Discs, discs, and more discs

[Limecuda]

Over the weekend I went around to several dealers looking at different 5"-6" discs. There is a pretty good gap in prices amongst the different brands. What I noticed however was the more expensive discs seemed to have sealed bearing whereas the others had cast iron bearings with grease fittings. I figured the greaseable bearing would be better especially since I could keep it nice and greased, but the dealers claim the sealed is better. My granddad's disc still has the original greaseable bearings and it is over 30 years old. Any experiences with the two? preferences? I just want the best bang for the buck.

 

[KubotaTrax]

If your going to be doing allot of discing 100 acres or so go with the sealed bearings. If your like me an acre or so 2 or 3 times a year go with the cheap one and grease it "EVERY TIME YOU USE IT" ( quote from my dad) It shouldn't last to long a HMMM...about 100 years and be sold by your great great grand kids at an astate auction to a little old man that thinks he got a great deal on a fairly new disc.
My dad is 74 and use the drag disc that he got way before I was born and I'm 50. I think Ox pulled it before there were diesel.
Hope his helps.
Happy Plowing!!!!

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Over the weekend I went around to several dealers looking at different 5"-6" discs. There is a pretty good gap in prices amongst the different brands. What I noticed however was the more expensive discs seemed to have sealed bearing whereas the others had cast iron bearings with grease fittings. I figured the greaseable bearing would be better especially since I could keep it nice and greased, but the dealers claim the sealed is better. My granddad's disc still has the original greaseable bearings and it is over 30 years old. Any experiences with the two? preferences? I just want the best bang for the buck.

The cast bearings you're referring to are called boxings. They have been around for ages. As mentioned, they have grease fittings also. You won't find a truely "sealed" bearing in a disc (worthy of being called sealed) until you get into a VERY high price range. Most of what you see on smaller "King Kutter" style discs rely on continual greasing to keep dirt displaced from the bearings. In short, they'll end up with dirt in the bearings just as fast as the old boxing style. And when they do, roller bearings tend to fail in short order from dirt contamination, where the old boxing style can live on for decades with some "clearance" from wear. Dealers like to sell (A) what they have on the lot, and (B) what will sell replacement parts for the future. I've owned "cheaper" 3-point discs with roller bearings. Most of the years I farmed , I used a 12' IH wheel disc with SEALED bearings. They needed replacing every few years. Now that I've cut down my work load a bit, I bought a smaller disc that will last the rest of my days with an occasional greasing. It's a 35 year old Massey Ferguson (Model #25) 3-point disc. It has those "greasable bearings" (boxings) like you mentioned. They have SOME wear. 35 years worth of wear in fact. And I wouldn't hesitate one second to use it for ANOTHER 35 without replacing a thing. Keep enough grease in them and there's no significant drag as compared to roller bearings, nor is there any more REQUIRED maintenance.

Buying a new disc, I'd go for the boxings over roller bearings for longevity. I'd go with boxings because they're almost always cheaper. If you happen to run on to a deal where roller bearing equipped disc's sell for LESS than boxings, there is still nothing "wrong" with roller bearings. They're just not worth paying a higher price considering they're not really any better for the task at hand.

A disc is one of those items that doesn't mind being "low tech".

 

[BTDT]

What about the framework? Some I have seen are kind of flimsy. If you have to add weight to get disc to cut in, this might be a consideration.

 

[RobJ]

My 5' disk has the box type bearings. I learned after posting here they are also called gray iron bearings. They do wear but you can get new ones. As someone mentioned it would depend on how much you use it. If you are doing a lot I would get the so called sealed. Around here with the sand they will last a few years, they are pretty easy to change out and aren't that expensive. TSC carries them. When I looked the heavier disks had the sear bearings. For light duty stuff my $200 disk works fine. But I will note that when using it in the late summer last year the gray iron would heat up...even as slow as i go.

Rob