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Kindersley Sk. | Anyone else having this problem?
Lately I've been breaking shanks on my Flexi-coil 800 Air-seeder and I think I have figured out why. This spring we are seeding into super dry soil which in this area means hard soil. The trips on the Air-seeder work quite a bit as they pull through the hard clay soil. All of the broken shanks have broken in the foreword direction, which to me, means they are breaking as the trip returns to normal position, not because of excess force as they trip backward.
I have seeded into dry conditions before with this machine and have not broken shanks, but I am using Atom-Jet liquid sideband openers this time. And I think they are the cause of the fatigued shanks. These openers weigh up at 5.5 lbs. and most of that weight is centred at the bottom of the unit. I think all of this excess weight combined with the speed the trip mechanism throws the shank forward into the seated position after it trips out, is breaking the shanks.
This is just my theory, but I think it would be prudent not to hang excessively heavy openers on Drills, because of the extra forces they exert on the trip mechanisms and the shanks themselves.
This years collection of broken shanks
Mock-up of how AtomJet openers sit on a new shank. | |
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Broken Shanks / AtomJet Openers
