Eliminating Mud-Clogged Gauge Wheels

Eliminating Mud-Clogged Gauge Wheels PLANTING EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous After planting thousands of acres each year custom planter Allen Jung believes he has a solution to mud-clogged gauge wheels His solution came after years of seeing depth gauge wheels plug up with mud bearings burn out tires wear and depth gauge wheels fall off It’s a wheel retainer and a steel ring to protect the wheel’s tire and reduce mud clogging “OEMs use a bolt with a hexagonal head and no washers to secure the bearing on the depth gauge wheel ” says Jung “My retainer slips into the OEM bolt hole and with its flange secures the bearing and the wheel It does require a little longer bolt but if the bearing burns out the wheel can’t fall off It’ll wobble around the retainer until the operator notices and replaces the bearing ” The same retainer can also be used to secure the closing wheel bearing Depth gauge wheels cost as much as $180 and closing wheels cost around $35 Replacing the OEM bolt with the $19 95 retainer is pretty cheap insurance Jung’s steel ring is designed to prevent mud clogging that can cause bearings to burn out The $39 95 ring is installed on the side of gauge wheel tires with six screws It prevents the lip of the tire from rubbing against objects and helps prevent mud from packing in the tires This reduces traction loss and improves performance It also eliminates the need for mud scrapers on planters air seeders and no-till drills “The steel rings prevent premature wear and tear and are easy to install ” says Jung “Once installed the wheels turn easier and shed mud easier so they don’t get plugged I’ve had them installed for 3 years and seen only 1/16 of an inch of wear after planting 13 000 acres ” Jung annually plants from 4 000 to 5 000 acres but hasn’t purchased a new planter since 2009 He notes that his retainers and steel rings make buying used planters safer financially “When you buy a used planter you don’t know when a bearing was last replaced or how much life is left in it ” says Jung “With my retainers you don’t have to worry about losing wheels if a bearing does go out With the steel rings in place you can eliminate scrapers and not have to replace the rubber tires ” Jung has retainers and steel rings for depth gauge wheels on Deere corn planters and air seeders as well as White and Kinze corn planter gauge wheels Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jung Enterprise P O Box 371 Ipswich S D 57451 ph 605-281-0497; jungenterpriseinc@yahoo com; jungenterprise weebly com

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