15-in. Planter Works Better, Costs Less Than Bean Drill

2004 - Volume #28, Issue #1, Page #19

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Doug Hochstedler's "piggyback" 11-row, 15-in. planter cost him about half what a new no-till drill would have and - most importantly - it puts beans in the ground the way he wants them, at a constant rate and depth.
"One of the main reasons we did it was that we'd rather use a planter than a drill," says Hochstedler. "We put Kinze brush units on the planters for more accurate planting. With the price of soybean seeds, we can plant fewer beans."
Hochstedler picked the 8-row Deere 7000 for its two lift cylinders. He knew he would need the lifting power by the time he attached a second planter - the 4-row 7000 series - on back. First he pulled two planter units off the front unit and added one to the rear unit. He then spread all units out by 30-in. spaces, offsetting the rear units by 15 in. from the front units.
Removing the insecticide applicators from both planters eliminated 10 to 12 in. and allowed him to position the rear planter toolbar over the front planter's press wheels. The rear toolbar is connected to the front toolbar by 2- by 6-in. steel tubing. Angle iron welded to the front and rear of the tubing allows them to be bolted to the toolbars for a rigid support.
"We had to lay four 100-lb. tractor weights on the planter tongue to counter balance the rear planter," recalls Hochstedler.
Other changes included putting no-till coulters on each row unit and using the row markers from the former 4-row planter instead of the 8-row markers, which were too long for the new planter.
"We also had to turn the transmission on the rear planter 45_ to allow us to connect a drive sprocket from it to a sprocket on the front planter transmission," explains Hochstedler. "We had to change sprockets to get a 1-1 ratio so all units would operate at the same speed."
He also stripped off the planting monitors on the two units, trading them in for a 12-row monitor. All he had to do was remove one bulb, and he had a new 11-row monitor.
"A new no-till drill would have been about $10,000. We have only around $5,500 invested in this one," says Hochstedler.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Doug Hochstedler, 27699 SR 119, Wakarusa, Ind. 46573 (ph 574 862-1005).

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15-in. Planter Works Better, Costs Less Than Bean Drill PLANTERS Planters 28-1-19 Doug Hochstedler's "piggyback" 11-row, 15-in. planter cost him about half what a new no-till drill would have and - most importantly - it puts beans in the ground the way he wants them, at a constant rate and depth. "One of the main reasons we did it was that we'd rather use a planter than a drill," says Hochstedler. "We put Kinze brush units on the planters for more accurate planting. With the price of soybean seeds, we can plant fewer beans." Hochstedler picked the 8-row Deere 7000 for its two lift cylinders. He knew he would need the lifting power by the time he attached a second planter - the 4-row 7000 series - on back. First he pulled two planter units off the front unit and added one to the rear unit. He then spread all units out by 30-in. spaces, offsetting the rear units by 15 in. from the front units. Removing the insecticide applicators from both planters eliminated 10 to 12 in. and allowed him to position the rear planter toolbar over the front planter's press wheels. The rear toolbar is connected to the front toolbar by 2- by 6-in. steel tubing. Angle iron welded to the front and rear of the tubing allows them to be bolted to the toolbars for a rigid support. "We had to lay four 100-lb. tractor weights on the planter tongue to counter balance the rear planter," recalls Hochstedler. Other changes included putting no-till coulters on each row unit and using the row markers from the former 4-row planter instead of the 8-row markers, which were too long for the new planter. "We also had to turn the transmission on the rear planter 45_ to allow us to connect a drive sprocket from it to a sprocket on the front planter transmission," explains Hochstedler. "We had to change sprockets to get a 1-1 ratio so all units would operate at the same speed." He also stripped off the planting monitors on the two units, trading them in for a 12-row monitor. All he had to do was remove one bulb, and he had a new 11-row monitor. "A new no-till drill would have been about $10,000. We have only around $5,500 invested in this one," says Hochstedler. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Doug Hochstedler, 27699 SR 119, Wakarusa, Ind. 46573 (ph 574 862-1005).

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