Got a great deal on a subsoiler

Flash said:

The one below Elberton?
Be careful with it, I didn't see a shear pin on that model

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cjones said:

That's a good deal. I paid $199 for the single-shank subsoiler at TSC. It's been worth every penny paid, but I would have been just as happy with it being fewer pennies.

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Milkman said:

I was considering the same one at TSC. This one and that one look very similar.

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Milkman said:

This sale was at Madison.

I forgot to tell you I bought a Kubota L 3300 with loader

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Flash said:

Did you buy it down there?

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Milkman said:

At Franklin sale in March

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Forest Grump said:

I got one from TSC (at the time they were $140.00; now it seems the same one is $189.99); first time I used it, admittedly in hard packed clay, it grabbed & before I could get the clutch down or the lift up, it snapped in half (through the shaft, not the A frame; it didn’t bend or twist, it broke in 2 & I pulled the foot free by hand). Inside, the “steel” was crystalline, like cast iron looks when you break it. I took it back, & the TSC Mgr replaced it (although he did say he wouldn’t a 2nd time, despite me giving him the 2 halves & pointing out the broken area; he didn’t seem to grasp—or care?—that the metal was inferior.)

I am no steel expert, but I do have a bit of experience tearing up some stuff , & I think tool steel is supposed to twist/bend before it breaks off...

Maybe now they cost more because they found a better supplier in China. (Yours is identical, but for the paint; they surely come from the same shop, here or there.)
Here’s hoping all the Chinese steel they are putting in our tall buildings isn’t like the hunk I got.

I applaud your thrift. You got a great deal, but if you can figure a way to rig a shear-pin into that top-link I would, just to protect your tractor. I would have gladly paid double for a Fred Cain with a shear pin, but there was nowhere to buy one & I had nowhere (then) to ship one to a loading dock. Now when I use the TSC one I pull the draft lever halfway up so it lifts as soon as the load increases & use low 1st gear only, with my feet on clutch & brake. I offer this for others considering the TSC version, not because I think you chose poorly...you didn’t.

Dirt Dog Mfg makes a copy of the Fred Cain subsoiler (it’s around $350, but has an integral shear pin so it should last & will protect your 3 Pt hitch from overload).

(My fave is their parabolic, also shear pin protected, but it runs in the $800 neighborhood).

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Milkman said:

I was considering the same one at TSC. This one and that one look very similar.

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