disc harrow bearings

[Fladogman]

Woodex Bearing Company still makes them. Replacement Wood Bearings for Disc Harrows, Cultipackers & Other Farm Equipment | Woodex

Odd Shaped Custom Bearings - Woodex-MECO

Custom wood bearings for antique agricultural machinery.

woodexbearing.com

Wow, I wondered if they were still being produced.

 

[Doughknob]

AhHA! You guys are talking about ooooooooooOOOld discs. I disced a LOT in the 70/80s and the discs had steel ball bearings.

 

[old and tired]

Black locust followed by hickory... where in NC are you located, I can supply either. What size do you need?

 

[Jstpssng]

What?! Disc bearings made of wood? What kind of disc?

My Dearborn had them. Several of the housings were cracked and broken though so I’m slowly replacing them with metalunits from Agri-Supply. I’m just harrowing my garden, not restoring a show piece.
Somebody already mentioned hickory, which was my first thought when I read the OPs second post.

 

[Tinhack]

Use Lignum Vitae if you can find it. It's hard, stable and self lubricating. Otherwise, I'd make babbitt bearings for it.

 

[Doughknob]

A good hard wood is osage orange (hedge). Don’t know if it grows there. We use it for 50-year fence posts here.

 

[DJ54]

My Massey-Ferguson model 22 3 pt. disk has wooden bearings. When I bought it years ago, I thought maybe it would need new bearings, and was surprised when someone told me it had wooden bearings. Looked them up on the ACGO parts site, and found they were N/A from them. Went ahead and did an internet search, and found that this company still made them.

After separating the bearing boxes on the disk, found the wooden bearings were still in good shape. Amazing what a little grease will do...