He Builds His Own Vegetable Planting Equipment

He Builds His Own Vegetable Planting Equipment PLANTERS Planters Over the years I ve saved a lot of money by building my own vegetable planting equipment mostly from junked-out parts says Richard Martin Boone Iowa Martin grows vegetables and melons for his market garden business He recently converted parts from an old row crop cultivator into a low-cost 3-pt mounted plastic laying machine It puts down a 4-ft wide strip of agricultural plastic that blocks weeds and warms up the soil After the plastic has been laid down another home-built machine does the planting with a big spiked wheel to make 2 1/2-in dia holes in the plastic that go 3 in deep in the ground and automatically injects water into the holes at the same time Two workers sit on back of the machine and poke small plants into the holes The plastic cover gets early planted crops up and growing faster The warmed-up soil gives vegetables spurs growth and the plastic helps control weeds says Martin The plastic-laying machine was built on the frame of an IH 4-row cultivator The edges of the 6-mil plastic are covered by dirt as the plastic unrolls by disc hillers off another cultivator The planter was built using parts from an old combine and spring tooth field cultivator A 3-ft high 8-in wide steel wheel mounts at the center of the machine and has pyramid-shaped metal spikes welded onto it at 18-in intervals There s a small hole in the wheel under each spike The interior of the wheel is open on one side and is divided into compartments Water is pumped out of a tank on front of the tractor and automatically fed into the open side of the wheel As the wheel pokes holes into the plastic the water exits the wheel through the holes under the spikes To plant the workers sit on metal seats on back of the machine and grab seedlings from trays mounted on rectangular metal holders Each hole gets a couple cups of water The water really helps û I ve had up to a 98 percent survival rate on some of my crops notes Martin Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Richard Martin 225 South Ringold St Boone Iowa 50036 ph 515 432-5147

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