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North Dakota, USA | We had 4 of them when I was farming. A 14', 15', 17' and a 21' folding one, all bought used in the between about 1980 and 2002. They were very good and usually trouble free. The only weak point we found was at the front end of the hitch where the long angle supports bolt on. The main angle irons will crack through the bolt holes. Not too bad a job to fix though, if you catch it before you tear the hitch off. One that I bought had the nuts on those bolts welded solid and another one had those bolts double nutted so I'm guessing that them loosening themselves up was the cause of the cracking.
I made the mistake of buying a used JD 100 for my first chisel plow. That had a greaseable pin in every shank assembly. They may have been good when they were new, but not after all the pins and holes were worn out. The previous owner had made some steel straps for each assembly to keep the pins from falling out so I didn't see how worn out it was when I bought it.
That is why I really liked the shank assemblies on the 55. There were not really much there that would wear out. We did replace a spring now and then but not very often.
My Dad bought the 14' and we used that for many years. We finally replaced it with the 15' after the shanks had worn to about 2/3 to 3/4 of their original thickness right above the top of the shovels. We were afraid they were going to start breaking.
I bought the 17' after the JD and replaced it with the 21' mainly because our tractors had gotten bigger.
Eric in ND | |
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INternational 55 Chisel plow
