Packer Pulled By Add-On Hitch Boosts Yields Of Drilled Beans

2000 - Volume #24, Issue #3, Page #09

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Adding a hitch to the back of a grain drill looks easy until you actually sit down to do it. That's what Mac Campbell and his son, Chris, found out when they decided to put a hitch on back of their 10-ft. Great Plains drill.
  The men wanted to pull a set of packer wheels behind the drill to improve seed-to-soil contact and smooth out the seedbed.
  "We knew we had to tie into the frame of the drill so we made a subframe of 2 1/2-in. sq. tubing. It connects to the 6-in. sq. main toolbar at the front of the drill with a couple heavy pieces of 3 in. wide 3/4-in. flat bar, so everything pulls directly off the drawbar of the tractor. The main tube of the hitch is made of 3 1/2-in. sq. tubing which has a piece of 2 1/2 by 1/4-in. seamless sq. tubing to accept the 2-in. square tubing that the pintle hitch is bolted to.
  "The pintle hitch is a swivel pintle for added flexability. This was the main concern since the drill raises about 30 in. when you turn at the head land.
  "The tongue of the drill has to be raised from standard height to about 38 in. when hooking it to the back of the drill. We use two jacks and an adaptor to accomplish this.
  "The pintle ring on the packer tongue can be removed by pulling a 3/4-in. pin when you want to pull it behind a disc or cultivator.
  "Last year was a dry year in our area so I believe the packer really paid off in better yields. My highest yield in beans was 53 bu. per acre and I credit that to good soil-to-seed contact. The tractor was able to pull the drill and packer at 6 mph so it didn't slow us down. And at harvest, the combines were able to harvest beans much easier because of the even soil contour created by the packer.
  "The add-on hitch also allowed me to expand the deck on back of the running board, which comes in handy when loading the seed box with bagged seed."
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mac Campbell, 1883 Pretty Rd., RR1, Wilkesport, Ontario Canada N0P 2R0.

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Packer Pulled By Add-On Hitch Boosts Yields Of Drilled Beans HITCHES Hitches 24-3-9 Adding a hitch to the back of a grain drill looks easy until you actually sit down to do it. That's what Mac Campbell and his son, Chris, found out when they decided to put a hitch on back of their 10-ft. Great Plains drill. The men wanted to pull a set of packer wheels behind the drill to improve seed-to-soil contact and smooth out the seedbed. "We knew we had to tie into the frame of the drill so we made a subframe of 2 1/2-in. sq. tubing. It connects to the 6-in. sq. main toolbar at the front of the drill with a couple heavy pieces of 3 in. wide 3/4-in. flat bar, so everything pulls directly off the drawbar of the tractor. The main tube of the hitch is made of 3 1/2-in. sq. tubing which has a piece of 2 1/2 by 1/4-in. seamless sq. tubing to accept the 2-in. square tubing that the pintle hitch is bolted to. "The pintle hitch is a swivel pintle for added flexability. This was the main concern since the drill raises about 30 in. when you turn at the head land. "The tongue of the drill has to be raised from standard height to about 38 in. when hooking it to the back of the drill. We use two jacks and an adaptor to accomplish this. "The pintle ring on the packer tongue can be removed by pulling a 3/4-in. pin when you want to pull it behind a disc or cultivator. "Last year was a dry year in our area so I believe the packer really paid off in better yields. My highest yield in beans was 53 bu. per acre and I credit that to good soil-to-seed contact. The tractor was able to pull the drill and packer at 6 mph so it didn't slow us down. And at harvest, the combines were able to harvest beans much easier because of the even soil contour created by the packer. "The add-on hitch also allowed me to expand the deck on back of the running board, which comes in handy when loading the seed box with bagged seed." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mac Campbell, 1883 Pretty Rd., RR1, Wilkesport, Ontario Canada N0P 2R0.

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