Greasable Cultivator Bushings

2002 - Volume #26, Issue #5, Page #41

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While Michael Mortell was replacing the bolts that hold the shanks on his IH 4600 field cultivator recently, he figured he could eliminate that chore in the future if he could just figure out a way to lubricate the bushings.
  "Most field cultivators don't even have sleeves in those bushings where the shanks pivot. They run dry and get filled with dirt that wears down the bolts," he says.
  His first thought was to just drill through the top of the bushing, thread the hole and screw in a grease zerk. But they're made of hardened steel. "I went through some expensive titanium drill bits before I realized I wasn't going to be able to do that," he admits.
  Undaunted, he figured there had to be a way to open the bushing up to accept grease. "I knew I could cut through them with my chop saw, so I used it to cut a slit the width of the blade into the bushing. I cut just deep enough to see sparks flying inside the bushing," he says.
  Then he made a grease zerk of his own design from a short length of 7/16-in. steel rod drilled down the center with a 3/32-in. bit. He tapered the opening of this hole by drilling it out with a slightly larger bit.
  He centered the drilled-out rod over the slot cut in the bushing and welded it in place with a wire welder. At the same time, he welded the rest of the slit shut.
  Once the shank was mounted back in place, he greased the bushing using a needle point on his grease gun.
  Since he already had the shanks off the cultivator, he figures making all 47 of the bushings greasable took only another four or five hours of time. "The cost was minimal," he adds. "Now my field cultivator doesn't squeak when I use it. If the manufacturer made the shanks greasable, it really wouldn't cost that much more, and it would eliminate a lot of the wear and tear on the equipment."
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Michael Mortell, Box 184, Franklin Grove, Ill. 61031 (ph 815 456-2096; E-mail: mikemortell@hotmail.com).

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Greasable Cultivator Bushings CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 26-5-41 While Michael Mortell was replacing the bolts that hold the shanks on his IH 4600 field cultivator recently, he figured he could eliminate that chore in the future if he could just figure out a way to lubricate the bushings. "Most field cultivators don't even have sleeves in those bushings where the shanks pivot. They run dry and get filled with dirt that wears down the bolts," he says. His first thought was to just drill through the top of the bushing, thread the hole and screw in a grease zerk. But they're made of hardened steel. "I went through some expensive titanium drill bits before I realized I wasn't going to be able to do that," he admits. Undaunted, he figured there had to be a way to open the bushing up to accept grease. "I knew I could cut through them with my chop saw, so I used it to cut a slit the width of the blade into the bushing. I cut just deep enough to see sparks flying inside the bushing," he says. Then he made a grease zerk of his own design from a short length of 7/16-in. steel rod drilled down the center with a 3/32-in. bit. He tapered the opening of this hole by drilling it out with a slightly larger bit. He centered the drilled-out rod over the slot cut in the bushing and welded it in place with a wire welder. At the same time, he welded the rest of the slit shut. Once the shank was mounted back in place, he greased the bushing using a needle point on his grease gun. Since he already had the shanks off the cultivator, he figures making all 47 of the bushings greasable took only another four or five hours of time. "The cost was minimal," he adds. "Now my field cultivator doesn't squeak when I use it. If the manufacturer made the shanks greasable, it really wouldn't cost that much more, and it would eliminate a lot of the wear and tear on the equipment." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Michael Mortell, Box 184, Franklin Grove, Ill. 61031 (ph 815 456-2096; E-mail: mikemortell@hotmail.com).

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