I have a John Deere 7200 12 row narrow wing fold planter with ME2 row units. I just put new RK Products seed tube guards on and am now putting the disk openers back on and attempting to properly shim them. I have the regular 3mm opener blades. All of the disks are either 14-5/8" or 14-11/16" so they still have some life left in them. When I put 8 shims on each disk I get 1-7/8" of contact with the opener disks using regular business cards. When I put 7 shims on each side, I get 2-3/8" of contact. I know I need to shoot for 1-¾" to 1" of contact so I went back to 8 shims on each side.
My concern is with how much space there is between the opener discs and the brand new RK Products tungsten carbide alloy seed tube guards. There is 5/32" (a little under 3/16") of an inch gap here on each side of the guard. The RK Products installation instructions say the opener disks should make light contact with the guard in the spots when spinning the blade by hand.
John Deere 7200 ME2 planter opener disks amount of contact
