Planter clutch

Oh a John Deere 7000 planter how deep should the teeth be my youngest said she thought it might have been slipping at the end last planting time all thought i never saw any skips in the field.

usually skips because of a loose chain.

My jaw clutch would slowly work apart, jump and re-catch. The teeth were worn at a slight angle and would slowly spread. Thought I caught it out of the corner of my eye and the proof was a skip, all six rows for about a foot. The frequency of skips in my case was one about every 100 ft or so. If you are not seeing skips, doubtful if it is "jumping".

We took a good look at it this after noon when we went to the other farm i can see the teeth a rounded a bit she thought it was skipping for the same reason you said she saw the one chain stop for a second a couple of times we are just going to put a new one in

It could also be a buildup of old grease in and around the clutch. Douse it good with diesel and use a small screw driver and pick all the crud out of it, then douse it again and do it again. They have to be greased every day to work right, and a buildup of old grease after a few years can cause them to only partially engage.

I would go check where you planted last and see if it was skipping. If the clutch skips the whole planter width would have a missed spot.

Like someone else stated: You may just need to clean the clutch up. Plus the teeth are not real sharp on a new clutch. The corners are not what drive it. The surfaces that lock together should be flat or straight. If they are that way I would just clean it all up.

To change this clutch you have to slide the drive shaft clear out of the wheel assemblies far enought to slide the clutch off. It is a real PIA to do. This is harder on the conservation models. You will need plenty of emery paper to polish everything up to get it apart and back together. If you have it apart than replace both halves and the spring.

That would be part# 15,16,23,and 29. They cost about $160 total. Plus a good half a day to get them installed.

So I would make sure it is skipping before I did that work. Also a loose chain will make it skip too. You need the one in the seed population transmission to be good and tight. I have seen guys just tighten them by hand and have a skipping problem. I always use a big pair of Channel locks to hold the tightener good and tight then tighten the lock screw.

part #29 should be checked and replaced if worn (there are two used), I had them shear once and learned my lesson replacing them in the field.

Years ago I had the same issue on a 7000, 8rn. Monitor would come on for a split second, I'd look back and see everything turning. But skips of a foot or two showed up. Yes, dis-assembly is a B, but I cut the shaft, and after rebuild, spliced it back together with split pipe collars, and 4 bolts, two on each shaft half. Lot less issue than pulling everything apart.

Rather than being certain it is slipping before completing a time consuming repair, I'd take the other view and swap the parts out NOW if there is any question. Worn clutch parts is well known to happen on these planters and will result in poor stands and/or several hours of unwanted downtime during the short and busy planting season.

It was the clutch we order a new one from shoups you can see the difference right of way it was pretty easy to get apart the after a little lube the shaft slid right out going to replace the bearing to while it is a apart on the 7000 planters we went to sale on New Years Day held inside they had 2 one 4 and 6 row the 6 row sold for $9500 and need a complete overhaul the guy who bought it thought it went cheap I did not think so the 4 row sold for $5500 about the same shape we thought we would get the 6 for parts.