McCormac 10 drill

[waugh621]

I found a decent looking McCormac 10 grain drill for 500. Paint looks good (for what thats worth) and it doesn't seem to be too rusty and the rows look straight. The only catch is he says has not used it and is unsure if its working. Are parts readily available if this thing need work, or am i better off to keep looking.
Thanks Nate

 

[Fritz Maurer]

The biggest problem areas are the fertilizer box and the openers. Early 10’s were double run feeds and later they were fluted feeds; all of these mechanisms gave very little trouble and never wore out.

See that all the double disk blades, if so equipped, turn freely and not about to fall off. When people wash the fertilizer hopper, and don’t disconnect the feed tubes, this fertilizer water is carried down right to the opener bearings.

If it has greaseable openers, these are hardened bearing blocks and will always feel somewhat loose, and unless the disks are worn out and is no reason to pass on the drill.

If you want to see if everything turns, jack up one side and turn the wheel and see what happens. Do likewise on the other side. Put a crescent wrench on the square fertilizer feed drive shaft and rock it back and forth to see if it’s seized.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Don't buy it if it needs more than chains or simple easily-fabricated parts. Any castings, or rubber parts, are either NLA or made of diamond-encrusted gold-plated platinum. $500 wouldn't replace a dozen fertilizer tubes 40 years ago...

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

If you can't get the shafts to turn by hand, halve the price or keep on truckin'.

Mike

 

[waugh621]

Thanks for the input i may go look at it
Nate

 

[Mac AR]

I have a #10 drill, got it from my wife's grandpa after he died. It had sat for years, bad tires, froze up. Think I gave the uncles $50 for it. It took a lot of penetrating oil, mapp gas, and a come-a-long on the feed shaft to get it unfroze. Once it was free, it turned out to be a great drill. They're very simple, but as someone else said the parts aren't cheap and some are NLA. There are places to get used parts, I have found a couple for it after a quick google search. Mine is a clutch lift drill, and I even managed to find some NOS parts for the clutch online after some searching, and they weren't terribly expensive.

When you go look at it, take a crescent wrench with you and turn the main feed. If it's stuck solid, walk away unless you want a $500 project. Oh, and don't pay much attention to the fertilizer box being froze up; mine is still froze up and since I really don't have a use for it (I broadcast fert pre-plant so no need) I just keep the feed tubes and drag chains in it when not using the machine. Makes a fine toolbox!

Mac