John Deere Opender Blades
Now available: Forges de Niaux’s superior blades for Case-IH Precision Disc 500 / NH P-2080 / 2085. Same dimensions as OEM, but with the greater durability of the Forges de Niaux! Harder on the periphery, for 20% greater wear life. Stays sharper longer. (Note: We don’t stock these in our warehouse; all orders will incur shipping.)
Blade sharpness is critical, and we were advocates of frequent blade replacement long before we ever started selling any opener blades. Dull blades hinder the cutting of straw and stalks—resulting in hairpinning, i.e., tucking the residue into the furrow with the seed sandwiched in the middle—as well as poor cutting of the soil itself. Attempting to overcome this requires more down-pressure and frame weight, sometimes a great deal more.
A few companies are selling aftermarket blades that are larger diameter than OEM, which is 18″. This is undesirable for a couple reasons: First, larger blades result in more hairpinning (unless you’re planning to cut a furrow 5″ deep). For seeding depths of 1.5 – 2.5″, you really want blades that are only 15 – 16″ diameter; 18″ is a bit too large already. Secondly, if you typically seed about 1.75 – 2″ deep (and this is where these drills work best), going to a larger blade will create more of a gap between the lower edge of the seed boot and the soil surface, causing more seeds to escape (and lowering the boot to the bottom hole may not put the boot at the proper spot either, depending on the exact blade diameter being used).

Tough and Proven
20% more wear-life. The Niaux 200s also stay sharp longer. But the additional wear life on the Niaux 200s doesn’t impair their toughness, because the extra hardening occurs only on the outermost inch.