3-Row Planter Built "On The Cheap"

3-Row Planter Built On The Cheap PLANTERS When Gerald Stutzman of Hardinsburg Ind moved from the city to a 40-acre farm he didn’t have a planter So he built one out of a 4-wheel truck dolly a mailbox cultivator shanks a rake and some metal pipes He pulls the unusual-looking rig behind his Ford 8N tractor “At the time I was learning on-the-go and didn’t know what was on the market or what I really needed All I knew was that I didn’t want to plant by hand ” says Stutzman The planter rides on a 4-wheeled truck dolly with three 1-in dia metal pipes attached to it at an angle The pipes are spaced 8 in apart A cultivator shank is clamped to the bottom of each pipe while the upper end extends a short distance into the mailbox He made seed tube “stoppers” out of a set of three 4-in long 1/2-in dia pvc pipes mounted on a crosspipe with a center-mounted handle All the pipes have fittings on them that fit snugly into the seed tubes To plant Stutzman reaches back as he drives grabs the handle and moves it up and down to force the seed stoppers in and out of the 1-in dia pipes As the stoppers are raised the seeds fall around the fittings and into the 1-in dia pipes Seed falls out the pipes and into the trenches made by the cultivator shanks To stop the flow of seed he shoves the stoppers all the way in “It’s not really a precise seed delivery system but it works as long as I keep moving ” says Stutzman “I used mostly junked-out materials so I spent very little to build it “I used it last year to plant 5 acres of corn 3 acres of oats and 2 acres of sunflowers The smaller the seed the faster I have to move the handle up and down as I drive Oat seeds are small so they come out very fast With larger seeds such as sunflowers I don’t have to move the handle up and down as much and I can drive faster “I made a place to store bags of seed on the tractor and when I run out of seed I just pour more in the mailbox I attached an ordinary garden rake behind the pipes to cover the seed and drag a smooth log behind to cover the seed A cement block wired down to the dolly adds weight and also helps seed tubes in the ground ” A pair of lightweight chains are used to hook the dolly onto Stutzman’s tractor He attached homemade metal brackets on front of the dolly and uses muffler clamps to attach the dolly to the tractor 3-pt ’s lower lift arms “During the winter I set the planter on a floor creeper so I can move it around inside my barn ” notes Stutzman Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gerald Stutzman 6589 E County Rd 660 S Hardinsburg Ind 47125 ph 812 472-3847; cracker070806@aol com

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