Row Skimmers For Max-Emerge Planters

Row Skimmers For Max-Emerge Planters PLANTING EQUIPMENT Accessories 8-6-26 Latest new attachment for Max-Emerge, Kinze and other planters are "skimmer" blades that bulldoze away dry clods ahead of the planter opener to allow seeds to be placed in moist soil for fast germination. "They work great for getting soybeans and corn off to a fast start when the topsoil is dry and cloddy," explains Dick Kapphahn, Wheaton, Minn., who teamed up with North Dakota farmer Charles Hardie, of Fairmount, to develop and manufacture the device. An important bonus benefit of the "skimmers", says Kapphahn, is that they help incorporate pre-emerge herbicide in the row. "On soybeans, where a preplant incorporated herbicide had been applied broadcast, you could see a virtually perfect weed-free path where the blades had traveled," Kapphahn points out. "Stirring action of the blades in the loose topsoil produced better incorporation of the herbicide and improved its effectiveness." The V-shaped blades, made with a rounded front bend, are 12 in. wide and 2 1/4 in. high. They're equipped with a welded-on pipe bracket and attach with one long bolt to the coulter bracket assembly on Max-Emerge and Kinze planters, and to similar brackets on other makes of planters. Selling price, which hadn't been firmed down when this issue went to press, is expected to be about $15 to $20 per row, says Kapphahn. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Valley View Enterprises, c/o Dick Kapphahn, Rt. 1, Box 148A, Wheaton, Minn. 56296 (ph 612 563-4125).

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