Genuine or non genuine plough parts

[mf7480]

We’ve got to re-metal our slatted Kuhn plough. It basically boils down to genuine is £3k, non genuine £2k. The non genuine is from a mix of suppliers, no single supplier/ manufacturer seems to supply all the parts we need. The saving is tempting, but are we going to be fighting with parts that aren’t 100% a perfect fit leaving a plough that’s difficult to set up?

Also I’m unsure how service life will compare, Kuhn are making a lot of noise about the longevity of their metal. But £1000 is £1000!

Any thoughts?

 

[DrDunc]

Are you going to get 50% more life from genuine parts?

I've found genuine kuhn points, shares, and coulter points are often cheaper than pattern parts because they're a frequent replaced part. Local dealer buys in bulk and passes on the saving. Does the same with power harrow tines

If you can get shins, landslides and mould boards for ⅔ price of Kuhn, I'd be taking the saving

 

[bobk]

I use non genuine , the fit is good now and can't see them melting quickly ,

 

[Fendtbro]

Go half and half.. then in a couple of years you can advise us what to buy!! Seriously tho, I bought some pattern mower blades for the kuhn alterna. waste of time, soft rubbish compared to genuine.. Kuhn metal is as hard as hell where they need it, Sometimes genuine is the only way forwards.

 

[L P]

I use APM metal and its just as good as genuine on our ground which is pretty abrasive, some parts probably marginally outlast genuine.

 

[bobk]

Must be pretty shagged for 3 grands of metal to fix it

 

[mf7480]

Must be pretty shagged for 3 grands of metal to fix it

The metal is shagged but it’s straight as a die and never had a welder on it. A new one is 30, this was worth 4.5. So I can either spend £2000 or £25500 and end up at the same point?

 

[bobk]

The metal is shagged but it’s straight as a die and never had a welder on it. A new one is 30, this was worth 4.5. So I can either spend £2000 or £25500 and end up at the same point?

How many furrows

 

[Drillman]

I spent £1700 last spring on non gen Lemken parts points (hard faced) wings, shins, land sides and skim points. 7 left and right of each.

 

[mf7480]

How many furrows

5. It’s for a complete set of wearing metal including slats.

 

[rob h]

I replaced a set of points and a few other bits on one of our dowdewell ploughs last week the bill was £500. I can see it would soon add up if you do a full re build

 

[rob h]

Must add the shares were sparex and fitted badly I had to roll up the plastic bags the bolts came in to use as packing and they still don’t fit propperly but it’s ploughing ok

 

[sahara]

No experience of a Kuhn plough as an owner, only Lemken and Dowdeswell.
I tend to use a mixture of Spaldings, APM and Pan Anglia, depending on price and availability, I've also got eeari6metal from Dunns Ploughs in Devon.
On the rare occasion that I've used genuine bits I've never noticed that they have worn better.
Oddly though for our Kuhn combi the following Harrow tines have always been cheaper genuine!
So in your case I think I'd go non genuine.

 

[nick...]

I've used mainly pan anglia and spaldings pattern stuff and it don't wear better or worse than genuine.the shins can be a bugger to fit though.had some tungsten tipped points from avenue,remember them,and they were dreadful but were replaced FOC.
Nick...

 

[Chae1]

We use genuine kv boards. Rest we buy from Spaldings.

 

[JohnnyF]

We’ve learnt the hard way over the years to just buy the genuine stuff and be done with it.

How long has the genuine original metal lasted, quite a while I’d bet if the plough is now only worth 4.5k.

If your happy with how long genuine has lasted why change, yes it’s 1000 quid more but if you’ve done 3500 acres with the thing then suddenly that extra grand cost per acre is pence, you know it will last that long and you can replicate costs, start putting Mickey Mouse metal on there you might save a grand but only last half as long.

 

[mf7480]

We’ve learnt the hard way over the years to just buy the genuine stuff and be done with it.

How long has the genuine original metal lasted, quite a while I’d bet if the plough is now only worth 4.5k.

If your happy with how long genuine has lasted why change, yes it’s 1000 quid more but if you’ve done 3500 acres with the thing then suddenly that extra grand cost per acre is pence, you know it will last that long and you can replicate costs, start putting Mickey Mouse metal on there you might save a grand but only last half as long.

It’s done 10 seasons so about 4500 acres

 

[daveydiesel1]

It’s done 10 seasons so about 4500 acres

How many acres are you getting out of points,shares and shins?

 

[JohnnyF]

It’s done 10 seasons so about 4500 acres

So the original metal has done 4500 acres, assume it cost the same 10 years ago for arguments sake the genuine metal will cost you an extra 22pemce an acre over non genuine stuff you don’t know how long it would last. Over the life time of the plough I don’t think 10 seasons before a major re metal is bad, I wouldn’t go messing with it for the sake of a grand to be honest.

 

[Ed Gaskit]

I would always buy genuine mouldboards and shins if there are any. The rest would be cheapest, but we are not on wearing ground so spanner time is not an issue.