Yesterday, got the 45 and 73 plow out of the shed to do an oil change and service and check the middle coulter that wasn't turning freely. After the oil, lube, and oil bath service it was on to the plow. What I learned is, the bearing hubs wear on the ends and in the hole. This makes coulter adjustment kind of vague. So I cut the bearings off on the middle and back ones. Almost a half inch on the middle bottom. Tightened some bolts that had gotten loose somehow, and spotted a couple cracked welds. Will try to get to the welder today. 

Some new hubs and bearings for the coulters would be really nice!

Needless to say, I'm really ready to take this thing back to the field!

I see that 70/80-series plows had either the older bearing/bushing style or tapered roller bearings depending on what coulter they were ordered with. Yours has the single long bushing from the sounds of it?

You are correct. Tapered roller bearings would be a huge upgrade. I think I talked to Reed at the farm store some time back and he said he could get some of those parts new. The fact that I didn't buy any, probably reflects the price quoted.

I'm hoping that getting that last bottom coulter to stay where I want it will lead to a nice furrow slice and a clean one too. That's two things I watch for at plow days. It's really nice to drive in a clean furrow as opposed to one that's already half full!

I did get the thing to the welder yesterday and fixed the cracks. Probably as ready for the next plow-day as it's ever been.

I agree with you!

When I was younger, we had a neighbor who would always remove the colters when plowing corn stubble. He would put the colters on when plowing sod. I could never figure out why, other than less wear on the colters.