Grain drill complete

[Murfster3]

I bought this Van Brunt FB grain drill for $500 this past fall.after going thru it and finding out that none of the flutes in grain box or grass seed box would spin. I was forced to remove them all, clean and free them and with some minor parts from the
John Deere dealer. I got it back together back together and it works!!!

 

[flusher]

Good looking drill. Congrats on an excellent restoration.
A few years ago I restored two Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drills (10-ft wide, 20 drops, single disc openers).

 

[Turbys_1700]

Those are good old drills...
We've had several over the years when we planted grain crops...
We still have a 13 drop the neighbor uses to plant food crops for the deer...
Just keep it in the dry and grease it and you are good to go...
Some of those units had a fertilizer hopper in addition to the seed hopper and rust was difficult to keep at bay on those units...
I've over seeded my yard several times with fescue using our old drill and it does a great job...

 

[art]

Lucky you to find a rope lift unit if your tractor doesn't have remotes! I have people looking for those units for food plots to seed with that didn'tget remotes on there tractors.

 

[super55]

I got the same exact drill except it's a 13 row also. I use it all the time for food plots. Mine had the Fertilizer bin also but that was completely rusted out and unusable. The rest of the drill works perfectly. I keep mine stored outside but every fall I go with a 50/50 used motor oil/diesel blend and spray everything down. Every spring it works perfectly with no hangups. Just out of curiosity what parts are still available through the JD dealer. I would have figured parts for these old girls would have discontinued years ago.

 

[Murfster3]

The John Deere dealer has the flutes for grass and grain boxes, the flexible tubes but they are plastic now.And many washers The question I have is what's the best position for the flexible tubes for the grass box , in the grain tubes or put the extensions on when using grass box only

 

[Murfster3]

The John Deere dealer has the flutes for grass and grain boxes, the flexible tubes but they are plastic now.And many washers The question I have is what's the best position for the flexible tubes for the grass box , in the grain tubes or put the extensions on when using grass box only. Also how does the rope thing work, it looks like when you pull it and the drill is moving it picks the disk up. I'm not a farmer just a deer food plotter so I've never used one before

 

[super55]

I just do food plotting also. I have the original tubes in the grain box and my small seed box it depends on what I am planting. One of the favorite things I like to do is use put oats in the grain bin and clover in the small seed box. In this instance I just let the tubes from the small seed box drop freely and not down the grain tube because it will plant your clover way too deep. Oats go about 1" down and clover maybe a 1/4. Once you get the hang of the thing you will love it. Highly recommend surfing ebay for a JD/VB grain drill owners manual. They pop up here and there and will tell you all you need to know on settings, adjustments, and maintenance.

The rope works on a cog design with the wheels turning it will engage the lift the discs. It has to roll so far before it locks up. It will drop from the lifted position immediately. If it will not stay down and the discs keep lifting and dropping it needs a new return spring. I recently had that issue with my drill.

 

[flusher]

I just do food plotting also. I have the original tubes in the grain box and my small seed box it depends on what I am planting. One of the favorite things I like to do is use put oats in the grain bin and clover in the small seed box. In this instance I just let the tubes from the small seed box drop freely and not down the grain tube because it will plant your clover way too deep. Oats go about 1" down and clover maybe a 1/4. Once you get the hang of the thing you will love it. Highly recommend surfing ebay for a JD/VB grain drill owners manual. They pop up here and there and will tell you all you need to know on settings, adjustments, and maintenance.

The rope works on a cog design with the wheels turning it will engage the lift the discs. It has to roll so far before it locks up. It will drop from the lifted position immediately. If it will not stay down and the discs keep lifting and dropping it needs a new return spring. I recently had that issue with my drill.

It's called a rope-operated trip clutch. I have two of them on one of my Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drills.

I moved the two grass boxes on my MM drill from the front position (attached to the front of the two big seed boxes) to the rear of the grain drill and installed a two-bounce seed chute spread the grass seed uniformly (more or less) across the 10-ft width of the drill (instead of dropping the grass seed in 20 rows 6" apart like the oats are planted). Works pretty well.



I use those bridle ring drag assemblies to cover the seed (really old school technology). Press wheels would be better or making another pass over the hayfield with my 10-ft cultipacker.

Good luck.

 

[ENG18LT]

Your drill looks good. I picked up an old Oliver 64 drill, it too has the trip clutch for raising and lowering the discs. Yours is in way better shape then mine .