2001 - Volume #25, Issue #3, Page #37
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Pull-Type Transplanter Makes It Easy To Plant Big Gardens
The "Weekender Transplanter" is a 2-wheeled, ground-driven rig that's designed to plant everything from tomatoes to peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, and squash, as well as flowers, herbs and perennials. It's equipped with a backward-facing seat that mounts above the axle and just ahead of the planting components. Those components include a furrow opening shoe and a pair of metal packer wheels, which are used to chain-drive a series of rotating plant holders mounted on a metal disc. A tray containing the seedlings mounts on a rack above the plant holders.
To plant, the operator places seedlings green side up into a slot and the rotating holders then release the seedlings into the furrow. The packer wheels then firm soil around the plants. Additional plant holders may be added (or removed) to alter the spacing between plants.
"It's a simple, low maintenance system," says Hugh Gerhardt, Holland Transplanter Co., Holland, Mich. "Because the operator faces backward, he can see what the plants look like after they're in the ground and tell right away if there are any problems. It accepts plant plugs or bare roots up to 2 in. in diameter and 6 1/2 inches long. For close plant spacing, tractor ground speed may need to be as slow as 2/10 of 1 mph. Going that slow usually requires a tractor equipped with a hydrostatic or creeper gear transmission.
"A number of options are available including a water and starter fertilizer setup."
A transplanter equipped with a cushion seat sells for $783.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Holland Transplanter Co., 510 E. 16th St., Holland, Mich. 49423 (ph 800 275-4482; fax 616 392-7996; E-mail: hldtrans@iserv.net; Website: www.transplanter.com).
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