opininionated
Member
subsoiler legs, the ones that are about 25mm thick and have the point, lifter and any other wearing parts attached to them, are they just regular mild steel, or are they made of a special grade to resist bending?
Subsoiler legs
- Thread starter opininionated
- Start date
- Location
- Boroughbridge, york
Hardox 500
- Location
- Suffolk
Firm I used to work for was in the same group of companies as Pan Anglia and we went through a phase of making Cousins type legs for them. I'm 99% sure it was EN9 that was used.
Clayfarmer
Member
The 1" thick Ransome's deep type legs on my subsoiler were surprisingly easy to drill, even with a large drill bit. I suspect they are mild steel, they were not genuine. Yet they can handle some real power and will really boil the soil up. I would be interested to know if you can tell the difference between mild and medium carbon steel by drilling it.
The shin, wings and point are much harder and must be heat treated in such a way that they have a harder core/base and self sharpen.
The shin, wings and point are much harder and must be heat treated in such a way that they have a harder core/base and self sharpen.
Last edited:
Agricast
Member
All subsoiler legs should be made of high abrasion resistant metal and not mild steel.
The usual grade is 400 HB or 500 HB (on the Brinell hardness scale) of which Hardox 500 is one brand. Normal mild steel is only about 120 HB.
Wearing parts are generally made of heat treated cast or forged steel. Hardness of these should be around 450 to 500 HB too if you buy from reputable suppliers.
Drilling 500 HB steel is just possible with HSS-Co drill bits but shouldn't be "easy". We use armour piercing drills to drill our legs with and even they have to be used correctly. At £80 a bit for 16mm they are not cheap if you go at it too fast!
The usual grade is 400 HB or 500 HB (on the Brinell hardness scale) of which Hardox 500 is one brand. Normal mild steel is only about 120 HB.
Wearing parts are generally made of heat treated cast or forged steel. Hardness of these should be around 450 to 500 HB too if you buy from reputable suppliers.
Drilling 500 HB steel is just possible with HSS-Co drill bits but shouldn't be "easy". We use armour piercing drills to drill our legs with and even they have to be used correctly. At £80 a bit for 16mm they are not cheap if you go at it too fast!
Glad I found this thread, Ive often wondered whether wearing parts could be made out of harder steel, say 600 HB so they last longer. Why isn't that the case?