I had a 500, 800, and last of all a 955.  Big advantage from the 800 up (not the 500) was excellent coverage in no till.  I rented a 800 to plant beans in clover stubble after first cutting.  The ground was so hard, it was difficult to drive a nail in it with a hammer.  The beans did pretty good for the time, not much rain and still 25 bu per acre, and I just had to buy one.  Later results with better conditions were excellent in many cases, at that time there was a learning curve to no-till due to the lack of local experience.


Only problem I had in wheat stubble was accumulation of straw laying on top.  Where straw was not laying, there was little problem.  I often dragged a big bunch of loose straw to the end rows, dropping a pile when raising out of the ground.  Other than that, I would not be afraid of 15 inch rows no till, especially if the straw was baled first.


The 955 had a bit better closing system with staggered disks, and 950's would accept the update.


There were a lot of adjustments to vary the downpressure for different ground conditions in no-til, but I seldom changed the original position.

A good planter for the time, would plant pretty good spacing if driven slowly, you lost a little on seed placement if you drove faster.  No picket fence emergence of plants, but about as good as most other brands at that time.