Kinze's Magnificent Planter Display

Kinze's Magnificent Planter Display PLANTERS Planters 27-2-17 Anyone who drove by the Kinze Manufacturing, Inc., plant on Interstate 80 near Williamsburg, Iowa, over the past few months would have wondered what was going on. There was a cleared patch of ground out behind the plant and and a sign with a big "question mark" on it. Obviously, something was happening but no one was talking. Rumors were flying and we heard them at FARM SHOW. One that we heard from several different sources was that Kinze founder Jon Kinzenbaw had built a new combine and was planning to open a combine manufacturing plant. That turned out not to be exactly true (see sidebar). The question was finally answered in the middle of February when Kinze workers started erecting one of the biggest and most impressive displays of farm equipment you'll ever see. What Kinze did was to mount a 24-row Kinze planter behind a 4-WD tractor and put it all up in the air, with the tractor nose heading down into the ground. It stands 85 ft. tall and folds and unfolds periodically throughout the day. "It's been years since we introduced the folding planter, and people still ask me how it works," Kinzenbaw told FARM SHOW. "I'd always tell them, if you look down on it from above, you'll understand it better. Since not everyone can do that, I decided I'd put one on display so they could see it." He painted the tractor red on one side and green on the other so fewer people would be offended. A tremendous amount of work went into the display, including building a giant hinged mounting plate on front of the tractor so it could be lowered back down to the ground as needed. And, of course, a rigid hitch had to be devised for the planter itself. The folding and unfolding process takes about 3 min. Kinzenbaw plans to put it on a timer so it will fold on the hour and half hour so people can actually tell time by it.

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