About a decade ago I bought my ‘54 cub from my father in law with some attachments. He recently sold some property and told me he thought he had some attachments there but doesn’t remember. We finally find a disc harrow that it marked IH but it’s not something I can find any info on. Well possibly but I would like your input. It’s a double gang, side by side, that independently turn, 6 discs a side. The “tongue” has been welded on at some point. It looks like a leaf spring. So what do you think?
Help with a disc harrow
- Thread starter offrink
- Start date
It is something IH called a Bumper Disk Harrow. The Number 17 was used in later years. (Don't ask where the name came from.) It was intended for use with horses. Regular equipment included a 2-horse hitch and pole. Options included a tongue truck and a tractor hitch. The third lever is used to increase/decrease down pressure at the inner ends of the gangs. It was an option. In later years, there was an optional rear gang to make it a tandem for tractor use. it was available in 7 sizes from 4 to 10 feet with either 16 or 18-inch disks.
Your leaf spring was probably added to convert it from horse to tractor use. There would have originally been a seat.
Your leaf spring was probably added to convert it from horse to tractor use. There would have originally been a seat.
This was exactly what I came up with. Thank you for the confirmation. Do you know a time period this was from?
It is in my oldest full catalog, 1927. It is in my latest, 1949. The WHS Machine List (not always the most accurate) shows #17 as 1942-1954. It also shows Deering, Keystone, International, McCormick, and Osborne versions from as far back as 1905 through as late as 1923. It doesn't show anything from 1924 through 1941, even though I know they existed. I don't know how similar some of the other branded machines were. No doubt some of them in the 1905 to 1926 years were different.
Thank you. So somewhere in a 25 year area but possibly as much as 50 years. Clear as mud!
Yeah, sort of like trying to determine the year of a garden hoe just by looking at it. Part numbers and versions of the IH logo found on it might narrow it down, but time consuming and likely to fail anyway.
Thanks for the future help! I’ve been spraying it with penetrant twice a day for the last few days. Everything runs smooth but I haven’t greased it yet or tried to run it other than getting it to its current spot.
How do you know when you have enough grease in them? They seem endless. I put 40 pumps in each one. Also, how do you get to the bearings to grease them. The nuts on the end have the steel wrapped around the square nut.
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They grease through the standpipes. Picture of the standpipe on mine. Not sure of factory grease, but some use gear oil, motor oil…,whatever. I soaked the new bearings for a couple of days, then put it back together. That’s where the corn head grease comes in…it just seeps down through the pipe like slow lava.
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That's the first one of those I've seen like that, but will assume that is an updated version for that period of time of a grease cup that was used on a lot of equipment. Pack that top portion with grease, and just turn by hand, or put a wrench on it and give it a couple 1/4 turns and you're good to go.
Here is what I have for a grease point. Just a standard long grease zerc (which now that I look at it also is very similar to the grease zerc on a locking pin for a skid steer).
I have a damaged disc and can’t see and easy way to take them off. Any suggestions? Also looking for a good place to replace them as needed. Here is the end of it.
I have a damaged disc and can’t see and easy way to take them off. Any suggestions? Also looking for a good place to replace them as needed. Here is the end of it.
staninlowerAL
501 Club
Bend the lock tabs away from the nut and remove the square nut. You will have to hold the axle spacers between the disc blades with a big pipe wrench to keep it from turning.
New disk blades may be hard to find the same size as those worn ones. Years ago, Dad replaced the disk blades on this disk with what was considered worn out blades on my buddy's disk he was replacing. but that was years ago before equipment got so big. Just so happened at that time, the axle in the disk was the same size.
Funny how things pop up like this a week after I saw a stack of used disk blades at the Mt. Hope Community auction in Mt. Hope, Ohio. We went on a parts run and stopped by to see what all they were having at the auction last Sat. Apparently, someone thought that someone could use them for their smaller disk that they would use. Doubt they brought much, I've seen stacks like that at local consignment auctions, and if they brought $5-$10, that was doing good. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Funny how things pop up like this a week after I saw a stack of used disk blades at the Mt. Hope Community auction in Mt. Hope, Ohio. We went on a parts run and stopped by to see what all they were having at the auction last Sat. Apparently, someone thought that someone could use them for their smaller disk that they would use. Doubt they brought much, I've seen stacks like that at local consignment auctions, and if they brought $5-$10, that was doing good. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
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That is a nice set up!
Hi,
The disc at the end by the nut is probably the easiest to replace, but the nut could be rusted tight to the shaft.
I would heat the lock washer tab at the bend to red hot, with an oxy acetylene torch before bending it away from the nut, so it doesn't break. Then heat it again when putting it together again.
The nut may need heating too to get it to turn.
If you seldom use the disc, the broken disc in your picture is still useable, my opinion.
The disc at the end by the nut is probably the easiest to replace, but the nut could be rusted tight to the shaft.
I would heat the lock washer tab at the bend to red hot, with an oxy acetylene torch before bending it away from the nut, so it doesn't break. Then heat it again when putting it together again.
The nut may need heating too to get it to turn.
If you seldom use the disc, the broken disc in your picture is still useable, my opinion.
It definitely could. My father in law had it 20 years before me and I had it 11 years. That would put it back to around 1990. Like it was stated earlier it could have been manufactured sometime as late as 1954 (cub is a 1954) or significantly earlier. I want to make sure the bearings are greased but I don’t know the internals and if pumping heavier “normal” chassis lube will be good enough and at what kind of volume.
The bearings are no doubt a plain bearing of some type. More recent plain bearings were metal on metal. This machine is likely to have the older style that used wooden blocks. The original wooden blocks were soaked in hot (possibly boiling) oil before installation. Either way, lubrication in the field is the same.
Use regular chassis grease from a grease gun. The exact grease type isn't critical, cheap is okay. Generally, these types of things you just pump grease in until it squirts out somewhere. If the bearings are veery worn, likely in this case, it might take a lot of grease. You may decide to quit pumping before it comes out.
Use regular chassis grease from a grease gun. The exact grease type isn't critical, cheap is okay. Generally, these types of things you just pump grease in until it squirts out somewhere. If the bearings are veery worn, likely in this case, it might take a lot of grease. You may decide to quit pumping before it comes out.