Simple New Way To Strip-Till

Simple New Way To Strip-Till PLANTERS Planters 27-6-19 Richard and Larry Martin of Lincoln, Ill., are usually ahead of the curve when it comes to planting technology. They have 20 years of experience in strip-tilling and have used many different kinds of minimum till openers over the years. Larry says he's now convinced that a single 10-in. wide sweep opener, combined with 30-in. rows, is the way to go for both corn and soybeans. "We've tried using bubble coulters, waffle coulters, and residue managers combined with bubble coulters. We've tried all of them in both 30 and 15-in. rows. The patent pending assembly we're using now works the best on both corn and beans," says Larry. He buys 10-in. wide "high speed" sweeps from a local Deere dealer. The sweeps are designed for the company's row crop cultivators with a two-piece, bolt-together shank. The Martins weld the shank to a vertical steel tube, which slides up inside another tube that bolts onto the planter frame. The sweep's pitch is adjusted by loosening two bolts on the shank. By loosening two more bolts he can adjust the depth. The Martins use the system on their Kinze 24-row rear-fold planter. "It works better than anything we've ever tried before," says Larry, who has used the system for two years. "When people first see it they say it's too simple. But that's the beauty of it. There are no moving parts and it doesn't need any coulters. Also, it's lightweight and sucks itself into the ground so there's no need for any heavy downpressure springs. As a result, the planter runs smooth without bouncing up and down, which results in consistently better seed spacing, Once the sweep is set at the correct pitch it just sucks itself into the ground. We usually set the sweep to just scratch the soil surface. "Residue managers with intersecting wheels work well in some cases, but too often their components just roll over the top of the residue without throwing it aside. They tend to bounce up and down which results in poor seed spacing and is also hard on the planter. And, some of them have clearance problems when folding the planter. That's not a problem with these sweeps." Martin says they looked a long time to find the sweep they wanted - one that's flat and designed with adjustable pitch and height. They strip-till in a separate pass during the fall, using an old cultivator that they turned into an anhydrous ammonia bar. Larry says he prefers 30-in. rows to 15-in. rows because of the seed savings. Last year he saved an average of $6.41 per acre. He says if there's enough interest he's willing to build the strip till assemblies for others. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Martin, 1882 700th Ave., Lincoln, Ill. 62656 (ph 217 314-2803).

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