Asparagus Planter Also Plants Trees, Potatoes

ASPARAGUS PLANTER ALSO PLANTS TREES, POTATOES PLANTERS Planters 23-3-19 When Conrady decided to plant a a field to asparagus, he knew he had to find a way to automate the process. He worked on a design and built a tractor-mounted machine from scratch. Once the planter was built he realized it could also be used for potatoes, fruit trees and possibly other crops. He used salvaged parts from several pieces of equipment, including 2-in. sq. tubing for the main frame, which is designed to fit a tractor 3-pt. hitch. A no-till wavy coulter mounts up front on a bracket from a Deere 7000 planter. It cuts the ground ahead of a large V-shaped opener that follows behind. The opener is 10 in. wide and shaped like a box with high sides in front and along the sides. A cultivator sweep mounts on the leading point of the "V". As the opener moves through the soil, a large furrow is opened inside the "box" where the plants are put into the ground by hand. Two large closing discs follow behind to pull dirt back over the row. The planter holds two riders on either side. Two hoppers hold whatever's being planted. In operation, the tractor 3-pt. lifts the entire planter and riders together. When it's in the ground, two rubber-tired wheels off a lawn mower act as gauge wheels to maintain proper depth.

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