# Lilliston 9690 No Till Drill



## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Anybody know anything about these drills? Bushhog also sold them under their name. Made in the 80's from what I can tell... May be able to pick it up cheap, and very tired of fighting with neighbors Esh no till...


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I know lilliston made some purty good equipment, still some in use today around here.....no ideas on the no till, didn't even know they made one......got any pics?


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Here are some pics...not sure what to think...it doesnt look that heavy...


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Appears to be in good condition....


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

somedevildawg said:


> Appears to be in good condition....


Cause it didn't work well and nobody used it??


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

I have run a Bushhog 9690 for ten years now. I usually it almost exclusively for no till but have also used in worked ground before so it is multi purpose. I think they are heavier than many brands, maybe not as heavy as others. I've gotten along fine planting various small grain, cover crop mixes, grass etc. Is it fancy? No. But I got mine bought very cheap and works well for the 50-100 acres I use it on each year. It takes some getting used to when setting it but once you get it figured out its not horrible. Probably no worse than some others. The openers and depth control I feel is a mix between a Haybuster and a Great Plains. Depth control will not be as convenient as a Deere. But I get out and check often since field conditions change so often anyway. Only time I planted something and didn't get a good stand it was purely operator error (planting millet and I had it set way too deep).

Drawbacks - it is wide. Planting width of 10' feet but transport width of almost 14'. And if you go off the shoulder of the road the end wheel drops off and openers can drag. You can actually get a 15' Deere drill (non-end wheel) down the road easier than these things, in my opinion, cause you can pull over easier without dragging up. But I don't have to road mine much so not a huge deal.

Some parts are no longer available or hard or expensive to get. I've made a few parts for mine (t-rod bars connecting packer wheel to opener). I need some new feed wheels and I called a week or so ago and they are still available. Wear parts like openers, coulters, bearings are available from Shoup and where I bought mine several years ago.

If you have any other specific questions just ask.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

14 ft wide may be a deal killer...that's wide..

What adjustments are there? On the Esh I use you can set the presserwheel which sets the depth. You can also put cylinder spacers to keep the transport wheels from pulling up the whole way. The problem I have with the Esh is the spring on each row unit is way too light and will allow unit to ride up over any trash, instead of cutting through..


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

Yeah, I think the width is the thing I dislike the most about it. I typically send a vehicle in front to flag anyone down on certain roads just to be safe, or wait until early in the morning to move when traffic is less. The other issue is you have to have a 14' gate minimum to get it through, and I have several places where you have to go across small farm bridges or culverts and it will barely make it. Again if it was a Deere or Haybuster with the wheels in the middle vs. on the ends it wouldn't be a huge issue.

There are quite a few adjustments. First, there is a hydraulic cylinder on the tongue which lets you essentially tilt the angle of the drill depending on whether you need the coulters to go in deeper or shallower than the openers. For most of my applications I usually leave it set and have to adjust that very little. I leave cylinder spacers on mine to keep that set, and really only adjust it if I need to coulters to cut in deeper (like through corn stalks) or very shallow (no-tilling grass into bean stubble). After you get the angle set, there is a hydraulic stop valve controlled by a screw knob. You adjust this in or out depending on what depth you want the two main down pressure cylinders to stop at when putting down pressure on the main frame. From what little I've been around Great Plains 1006 drills this is similar to them. The third adjustment is more for fine tuning. Each row unit has a set of washers between the packer wheel assembly and the main row unit drawbar. You can unclip a pin and move washers from top to bottom depending on what you want depth you want the packer wheel to run at. This is similar to Haybuster drill. I rarely ever change this, maybe once or twice in ten years. Mainly cause it takes a while to go down through each unit, but I just have not found the need to given the other adjustments you can make.

This drill doesn't have your typical metal springs. It has solid rubber springs up on the front main frame. I think they are pretty stout and will cut through some trash. But seem to have pretty good flex if you get into an unexpected rock. The only times I've had trouble getting this drill to go in or stay in the ground is if the ground is just terribly dry and hard. A couple times I've had to just quit and wait on rain because the drill would just ride on top of the ground. But these were very dry conditions and I expect many brands would have been doing the same thing. I have no experience personally with JD drills, but my understanding is they will plant through concrete. My drill would not do that, but like I said I feel like it is better than some others when it comes to this based on conversations I've had with other people who have used various brands.

Don't know if this matters to you or not, but if you plan to plant into heavy corn stalks this is not the drill for you. It will plant through them fine (with the right adjustments). But the problem is it will hang up bad at times. Sometimes you may go a few acres and no issues, other times it may drag up every other pass and trust me this can cause you to cuss when you look back and have a huge wad of dirt and stalks drug up under the drill. Best I can tell, how it starts is one or two stiff talks will drag up at just the right angle back on the packer wheel frame and starts a chain effect from there. You don't realize it is happening until you have a huge wad typically unless you are watching back over your shoulder constantly. I pretty much have decided not to use it in stalks anymore unless absolutely neccesary. Slowing down your ground speed to less than 3mph seems to help with this some.

Overall mine has been a good purchase, mainly because I have very little into it. I wouldn't mind having a fancier drill and typically keep my eyes open for a good used one if the right deal ever came around, but so far I continue to stick with this one. For my 50-100 acres a year it is gonna be hard to find a decent newer drill to economically replace this one. Now if i get to the point I can't get or make a certain part for it that's another story...


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

I just looked at your pictures a little closer. If you hadn't noticed it yet, it is missing one whole row unit on the one side. So to plant an even pattern you will either have to get that replaced (if all the parts still available) or take the outside row unit off the other side. Either way it will be less than a true 10 ft drill yet still have to lug 14' down the road.

Also it is missing the front hydraulic cylincer that controls the angle tilt of the tongue. Maybe they have this laying in another shed somewhere, but if not be sure to factor that into your price negotiations because you have to have that cylinder and it is a hefty one so not cheap probably. You could probably get by with a manual ratchet pin or something in a pinch, but I'd rather have a cylinder.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

I saw one row unit is missing...always makes you wonder what the story is...

What does the cylinder on the tongue angle do? Does that set how deep/hard the coulter pushes in?


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

The tongue cylinder just helps set the angle that the row units will be running at, basically. The two vertical hydraulic cylinders you see in the pics provide the down pressure on the main beam which forces the drawbars and openers into the ground. The drawbars hinge at the front of the drill frame. The two vertical cyilnders are mounted slightly back from this hinge point and push the drawsbars/openers down. The angle of the tongue then can help set whether the front coulters are in the ground deeper or shallower in relation to the openers and packer wheels. I would say the tongue angle is more of a big picture adjustment, the hydraulic cutoff valve controlling the opener depth more of a fine tuned/primary adjustment and then then moving the washers around back on the packer wheels is a very fine tune adjustment.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Can the drill create a good seed bed and still Place sMall seeds at a quarter of an inch. That is important if that's what you need


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

I have gotten along ok with it for the most part. As I said the only thing I ever planted that didn't make a good stand (knock on wood) is some foxtail millet, and that was right after I put new coulters on it years ago and was planting into wet ground and just not paying enough attention. I learned my lesson after that. Will it plant at a quarter inch as consistently as a Deere? Probably not. But i've had no problems planting OG and Timothy with it at shallow depth. Never tried alfalfa though, that could be another story as it is probably a little more finicky.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

endrow said:


> Can the drill create a good seed bed and still Place sMall seeds at a quarter of an inch. That is important if that's what you need


Sometime when you see an Esh planter at a dealer, stop and take a look at it...I would like your opinion of it...I just don't see how it could(and it never does for me) work well. Each units down pressure is created by this big long crazy looking spring...

I don't have much experience with planters, but having a degree in M.E my gut says no good...


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## HayMike (Mar 22, 2011)

The rubber springs are not available any more, neither are the cable straps that lift the units. I passed on one because of this. Had one for 15 years, liked it except for the width and the plugging. Metering was excellent.


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