Planter-Mounted Baskets Roll Perfect Seedbed
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RowBaskets from L&B Mfg. turn a planter into a final tillage tool and improve planting, too. Rolling baskets behind a field cultivator can break up clumps in dry conditions, notes Brian Meldahl, L&B Mfg. However, they do less well in freshly tilled, wetter soils. In a worst-case scenario, they ball up with damp soil.
"Some farmers will run through the field with the field cultivator and then come back for a second pass after the soil has dried down," says Meldahl. "We mounted rolling baskets on the row units, just ahead of the openers. Air bags provide the down pressure. They eliminate that second pass and leave a perfect seedbed for planting."
Meldahl, a design engineer, and Lloyd Van Buskirk, a neighboring farmer and friend, came up with the design in 2009. They wanted a rolling basket that could be raised and lowered separately from the row units. They also wanted to be able to vary down pressure by soil type and condition.
"We didn't want it plowing into light, fluffy soil, but it needs extra down pressure on hard clumpy fields," says Meldahl. "Plus if the planter hits a wet area, we need to be able to raise the RowBasket up so it doesn't ball up with mud."
They went with proven durable air bag and compressor technology to control pressure and provide lift for the basket. Two compressor models are being offered. A manual control system is currently priced at $3,500. An in-cab control with pressure monitor is priced at $7,000. The in-cab unit lets the operator raise and lower the baskets and adjust down pressure on-the-go as conditions change in the field.
Row units are priced at $600 each. Adapters have been developed for 7 different styles of planters covering all major brands for the past 15 years.
"We bought one of every row unit going back to the mid 1990's for Deere, Case IH, Kinze and White," says Meldahl. "We are confident we can mount our RowBasket on almost any type of planter."
Over the past two years they have tested it in varying conditions, including planting soybeans following peas. It has worked as hoped, breaking up clumps, but the results have been better than expected.
"If you watch a planter unit going through a field, it's constantly bouncing," says Meldahl. "However, the planter units following our RowBaskets aren't bouncing. As a result, seed depth and spacing are more consistent and more accurate."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, L&B Mfg., 62776 265th St., Brownsdale, Minn. 55918 (ph 507 567-2254; lbmfg@myclearwave.net; www.rowbasket.com).
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Planter-Mounted Baskets Roll Perfect Seedbed PLANTERS Planters RowBaskets from L&B Mfg turn a planter into a final tillage tool and improve planting too Rolling baskets behind a field cultivator can break up clumps in dry conditions notes Brian Meldahl L&B Mfg However they do less well in freshly tilled wetter soils In a worst-case scenario they ball up with damp soil Some farmers will run through the field with the field cultivator and then come back for a second pass after the soil has dried down says Meldahl We mounted rolling baskets on the row units just ahead of the openers Air bags provide the down pressure They eliminate that second pass and leave a perfect seedbed for planting Meldahl a design engineer and Lloyd Van Buskirk a neighboring farmer and friend came up with the design in 2009 They wanted a rolling basket that could be raised and lowered separately from the row units They also wanted to be able to vary down pressure by soil type and condition We didn t want it plowing into light fluffy soil but it needs extra down pressure on hard clumpy fields says Meldahl Plus if the planter hits a wet area we need to be able to raise the RowBasket up so it doesn t ball up with mud They went with proven durable air bag and compressor technology to control pressure and provide lift for the basket Two compressor models are being offered A manual control system is currently priced at $3 500 An in-cab control with pressure monitor is priced at $7 000 The in-cab unit lets the operator raise and lower the baskets and adjust down pressure on-the-go as conditions change in the field Row units are priced at $600 each Adapters have been developed for 7 different styles of planters covering all major brands for the past 15 years We bought one of every row unit going back to the mid 1990 s for Deere Case IH Kinze and White says Meldahl We are confident we can mount our RowBasket on almost any type of planter Over the past two years they have tested it in varying conditions including planting soybeans following peas It has worked as hoped breaking up clumps but the results have been better than expected If you watch a planter unit going through a field it s constantly bouncing says Meldahl However the planter units following our RowBaskets aren t bouncing As a result seed depth and spacing are more consistent and more accurate Contact: FARM SHOW Followup L&B Mfg 62776 265th St Brownsdale Minn 55918 ph 507 567-2254; lbmfg@myclearwave net; www rowbasket com
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