750A wear & tear

[Louis Mc]

How is everyone finding cost of running a 750A?

I love the drill & it matches my tractor colour scheme so not thinking of changing it anytime soon.

I think the drill has done 6 to 7000 acres but can’t remember, it’s a 4M bought new in 2016

It has liquid fert which is probably only used for 5 to 10% of those acres

So far the big issues have been

Firming wheels bearings (I imagine I have replaced them all by now, there’s a chance the liquid fert is to blame for this as the wheel get covered in it)

Gauge wheel bearings (we have the spoked wheels)
Guttler wheel bearings
I have also had to replace 4 disc bearings at this stage, and I imagine they will continue to fail sporadically the way they going

The spoked gauge wheel rim comes in 2 parts and I have had to replace a lot of these

There’s a decent bit of play in the main pin that the opener hinges on and the press & firming wheel arms are all a little sloppy

I also had to remove all the openers last winter and press out the gauge wheel arms as they were all seized

Am I just a complete animal On machinery (I don’t believe I am) or is this just par for the course for 750A ownership

Drill gets greased at least every 200 acres and usually more often than that

I feel the liquid fert is not helping me (no sh!t Sherlock)

Anyway all thoughts welcome

 

[SilliamWhale]

Those bearing changes definitely dont sound par for the course.

Can i suggest buying a grease gun?

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Yet to replace a bearing ....all pins and bushes in firming and closing wheel arms have been done 2 seasons ago.

 

[Louis Mc]

Those bearing changes definitely dont sound par for the course
Can i suggest buying a grease gun?

Which bearings? See above, I grease it regularly

I will say that the drilled worked in some horrendous conditions in 2017 spending a lot lot time covered in muck and slop which may also have been harmful

 

[Clive]

Without doubt the worst thing about the 750a is it’s maintenance. Reliable in work but a lot of rebuild and service time went into ours pre spring and pre autumn along with very regular greasing


Not expensive in parts but expensive on time, certainly not a drill you can park in the nettles until next time you need it that’s for sure.

It’s a machine where charging stuff before it fails or is completely worn out pays I learnt, not helped by being difficult to work on unless you are a contortionist

Yours does sound particularly heavy on parts though

 

[Will Blackburn]

Sounds like liquid fert is an issue, there's no greaseable bearings on them just bushes?

 

[Louis Mc]

Sounds like liquid fert is an issue, there's no greaseable bearings on them just bushes?

Yes just bushes, the disc bearing aren’t greasable, the nipple I initially thought might be for the disc bearing only greases the depth wheel pivot.

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Liquid fert should be no where near the disc bearings anyway........nor should it be near any of the others......I think you have other issues.

 

[marco]

Yes just bushes, the disc bearing aren’t greasable, the nipple I initially thought might be for the disc bearing only greases the depth wheel pivot.

what bearings were in the disk hub? old ones were timken are the new ones ntn?

 

[Louis Mc]

Liquid fert should be no where near the disc bearings anyway........nor should it be near any of the others......I think you have other issues.

What might my other issues be? Liquid fert would very much be near the firing wheel bearings

 

[Louis Mc]

what bearings were in the disk hub? old ones were timken are the new ones ntn?

ntn I have managed to source bearings I think luckily enough as John Deere will only sell the complete hub

 

[benferg]

The jd spoked wheel is a lemon. In nz they are bringing out an upgrade to try and stop the crackin of the outside plate.

Sourced some tri spoke wheels via needham in the USA. Still wide not like the green needham ones and have a soft tyre (you can put the jd rubber on them).

Regarding the seed boot slop. Bush it. Jd seed boots lasted 1200 ha on a 4 meter drill. Needham ones hardly worn the paint off by comparison.

Agree with Clive though. The jd drill is high on maintenance.

 

[Clive]

The jd spoked wheel is a lemon. In nz they are bringing out an upgrade to try and stop the crackin of the outside plate.

Sourced some tri spoke wheels via needham in the USA. Still wide not like the green needham ones and have a soft tyre (you can put the jd rubber on them).

Regarding the seed boot slop. Bush it. Jd seed boots lasted 1200 ha on a 4 meter drill. Needham ones hardly worn the paint off by comparison.

Agree with Clive though. The jd drill is high on maintenance.

Useful info - I haven’t heard of uk users with spoked wheel failures but they haven’t been available or here for long yet

 

[benferg]

Useful info - I haven’t heard of uk users with spoked wheel failures but they haven’t been available or here for long yet

I was trying on my phone so it was a bit sort, hope it didn't sound too blunt.
In nz we are using the JD drill to go into a lot of stony ground (stones/rocks/boulders) so they get a fair beating.
Several owners I know have reported failure of the JD spoked rim.

The JD update is to put an extra ring around the outside to strengthen the piece that breaks.

Needham wheels use three bolts per spoke instead of 2 that JD uses so more points of contact. Plus the needham stuff seems to be slightly thicker metal & beter quality of metal.

Just bought a 3 meter second hand Allen Custom drill (NZ made) to do the steep hill & stony ground, hope to give the JD a better ride. The Allen drill is triple disc, so will not be as good in wet conditions closing the slot, but it will fit a purpose.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Don't know much about the JD spoked wheels
Most people here have been using aftermarket local or US made wheels for years prior to JD deciding to sell some . . .

 

[David_A]

How is everyone finding cost of running a 750A?

I love the drill & it matches my tractor colour scheme so not thinking of changing it anytime soon.

I think the drill has done 6 to 7000 acres but can’t remember, it’s a 4M bought new in 2016

It has liquid fert which is probably only used for 5 to 10% of those acres

So far the big issues have been

Firming wheels bearings (I imagine I have replaced them all by now, there’s a chance the liquid fert is to blame for this as the wheel get covered in it)

Gauge wheel bearings (we have the spoked wheels)
Guttler wheel bearings
I have also had to replace 4 disc bearings at this stage, and I imagine they will continue to fail sporadically the way they going

The spoked gauge wheel rim comes in 2 parts and I have had to replace a lot of these

There’s a decent bit of play in the main pin that the opener hinges on and the press & firming wheel arms are all a little sloppy

I also had to remove all the openers last winter and press out the gauge wheel arms as they were all seized

Am I just a complete animal On machinery (I don’t believe I am) or is this just par for the course for 750A ownership

Drill gets greased at least every 200 acres and usually more often than that

I feel the liquid fert is not helping me (no sh!t Sherlock)

Anyway all thoughts welcome

Very similar story here Louis. We have replaced all our firming wheel bearings as well as a few gauge wheel ones too, Same age and size of machine with very similar acres too. Agree with Clive, aircraft style maintenance is what's required. We will do a major strip down of the whole machine this coming winter. Our ground is pretty stony which won't help. We don't go over 10km/hr when no-tilling.

Very interested to hear how the Avatar users get on when they get to similar age, area covered relative to machine size.

 

[moretimeforgolf]

Same experience here. Great drill but requires plenty of maintenance ....but then again, we're not changing cultivator or plough metal.
Does anyone know the size and thread of the grease nipples on the coulter? I'm guessing its UNC ? We've lost a couple.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Louis - you haven't been mixing your greases up have you? Lithium and ep2?

 

[H.Jackson]

Same experience here. Great drill but requires plenty of maintenance ....but then again, we're not changing cultivator or plough metal.
Does anyone know the size and thread of the grease nipples on the coulter? I'm guessing its UNC ? We've lost a couple.

Think a 6mm nipple fits from memory.

Agree on not mixing grease types did it once never again.

Not replaced a bearing on our 2014 drill put an M12 bolt on every seed tube reduced boot wear significantly and improved seed placement.

Louis are you using chads tubes for fert placement and how far are your shut offs from the fert tube? ie are you getting a lot of dribble lifting out of work?

 

[bitwrx]

Think a 6mm nipple fits from memory.

Agree on not mixing grease types did it once never again.

Not replaced a bearing on our 2014 drill put an M12 bolt on every seed tube reduced boot wear significantly and improved seed placement.

Louis are you using chads tubes for fert placement and how far are your shut offs from the fert tube? ie are you getting a lot of dribble lifting out of work?

Not heard this. What's the issue with mixing? Thought grease was just, er, grease!