#10 Grain drill coulters falling off.

[oldtech]

Old neighbor selling his farm gave me a #10 drill.  But the coulters are falling off.  Looks like the bolt threads are shot for some reason.

Looks like the bearings are shot.  Ive never seen a drill with this problem before.

That does not look very replaceable and I cant find a parts diagram that shows if you can repair them.  I may have a use for this thing this spring so Id like to fix it but parts are the issue.

Would I have to buy compete coulter sets?  At what cost?  Can you even get these?

And what if the female threads in the casing are worn?

[560Dennis]

You handy with heli-coils?

[td9inidaho]

You can find just about everything you need here. Although it could get real expensive to replace all of those parts. I will have to look at my 10 and see exactly what you are talking about 

[oldtech]

15 minutes ago, 560Dennis said:

You handy with heli-coils?

I know what they are but have never used them.

[oldtech]

14 minutes ago, td9inidaho said:

You can find just about everything you need here. Although it could get real expensive to replace all of those parts. I will have to look at my 10 and see exactly what you are talking about 

thanks.  I was on Messicks but couldnt find that.  Got a link?

Just wondering if fixing this old rusty one up is worth it. Was looking around at used ones but the market for things things has gone nuts around here for use on deer food plots.  Their are pirates around here who snap them up and make them way up to sell to the gentlemen sportsman.  The smaller the higher price cause they can pull them with their ATVs.

LOts of rivets to grind off and replace.

[stronger800]

I’ve always believed in not selling something that was given to you….but in this case, clean it up a bit, and list it High.  A deer food plotter that doesn’t know what a colter is, will likely buy it and be happy. Then you can go buy another over priced one, and still  be ahead compared to buying parts. 
 

old timer neighbor asked me to pull some antique rusted stuff out of his hedgerow a few years ago, he wanted to hire me to load it onto a trainer for the scrap man who was going to “remove” the stuff “for free”.

i hauled the stuff out, knocked the weeds and limbs off, put pictures on Craigslist, and got him about $7k, over the course of a month. 
 

wooden box gain drill

7-8’ drags

1-2-3 bottom plows

a lime spreader.

it was all scrap….20-30 years ago, but food plotters were fighting over it.  Old timer, he couldn’t stop giggling.  He remembers, to the cent I think, exactly what he had given for those items over the years…it was closer to $700 than $7000

[oldtech]

1 hour ago, stronger800 said:

I’ve always believed in not selling something that was given to you….but in this case, clean it up a bit, and list it High.  A deer food plotter that doesn’t know what a colter is, will likely buy it and be happy. Then you can go buy another over priced one, and still  be ahead compared to buying parts. 
 

old timer neighbor asked me to pull some antique rusted stuff out of his hedgerow a few years ago, he wanted to hire me to load it onto a trainer for the scrap man who was going to “remove” the stuff “for free”.

i hauled the stuff out, knocked the weeds and limbs off, put pictures on Craigslist, and got him about $7k, over the course of a month. 
 

wooden box gain drill

7-8’ drags

1-2-3 bottom plows

a lime spreader.

it was all scrap….20-30 years ago, but food plotters were fighting over it.  Old timer, he couldn’t stop giggling.  He remembers, to the cent I think, exactly what he had given for those items over the years…it was closer to $700 than $7000

Yes thats why I took it but my renter is giving me grief so I was thinking about planting my 50 acres myself so Id need it in better shape.  Id kind of enjoy that.  The drill is all Im missing.

Maybe if I can find a decent #10 I can use this one for parts...

[Dirt_Floor_Poor]

1 hour ago, stronger800 said:

I’ve always believed in not selling something that was given to you….but in this case, clean it up a bit, and list it High.  A deer food plotter that doesn’t know what a colter is, will likely buy it and be happy. Then you can go buy another over priced one, and still  be ahead compared to buying parts. 
 

old timer neighbor asked me to pull some antique rusted stuff out of his hedgerow a few years ago, he wanted to hire me to load it onto a trainer for the scrap man who was going to “remove” the stuff “for free”.

i hauled the stuff out, knocked the weeds and limbs off, put pictures on Craigslist, and got him about $7k, over the course of a month. 
 

wooden box gain drill

7-8’ drags

1-2-3 bottom plows

a lime spreader.

it was all scrap….20-30 years ago, but food plotters were fighting over it.  Old timer, he couldn’t stop giggling.  He remembers, to the cent I think, exactly what he had given for those items over the years…it was closer to $700 than $7000

Not to derail the thread too much, but it amazes me how many people think that they are feeding the entire wildlife population by seeding a postage stamp size plot and getting a stand of weeds and whatever the local seed supplier swept up off the floor. 

[HydroTek]

Those assemblies are held on with a nut -- should be easy to remove

We used to use bolts in the disks instead of rivets 

Normal for the disk to wobble around some 
especially if they were not greased much 

Looks like $65 for the whole assembly is still available 
hard to tell by the picture if they are the newer sealed bearing 

[stronger800]

Had a guy that hunts in my pasture ask if he could plant some turnips, maybe it was beets, $80 or $180 tag on the bag, in a little clearing.  (Not bait….just food,,,,) he used his sxs to disc up a little area, planted, rolled, the veggies did grow….deer walked right past them and ate corn, soybeans and alfalfa instead, just like they always have.  I dug up a few just to see what they were..but can’t remember.  Didn’t have much taste. 

[oldtech]

9 hours ago, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

Not to derail the thread too much, but it amazes me how many people think that they are feeding the entire wildlife population by seeding a postage stamp size plot and getting a stand of weeds and whatever the local seed supplier swept up off the floor. 

Well if you are a hunter you know that is not the primary purpose.  Its to lure them in to a kill zone so you can bag them while standing still.    The deer get enough feasting on your crops.

We are currently working to expand our CRP acreage as wildlife habitat. I could probably just let that seed just sprinkle down on it   But this is for conventional crops like beans so you need it to work correctly. 

Last year we rented a Brillion seeder for the grasses.  I havent planted my own real crops in a very long time.  I think it would be fun.

[oldtech]

8 hours ago, stronger800 said:

Had a guy that hunts in my pasture ask if he could plant some turnips, maybe it was beets, $80 or $180 tag on the bag, in a little clearing.  (Not bait….just food,,,,) he used his sxs to disc up a little area, planted, rolled, the veggies did grow….deer walked right past them and ate corn, soybeans and alfalfa instead, just like they always have.  I dug up a few just to see what they were..but can’t remember.  Didn’t have much taste. 

Oh yeah!  Somebody always has some miracle thing to sell.  I have found that they are just insane for soybeans!  Couple years ago it was kind of a drought year so the beans were low on the stalks and the combine missed a lot.  Not all of it got plowed and they spent all winter scraping around for them in the snow.

You can see all the tracks and scrape spots here.  They ignored everything else.

[oldtech]

9 hours ago, HydroTek said:

Those assemblies are held on with a nut -- should be easy to remove

We used to use bolts in the disks instead of rivets 

Normal for the disk to wobble around some 
especially if they were not greased much 

Looks like $65 for the whole assembly is still available 
hard to tell by the picture if they are the newer sealed bearing 

Dont have one handy but it looks like a bolt with a low profile head.  This is way beyond a wobble and they just fall off when you back up the guy said

If thats $65 for a single disk assembly I could need as many as 18 or 20.  I can get another used drill for that.

This think sat outside for a long long time.

[stronger800]

That’s what I was thinking, old stuff is not cheap, if you still have to buy new parts for it as parts are expensive for everything. for what little you are doing, I would look for the cheapest one you  can find that still has some life left in it.

[stronger800]

The brillion seeders were the go to for all of us small guys here, last 50 years.  No power transport wheels, run it up on blocks to slide the wheels on/off 

[oldtech]

1 hour ago, stronger800 said:

That’s what I was thinking, old stuff is not cheap, if you still have to buy new parts for it as parts are expensive for everything. for what little you are doing, I would look for the cheapest one you  can find that still has some life left in it.

Thats the problem.   Every little food plotter grabs them up.  And there are a couple of traders in the area that buy them up all over and resell them for some rather amazing prices.  I passed on an Oliver at auction last year that just needed new tires.  Regretting it now.  It isnt certain that Ill need one yet but spring is here so it wont be long.

Id actually LIKE to take that on.  It would be great fun to get back in that saddle again.  Ive got everything else.

I do not understand the business model of my tenant.  He has equipment but chooses to hire everything done by custom operators so they come in with their monster machines and have to be charging a mint to do it.  He's just got a small custom hog operation and does not use the crops for feed.  He either sells them to the coop or to the local dairies as silage.  He has a day job and does almost nothing himself.  Heck, I can do that!  But Im retired and have the equipment to grow maybe a bean and wheat rotation, not corn.  Trying to thin what else I could grow.  There is a malting company here that buys barley but in my experience that doesnt do too well in cold heavy clay.  Markets for oats pretty much dont exist anymore and I have no storage.  

Id still have to hire a combine but I would not have to put up with the monster tractors coming in a rutting the place up.

Not fond of renting to the big dairies as they want to use the place as a dumping ground for manure and the county is considering repealing their 5 year planning ordinance that would take me out of the loop in approving that.  Not opposed to manure but Ive seen what they get away with here and I dont want that here.

Only other option would be to put the whole place in the CRP.

[oldtech]

7 minutes ago, stronger800 said:

The brillion seeders were the go to for all of us small guys here, last 50 years.  No power transport wheels, run it up on blocks to slide the wheels on/off 

Whats that blue thing?   

You wouldnt plant beans with the Brillion would you? 

I had that same drill back in the day.  Wish I still had it.  It had 7" spacing and I did have to replace some of the coulters when I got as they were tight.  I think they were sealed bearings as I dont remember having to grease them.  I didnt have a seeder like this but pulled a cultipacker behind it.  But even those have been selling for $1000 and up here.  I have twp 3' wing extensions that were left in the shed when I bought the place but not a good match for most any drill.

[stronger800]

The 510 is 7” and  it has the heavier cast shoes.  I’ve never actually planted beans, but my neighbors do, with modern equipment.  Yes the old fashioned single roll rusty cultipackers bring big money here too.  That’s actually what I sold for my neighbor first. He wanted to scrap it and I says hold on, that’s $800 easy. Then  he went and found two or three more in the brush.  Had to hunt for them and yank them out with chains. All sold Fast 

[oldtech]

Here's one of those places that snatches them all up.

He's at least adding value by putting new bearings and lift wheels on.

[stronger800]

Oooooo, what’s he get for those?  I’m going to sayyyyy $2100

[oldtech]

26 minutes ago, stronger800 said:

Oooooo, what’s he get for those?  I’m going to sayyyyy $2100

Not that bad in this case $575 for a 4 footer and up.

[ray54]

21 hours ago, oldtech said:

 This is way beyond a wobble and they just fall off when you back up the guy said

Why would you ever back up with a grain drill. That was lesson one as a kid in big hills. To stop and shift gears do not let the drill roll back. The first drill was Minneapolis Moline steel wheel double disc. The casting were not very stout. The next was an IH 10 with single discs no better. Finally a JD 8350 double disc, a much better casting never broke one in 40 years. But I never tried backing it up with the openers in the ground.

 

21 hours ago, oldtech said:

 

 

[oldtech]

42 minutes ago, ray54 said:

Why would you ever back up with a grain drill. That was lesson one as a kid in big hills. To stop and shift gears do not let the drill roll back. The first drill was Minneapolis Moline steel wheel double disc. The casting were not very stout. The next was an IH 10 with single discs no better. Finally a JD 8350 double disc, a much better casting never broke one in 40 years. But I never tried backing it up with the openers in the ground.

 

 

I should clarify,  This is what the guy told me.  I dont know if he meant that the gang was down or not.  I have not tried to trip it and the gang is up so it must work.  But its a fact that about half of them are off and mostly all on one side I Have no reason to disbelieve him.  

[Jacka]

On 4/2/2026 at 1:59 PM, Dirt_Floor_Poor said:

Not to derail the thread too much, but it amazes me how many people think that they are feeding the entire wildlife population by seeding a postage stamp size plot and getting a stand of weeds and whatever the local seed supplier swept up off the floor. 

Yeah, I agree. What kills me is they strut around with their high dollar brand new law mower size tractors just to throw some seeds in the ground.All cam-moed come hunting season in with high dollar attire and $2000 rifle and scope 100lb doe and 25lbs of meat.I forgot they hauled it out on a $30,000 UTV.

[stronger800]

That would be considered a modest guy around here.  I know a guy that carry’s a $2k electric bike on a rack behind his big utv, for “stealth stalking” too 

4x4 subcompact,  full line of food plot sized equipment. He does put a lot of tine and effort into it