8 foot John Deer Disc question

Cedar22

Member
I am going to look at an 8 foot John Deere 3 point disc that for sale on Craigslist. I have a 6 foot "Love" disc with wood bearings that some of the bearings are seized up on (it was that way when I got it), and am thinking that the JD disc could be a replacement. My tractor is a New Holland TC 30, and it can lift and pull the 6 foot disc fine (the square shaft is worn round in places so the discs turn even though the bearings are seized), though I am wondering if the 8 foot disc would be too much for it. Wondering if someone here might be able to help answer this. Thanks in advance.

cvphoto45459.jpg


cvphoto45460.jpg


cvphoto45461.jpg
 
As an alternative, I was thinking I could upgrade the Love disc to ball bearings and replace the shafts. The JD disc is advertised for $500.00, and that could go towards fixing the 6 foot disc instead. The JD disc has notched front discs. The Love disc has regular discs all around. The JD disc has one more disc per gang than the Love disc. I wouldn't mind to have the extra width of the JD disc, if my tractor could lift and pull it.
 
I'm not familiar with your tractor, but 8 foot is a lot of disc. The one advantage you'd have is the ability to lift it and shift the weight to the back tires of the tractor so you don't spin out. I remember back when Dad and I had an Oliver 66, Farmall H and a Case SC, we bought an 8 foot JD drag type disc and we couldn't pull it in plowed ground with any of them.
 


As Randy said an 8 footer is a lot of disc, but that one is relatively a lighter one It is not very aggressive and is more of a finishing disc than a leveling or cutting disc.
 
The KB series of disks I thought was one of thr best disks ever. A lot don't like them tho. That is a flexiable disk and 7 blades would be an 8'8" disk, a 6 blade would be a 7'6" disk. You always measure width on back gang. That Love disk just take the bearings apart and clean them and put back together and repair or replace that axle. Now I think that Love disk has a wider blade spacing than the Deere so a 6 blade Love just might be wider than a 7 blade Deere. That 6 or 7 blade is number of blades per gang or on a side for a 7 blade having a total of 28 blades, a 6 blade 24 blades. I forget the blade spacing on the Deere but if I remember correctly it is 7.5" and I think the Love is 8.5 or 9" blade spacing. So being same weight a Love would be more of a heavy tillage disk and Deere more of a finnish disk. That Love disk is a big rarity as in my 76 years I have seen only one but I have had 3 KB series disks. 2 KBA drag disks 6 on a side and a 7 on a side wheel carried KBA disk. Pulled them all with a late John Deere B tractor. 28 MAX PTO HORSEPOWER. I have no idea what that New Holland tractor is. And that Deere could be with grease type steel bearings or later were avaible with sealed bearings. KBL is the model number for the Deere disk but I think they had different model not neere as popular that I don't know model of. Deere should have 18" blades but still work with nown to a d15" blade but pull harder and do not work as good. I think anything under 17" on that Love is totally wore out. The Deere the gang angle is adjustable, don't know on the love.
 
Something was wrong if you could not pull it with any of those 3 tractors as they should have pulled it easy, Also pulled one of ours with a Farmall H easy.
 
They'd pull it in corn stalks, but in this Montcalm sandy loam, if it was plowed, they'd just spin out. There was many a hill around here with ruts followed by tracks from a disc that had been set straight to get to the top.
 
Thanks for all the great information. I have wanted to try to restore the Love disc, because it's in good working condition other than for the seized bearings and rounded shafts in places. I have not been able to get the wood bearings removed from the housings though. I looked in to replacing the housings and the bearings but have not gotten very far on that project. It has 20 inch discs, 5 per gang. My New Holland tractor is 30 HP, 4 WD.
 

cvphoto45472.jpg


cvphoto45473.jpg


Here are a few photos of the Love disc. I had removed one of the gangs to see if I could get the bearing out of the housing, but I was not able to. I am not sure why there is a round metal pipe inside the bearing, when the shaft is square.


cvphoto45480.jpg
 
I have a John Deere 8 foot wheel disc. My '44 JD A can hardly pull it in plowed ground on the first pass, and it really needs to be done in 2nd gear; but after the first pass it does it okay, and I can shift up to 3rd. That's a 29 horse tractor, no fluid, with one set of wheel weights. I just started using a '47 JD D this spring, which is 42 to 45 horse power or so, and it handles it really well. Don't know how this compares to what you have, but maybe it'll help.

One of the things I really like about my disc is how well it finishes. It has 14" discs (not cones) and on the outside of the rear gang, the last two discs are 12" then the 10" furrow fillers that extend beyond. This makes a very even transition and hardly makes any disc ridge. You might consider that if you decide to rebuild your disc and intend it for finishing. Keep two of the worn out discs to use on the outside of the rear.
 
That is the spacer for to hold the blades in position same as the spacers between the other blades.. Supposed to turn the wood part of the bearing on outside of that spacer.
 
Amd all of your blades are completely wore outm should stop trying to use them when they get down to 15"
 
Well maybe I should actually measure them. I'm not sure of the diameters, honestly--just that the last one on the rear is smaller, then the furrow filler is smaller yet. Works wonderfully for a finishing disc.
 
Thanks for the information. The owner of the disc says that it is set up for a category 2 hitch. I don't know if that says something about the size of the tractor it is meant for. I suppose the pins could have been changed at some point since it's an older disc. The 6 foot disc I have I pull in 2nd gear mid range in newly plowed ground.
 
I read on another forum that the manual for the disc says that it can be pulled with a 1010 or larger JD tractor. My tractor is 30 HP 4 WD. Would the 4 WD make up for lesser HP of my tractor in pulling the disc? The disc looks to be in good condition, though some of the discs themselves are a bit worn. If it's a "finishing disc" what exactly does that mean? Thanks for any information on this.

Here are a couple more photos of the disc:


mvphoto56942.jpg


mvphoto56943.jpg
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top