stealth openers

[s24]

I bought 45 stealth openers last spring with the side band double shoot option. I wore the side bands out in about 500 acres. The conditions here were good here last spring. Did anyone else have this same trouble with thiers

[bmj182]

That can be a problem if your soil is
abrasive, Dutch industries makes
openers that are supposed to be
really good, I don't use them myself
but have heard from others that they
are good. I guess you could contact
them and see what they say. I know
how you feel, the cost of changing
those openers is awful!

[rosco]

500 acres isn't very much. Is your soil typically abrasive? Do you have the boots on a Flexi-coil machine? If not, is the pitch of the shank right? I can see if the tail of the boot is too low, that it will wear off the wing real quick. We run the side-band on a flexi-coil 5000 39' and get about 3-5000 acres depending on position on the machine. You can also buy carbide tipped seed boots but they are big bucks, and i don't think they have the bugs out of them yet.

[JD_GREEN]

The draft on side band stealth is such that almost any soil wears them quickly. I have never used them myself but know of friends who have. Same problem they wear out fast. Suggest the paired row with carbide in combination with dutch carbide tips. Yes they are pricey but we are getting big acres out of them. 14,500 acres out of our current set, which we will consider replacing some of them this year. 51 foot drill in fine sandy loam soil.

[tigerd]

Anyone want to buy 53 (39' FC 5000) narrow tip Dutch knives? They fit the stealth openers, are 3/4 inch wide or so. They are carbide tipped, used for 200 acres only (new condition). They are about $31.00 each, I'll let them go for $20 each (they don't work in my soil conditions, plug boots) They are the Dutch # 1616