Rural Heritage June/July 2026

the body of the cap. Inside, you’ll find a small pin that goes though the axle and into a specialized “take up washer” with slots of various widths. While you are at it, this is a good time to put the cultivator on blocks so at least one wheel is off the ground. Pull the small pin and slide off the take up washer so you can remove the wheel completely. Use a rag and degreaser to remove built-up grease on the axle and inside the wheel. Add some grease to the axle and reinstall the wheel. To remove some of the slop of the wheel, reinsert the pin in a groove of the take-up washer that pushes the wheel further in. If, even when using the shallowest groove, you still have slop, you can remove the take up washer, add another 2-inch steel flat washer, reinstall the take-up washer and reinsert the pin to make it as tight as you can. There will likely be some slop still (the actual axle may be worn), but this should fix most of it. With the cap still off now, it is the time to clean up old grease from the grease cup (if dried out), add more grease to the cup and force it into the

axle by turning the grease cup. Make sure the threads are clean so it is easy to hand turn the grease cup. You might need to fill up the grease cup more than once. Look for grease escaping out either end of the axle to assure it has greased the entire axle. Filling the hub/ axle with grease should remove additional play in the wheel. Be sure to end with a full grease cup so you can continue to regrease as needed over the season. Other solutions include finding wheels that are less worn or buying new wheels with sealed bearings. Spring handles not releasing or sticking. The handles for the main lever, left and right depth adjustments, and leveling basically work the same. You squeeze a lever that pulls a wire with a spring that disengages from a cog, allowing you to change the height by pulling back or forward. Over time, these parts fail from wear and rust or just break. Usually, the best thing to do is to replace the worn piece or pieces. If the hole in the handle attached to the wire gets elongated, pulling back on the handle

To change the wheel spacing, you also have to remove the screw that goes into a depression in the drag bar.

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