restoring old offsets.

I bought a 13 ft Minneapolis Moline tandem disc for $600 including delivery a few years ago.



I serviced the hydraulic ram, repainted, and cut off two of the worn outer pans from each axle to reduce it to a 10-ft wide unit so my Mahindra 5525 could handle it.

 

[bigbull338]

from the looks of that old athens disc it doesnt have the notched cutting blades unless im missing something.but if you want to make a plowing disc put the notched blades on it.an it looks tobe in real good shape.

 

[HCJtractor]

My only concern with notched discs is that I read they are more likely to break in rocky soil, which we do have. My previous disc, a Leinbach 3 point 20" x 20, was prone to breakage, as I broke a dozen or so discs in the last 7 years. I wonder if the advantage of notched discs in terms of cutting is out weighed by their tendency to break in rocky soil. And since this harrow is so heavy, I wonder if it would cut just fine with smooth discs, and not need notched. I wish "Farmwithjunk" would voice his opinion as he seems to know his stuff!

 

[bigbull338]

My only concern with notched discs is that I read they are more likely to break in rocky soil, which we do have. My previous disc, a Leinbach 3 point 20" x 20, was prone to breakage, as I broke a dozen or so discs in the last 7 years. I wonder if the advantage of notched discs in terms of cutting is out weighed by their tendency to break in rocky soil. And since this harrow is so heavy, I wonder if it would cut just fine with smooth discs, and not need notched. I wish "Farmwithjunk" would voice his opinion as he seems to know his stuff!

ok the q you need to ask yourself is do i want to use the disc like a plow.or do i want to use it as a leveling disc to smooth the ground up.personally id put the cutting blades on it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

We had a Burch 14 foot cutting disc with 1/4" thick smooth blades and it cut as good (which was dragging the axles) as a notched disc . You cant go deeper than that. Notched seem to work a bit better with really heavy vegetation but we never had an issue with the Burch. The Burch was equivalent to an IH 500 series disc at the time. If I were fixing up this disc, I would just check the bearing and leave the existing blades on it. They look to be good for lots more years if you are only looking at plowing a few acres a year. Replace any broken blades with like sized (close as you can get to the actually diameter now) regardless of the size originally on it. The disc is not worth putting that much money into it

 

[kthompson]

I agree with Gary for the reason to use notched, allows for trash to be caught and cut and not slide. For me Agri Supply normally can not be beaton blades and the Brazilian think they consider the better blade. Run slow in the rocks and roots and that will help cut down on breakage.

On the sand blasting you can buy a cheap kit if you have an air compressor that will do the job. Also there is some paints that will do decent over light rust.

 

[HCJtractor]

We had a Burch 14 foot cutting disc with 1/4" thick smooth blades and it cut as good (which was dragging the axles) as a notched disc . You cant go deeper than that. Notched seem to work a bit better with really heavy vegetation but we never had an issue with the Burch. The Burch was equivalent to an IH 500 series disc at the time. If I were fixing up this disc, I would just check the bearing and leave the existing blades on it. They look to be good for lots more years if you are only looking at plowing a few acres a year. Replace any broken blades with like sized (close as you can get to the actually diameter now) regardless of the size originally on it. The disc is not worth putting that much money into it

I tend to get carried away in my implement restorations, so once I get it mobile, I suppose I should try it as is (after repacking or replacing the bearings) before I spend that kind of money on it. I have not measured the worn discs so I guess that will also be important to judge their wear. I still want to try the Gemplers rust converter and paint it. I just don't like looking at rusty implements.

 

[flusher]

I tend to get carried away in my implement restorations, so once I get it mobile, I suppose I should try it as is (after repacking or replacing the bearings) before I spend that kind of money on it. I have not measured the worn discs so I guess that will also be important to judge their wear. I still want to try the Gemplers rust converter and paint it. I just don't like looking at rusty implements.

I've used Gempler's a lot-- a fine product.

 

[HCJtractor]

Thanks. I just ordered a gallon. Any tips on its use? It looks pretty straight forward from the video on their web site.