Repairing an old cultipacker

   / Repairing an old cultipacker #1  

bnew17

Bronze Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Messages
94
Location
Georgia
Tractor
2001 JD 5310 w/ 542 FEL
I recently bought this 10ft cultipacker. I got it for $600, made a good little drive to pick it up only to find out 4 of the 32 wheels are damaged. There is 1 other wheel that is damaged but it is very minor. I am debating on whether to take these wheels off completely, or try and find somebody that can patch/repair these wheels. I would really prefer to keep it 10ft and have them repaired. I am also going to be adding some rear tires on the back of the packer to transport,,,especially after seeing the damaged wheels. There's no way I want to transport it like it is. My question is how feasible is it to get these wheels repaired? And has anyone repaired cast iron before? I was hoping some 1/8" or possible 1/4" flat bar or something cut out of plate could be welded on there. Would certainly not need to be perfect, but something to cover up the hole and keep from having further damage. It has wooden bearings, which I will replace with pillowblock bearings.
 

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   / Repairing an old cultipacker #2  
It wont smoosh ground like that?
 
   / Repairing an old cultipacker #3  
The holes would be easily welded closed using steel to fill the holes.
Even a novice welder could do a nice job of repair of the wheels.

If you do not weld, this may be the perfect opportunity to learn,,
a success is the best way to learn, this would 99% chance be successful welding.

DO NOT replace the wood with pillow block bearings,,
The wood is highly successful in this application because of the constant dirt bath,,
The pillow block bearings might not last a day,,

This tool is usually used when a "dust" will just about always be kicked up.

We had one of these when I worked on a farm in the early 1970's,,
The thing was pulled over more than 2,000 acres while I was there.
The wood blocks were perfect that whole time.
Ours was a gang of three, about 15 feet wide total.
 
   / Repairing an old cultipacker #4  
Keep wood bearings greased, and they last a long long time...

SR
 
   / Repairing an old cultipacker #5  
Welding cast is not as simple as it was made to sound. A good weld shop can do it, but it is involved. It requires pre-heating the cast and depending on the metal in the cast special welding wire/rods. As I understand most shops put the pieces in a forge to evenly heat.
Good Luck with it. Again a welding shop can handle it, but as a once in a while welder m, personally, I would not spend my time on it! I would find a shop.
 
   / Repairing an old cultipacker #6  
Welding cast is not as simple as it was made to sound. A good weld shop can do it, but it is involved. It requires pre-heating the cast and depending on the metal in the cast special welding wire/rods. As I understand most shops put the pieces in a forge to evenly heat.
Good Luck with it. Again a welding shop can handle it, but as a once in a while welder m, personally, I would not spend my time on it! I would find a shop.
I've done it, it not only has to be pre-heated, it has to be cooled at a sloooow rate, so like you said, not all that easy... Brazing is a bit easier though...

I don't know that I would bother fixing it in the first place...

SR
 
   / Repairing an old cultipacker
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Here is a decent picture of the bearings. They are not solid at all. I originally planned on building my own Cultipacker and bought the bearings. Then when i bought this the seller would not acceot a return of the bearings.

I do mig weld but I am not that good, lol. I can get stuff to stick but this is out of my league.

If y’all recommend the wood bearings, should I stick with white oak? I do have some 1.5” white oak boards in the shop I save for building tables with.
 

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   / Repairing an old cultipacker #8  
Last set of wood bearings I made, They needed to be out of thicker than 1-1/2" boards...

SR
 
   / Repairing an old cultipacker
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I spoke with one welder and he said with the time going into manipulating the steel plate, I would be better off buying another wheel. He doesn't realize that finding "extra" wheels are few and far between. I asked him what he thought If I manipulated the steel myself so all he would have to do is weld , what he thought. Still waiting to hear back. Heck I may just leave them on there and use them as is. There are no stumps or roots in the food plots where I will be using it, and there are no rocks in our area. As I mentioned earlier I will be transporting it on some wheels, not on the actual packer wheels. I have a feeling that is how the previous owner broke them is in transportation.
 
   / Repairing an old cultipacker #10  
I would discard the broken wheels, and make up a couple of spacers from steel pipe to take up the missing length. You only have a few busted wheels and a slightly narrower unit will do a better job of compaction.

I did a similar thing with an old 8 footer. Now it has a 7 ft width and works perfectly behind my 6 ft, 2 section drag. I made new wood bearings for it from pressure treated pine 4 x4's about 15 years ago. They have been working well on about 5 acres per year without any grease.

Last summer I saw another old 8 footer with bad bearings and a couple busted wheels about a mile down my road. I offered the widow $40 for it. When I have time, I am going to fix it up to leave at another property so I dont have to haul my other one back and forth.

As you have discovered, transporting them over the road cam be a pain. The 7 footers aren't too bad to carry with my bucket forks.
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