Ouch JD Parts = Lotta Green ($$$$)

I just priced some parts on JDParts.com for my FB Drill and the prices have jumped.

All they were were

seed tube funnel tops
was 19.00 now 21.25

The fluted feed doors Went from 9.95 in April to 11.75 that same month to almost 15.00 a pop

that and one more item had the list of parts to complete what I needed to put on my drill at the minimum was $542.00.

I'm new at this whole farming game and I am confused as to how people can afford to maintain old equipment? I regret buying that drill - it was expensive then at 250 bucks I knew it after I got it home I'd been sorta had. But I still have 24 of the Double disks to replace and Shoup doesn't make the replacement for it either so I could do it for 25 bucks a disk as opposed to almost 40. This is discouraging enough that I am ready to sell my grain drill off and the hulk of the one my father had bought and disassembled to rebuild. I had it calculated it would take 2k to make it good as new - that was completely overhauling anything below the bins and replacing all the openers, tubes, feed doors, pressure springs and bolts and a paint/decal job.

I am probably going about this wrong, but maybe Mama Deere is doing me a favor and keeping more green in my wallet than if the prices were cheaper!?!

Christos - he who has not been fleeced yet.

Mine also have the fertilizer plates - ones that I need to replace with newer/new ones because the old ones for example on my fathers drill are worn out and corroded. The ones on mine are in better shape, but I have no source for new ones or even aftermarket ones.

I'm grateful that I can walk into Mama Deere and go to them I need X part and they look at me like I am nuts. Believe me, thats the reason I bought it in the first place for parts avaliblity that I can get a majority of what I need. I just don't know if I can afford to purchase the items I need. If I had been able to afford the 3k on drill parts when they were cheaper so I could just do it at once as opposed to piecemeal like I am now I would.

I do agree with the others that recycling my drills into usable condition is a plus, it maintains a historical example of vintage equipment and generally those are better built than the new ones that somebody could get all the parts they needed for.

I just was taken a back with the price increases because I know how much I've put into my Massey and its still not done to me (needs paint) and I don't know if I can afford to take on the grain drill.

I want to disassemble both of them my dads first so I can use his as the guinae pig for diassembling and restoring it. I have 66 percent of what I need. All I have to do is source the feed cups, jack shaft assembly and the disks as well as the fertilizer bin materials - which I may have to have made with a single sheet of metal and some creative fabrication.

I know this all must sound petty, but I can see how people lose their shirt over this. All I wanted to do with my equipment is start a business selling sweet corn and when I am older and I have a patch of land of my own, part time farm it.

Thanks, and BTW I had no clue that a JD drill was worth more than another brand - like I said I'm not in it for the profit.

It really hurts because if I were to sell them today I know I would only get 5-6k each.

On the other hand I have super reliable (I hope) older equipment. And I was spending a LOT every year to have neighbors help when I didn't have equipment or to bail me out when old equipment broke down. I figure 4-5 years and I should be back even with something respectable to show for it.

The wife still looks at me crosseyed when I try to explain it it does pencil out.

Just wait till you get started on combines!!!

The Tractor hasn't even been repainted and its total cost has approached $5k so far. It came in $1,4k over the estimate. It was rebuilt using MF/AGCO Parts and Generic Parts.

However, I have a 'brand new' tractor at 'zero' hours for under 5 grand thats a steal.

With the drill why I think it just the thought of it hurts the old pocket book is that all the disks have to be replaced. I've bought enough disks to refit three and I was going to recycle the one disk that was on there which is in good shape. But the Seed boots have to be replaced too eventually (they're the original ones and somewhat worn) are 120 bucks a pop, the pressure springs were 17.

So for ONE opener, from the feed cup down, heres what it would cost - it would cost 12.25 to rehabilitate the seed cups, cheap because I can't get them from deere.

for a seed tube that half of it has been subbed out, 25 dollars, the seed boot if its in decent shape I can get away with replacing the seed tube guard and the front inside scraper for 40 bucks, if I can't its 120. the pressure springs are old and those need to be replaced and those are at least 17-20 dollars and then there are the double disks 35 at least per side...

So all together the average seed boot from top to bottom could cost anywhere from 130 to 250 bucks to replace.

I guess I am balking at the price because I am unsure as much as I love old iron, the two John Deere Drills I have are 57 and 55 years old. No one when I go into the local dealership knows how to work on one because they have been 'obsolete' for years according to them. Plus being young at 22 and full time at college finding someone to show you how to work on one of them where I am, is next to nill because I am so 'young' and what do I know.

I'm sorry for pontificating - My tractor is finally coming home this month and I had hoped to by a plow, and do a minor paint/rehab job to it and get ready to plow my garden in two months. Since nothing was really used for over a decade at my farm after my fathers passing, every single piece of equipment has to be at least gone over and minor parts replaced if I can get them or be rehabilitated.

I had the idea of talking with the guy who farms our land to let me put in wheat one year with my drill and that he would harvest it so the farm could have wheat grown again as opposed to just corn and soybeans.

Oh well - thanks everybody for listening.

Christos

It takes a lot of cash to farm, plain and simple.

However, you learn to "get by" on the older stuff.

I completely rebuilt my drill last spring. John Deere at that time wanted $17.65 for an opener disc bearing. Same identical bearing out of a auto parts store was right at $6.00.

Price a brand new drill and then you will really be in sticker shock. :>)

So, at $542 for repairs and $250 for the drill, you're still under a grand for a drill that is field ready. That's wayyyyy cheap, believe me.

Allan