Twin Rows Made Simple With Conversion Kit

Twin Rows Made Simple With Conversion Kit CROPS Miscellaneous Illinois farmer Mark Burrow wanted to grow twin-row corn and soybeans but the cost of buying a special twin-row planter was difficult to justify After a few months of winter work in his farm shop in 2010 he came up with a more economical solution Burrow’s conversion kit turned his Deere 1790 12/24-row interplant machine into a 30-in twin-row planter “I didn’t have to make any modifications to the planter frame or the row units ” Burrow says “Basically I made adapter brackets that moved the trailing interplant units from 15 in on center to just a 7 5 in offset from the main rows ” Even with the modification the rear row units can be raised so the machine can plant 30-in rows He planted both corn and soybeans the first year and was very satisfied with the results Burrow increased his corn population by 15 to 20 percent and reduced his beans by about 15 percent from what he planted previously In the process he achieved better plant spacing Instead of 5 to 6-in corn spacing in 30-in rows the plants were 10 to 12 in apart in the twin rows He harvested the crop with his 608C Deere corn head equipped with stalk stompers Even with the 7 5-in distance between the twin rows the corn harvested well at 5 to 5 5 mph field speed In addition to the adapter brackets for his conversion Burrow’s setup required a longer flex drive cable for each rear row wiring harness extensions a warning light extension bracket and a different vac plate and hose fitting He uses a 14-tooth sprocket on the ground drive planter to deliver the desired population Burrow made a few modifications on his machine after the first season then he traded 1790 planters and put the kit on his new 16/32 planter Word spread about his setup and in the past two years he has sold 10 kits around Illinois and other states About half of those he’s installed himself and the others were done by the farmers purchasing them Most are going on 16/32 row machines with a few slated for 12/24 row models “Making the conversion on a 16/32 planter takes about 24 man hours ” Burrow says “If there’s 3 or 4 people doing the work a planter can easily be set up in one day ” Burrow has orders from farmers in Iowa Kansas Nebraska and Wisconsin for 2014 delivery The 12-row kit sells for $9 000 and the 16-row model is $10 000 All materials are shipped in a single crate including a special 3-position crossbar that centers the planter hitch for 30-in twin row or 15-in row spacings “Using the 3P Crossbar lets the operator avoid the awkward and difficult job of jacking up the planter hitch removing the pivot bolt and re-positioning the crossbar ” says Burrow “With my crossbar you simply place the planter on its jack stands then hook up the tractor’s quick hitch connectors in the new location Decals on the crossbar identify each row spacing “With more emphasis on higher population to get higher yields I think twin row spacing is a good route to go ” says Burrow “Plants have more room to expand their root systems take up nutrients placed in the row and get more sunlight On our farm we’re getting a 5 to 10 bushel yield bump on twin row corn and a 4 bushel bump on soybeans In a good year it might be more but we definitely haven’t taken a loss yet in poor conditions Fields look very good in 2013 ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Burrow Farms 11221 N 100 St Altamont Ill 62411 ph 618 483-5598; cell 618 553-7063; www ezoffset com

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