"Rebuilt" No-Till Planter Solves Wet Soil Problems

"Rebuilt" No-Till Planter Solves Wet Soil Problems PLANTING EQUIPMENT No-Till & Min-Till 23-1-32 If you plant no-till and are looking for a way to get a better stand and higher yields, you'll want to take a look at how Paul, Nick, Kevin, and Ken Reed of Washington, Iowa, modified the row units on their Deere and Kinze planters. The Reeds plant all their corn no-till and in the past were often kept out of fields by excess soil moisture. "We'd see conventional tillers out in the field, and our soils would still be too wet for our no-till planter to do a good job," says Nick. So they took a closer look at their planter, from the no-till coulters up front to the press wheels in back, and came up with a "hybrid" row unit system that can handle wetter soils. They originally developed the system for their Deere 7000 planter and now use it on their Kinze twinline planter. "One problem with many planters is that they'e equipped with heavy-duty down pressure springs. Springs on the row units can cause total row unit weight to exceed 800 lbs., all concentrated on 4 to 5 sq. in." The Reeds kept some of the row unit components and replaced others. Their system starts with a single disc fertilizer opener that slices through residue with very little soil disruption. The stationary openers help stabilize the planter and are equipped with a wiper wheel that controls depth. Yetter fertilizer knives mount behind the openers to place fertilizer 1 in. to the side and 2 in. deep. "The Yetter knives are narrower than most other fertilizer knives on the market so they don't smear the sidewall," says Nick. Row cleaners then sweep aside residue without removing soil. "Removing the soil can lower the row and make it more prone to erosion," says Paul. The Reeds kept the planter's original double disc openers, which leave a V-shaped seed trench. However, they replaced the rubber on the gauge wheels with the rubber off Case-IH planter gauge wheels. "The rubber on Deere and Kinze gauge wheels is smooth and runs right next to the opener discs where it concentrates the weight and compacts the soil even if it's just a little wet," says Paul. "The rubber on Case-IH gauge wheels has a groove on the inside edge which allows the soil to expand and leaves it crumbly over the row. It also allows the disc openers to lift the soil higher which reduces compaction." Keeton seed firmers are used to press seed gently into the soil. The Reeds use fertilizer tubes on the seed firmers to add pop-up fertilizer in the seed furrow. They replaced the planter's closing wheels with Martin spader wheels. "The Martin wheels run shallow enough to stay over the seed, but they still break up any compaction the openers may have left in the seed furrow side-walls," says Paul. "The slender fingers on the wheels firm the soil over the seed but leave the surface loose and aerated, even if the ground is wet. With the residue removed, this loose soil warms quicker which allows seed to germinate earlier." A drag chain finishes off the system. "The chain drags loose soil and fills in cracks so that all the seed gets covered no matter how wet the soil is," says Nick. Drag chains are available from Deere, but you can also make your own. "It has to be heavy, twisted-link chain," says Nick. "Chains that have straight links tend to bounce or roll and get knotted. They just don't do the job." What does it cost to set up a planter this way? If you start with a Kinze or Deere planter with fertilizer attachments, you'll need the Yetter fertilizer knife ($50), Case-IH rubber ($40), a good set of residue wheels ($250), spader wheels ($150), Keeton Seed Firmer (with fertilizer tube, $35), and drag chain ($35 purchased, $10 to $20 if made on the farm). Total cost for all that comes to less than $600 per row. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Reed, Washington, Iowa 52353 (ph 319 653-5520 or 4681).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.