It started innocently enough, with one no-tiller asking how to put Case IH gauge wheels on his Kinze planter. The curious no-tiller received plenty of responses to his posting and received a few more about the effectiveness of the tires he’s about to put on his machine.

The performance of gauge wheels has been a hot-button topic on the No-Till Farmer Web site throughout much of the last year. If you have any thoughts on this topic or want to start your own discussion, feel free to post your messages at www.no-tillfarmer.com.

Best Way To Put On Gauge Wheels

I’m putting Case IH gauge wheels on my Kinze planter. Is there an easy way to put them on or do you have to take everything apart? Will I have to shim out the Case IH gauge wheel or cut off some of the new gauge wheel? Is this going to change my depth?

—Dave,

robjan@bloomnet.com

Warm the tires and put the metal rims outside in the cold to allow them to contract and use plenty of tire lube.

—ms

The Case IH gauge wheels are a lot better than the John Deere stock wheels. I have a John Deere 7000 no-till planter and the gauge wheels did not require any extra shimming or trimming. I did change the depth setting to a notch deeper than I normally use.

Try to use plenty of lube (I use dish soap) and pull the wheels together with all the tread. It’s easy to…