The opposing disk may be set back an inch or so and completes opening the furrow. Operating without a no-till coulter to cut residue and open the hard ground may cause disks to wear down sooner and make bearing life shorter. There are, of course, fewer components to buy or replace. Things to look for Weight. A no-till drill requires considerable weight when operating in hard ground.
Many drills have weight brackets to add cast-iron weights when needed.
Others have tanks to add water for ballast. A drill with 10 openers may require a gross weight of 4,000 to 5,000 pounds for deep penetration into hard ground. Drills should be weighted to provide proper penetration and operation when the seed boxes are nearly empty. No-till coulters vary from flat disks to wide, fluted disks up to about 2.5 inches wide. The narrow ripple or bubble coulters are common on no-till drills.