Self-Propelled Mini Planter Built From Snowblower

2021 - Volume #45, Issue #6, Page #29

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Tony Bunniss found a way to give new life to an old Deere snowblower by coupling it with an EarthWay seeder to plant his garden sweet corn. The result is a self-propelled planter that speeds up planting time without compromising accuracy.
“The snowblower was junk when I got it because the gearbox for the augers was stripped out,” Bunniss shares. “Nobody had ever greased the auger shaft.”
Bunniss used the same ratio as the EarthWay system to ensure the seed spacing wasn’t left to chance based on whether the ground wheel had traction or not. “Now, instead of pushing it and concentrating on keeping the drive wheel on the ground, I can, in theory, plant with one hand on the handle of the machine.”
Bunniss can change the planting depth by moving the long rod found in front of the hopper out of the notch it is in and inserting the pointed end into one of three holes for a range of 1/2-in. to 1 1/2-in. depth.
When using the planter, Bunniss keeps it in low gear, even though it’s capable of going much faster. Since the plate is driven by the drive mechanism of the snowblower, the speed over the ground won’t change the distance between seeds.
“I plant going slow because I want the rows as straight as possible and equal distance apart.”
He also installed a disconnect to make it possible to drive the planter to and from the field without dispersing seed. This makes it possible to load in advance and only toggle the hopper to release seeds when he’s ready to plant.
Bunniss added weight to the front wheels to keep the seed chute at the proper depth and installed dual wheels to support it. He also put a tee in the fuel line to make winterization easy.
“I put chains on the wheels so they wouldn’t spin,” he says. “If the wheels spin, it’ll dump numerous seeds without any spacing, which would just waste seed.”
And while Bunniss used precise calculations to develop a positive drive system that mimicked EarthWay’s ratio for proper seed spacing, he believes it’s possible to take a simpler route if precision is less critical.
“Actually, just mounting the EarthWay Planter on the snowblower would work fine if only planting a feedlot for deer.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tony Bunniss, Webster, Minn. (glennlee1964@gofast.am).

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Self-Propelled Mini Planter Built From Snowblower PLANTING EQUIPMENT Modifications Tony Bunniss found a way to give new life to an old Deere snowblower by coupling it with an EarthWay seeder to plant his garden sweet corn The result is a self-propelled planter that speeds up planting time without compromising accuracy “The snowblower was junk when I got it because the gearbox for the augers was stripped out ” Bunniss shares “Nobody had ever greased the auger shaft ” Bunniss used the same ratio as the EarthWay system to ensure the seed spacing wasn’t left to chance based on whether the ground wheel had traction or not “Now instead of pushing it and concentrating on keeping the drive wheel on the ground I can in theory plant with one hand on the handle of the machine ” Bunniss can change the planting depth by moving the long rod found in front of the hopper out of the notch it is in and inserting the pointed end into one of three holes for a range of 1/2-in to 1 1/2-in depth When using the planter Bunniss keeps it in low gear even though it’s capable of going much faster Since the plate is driven by the drive mechanism of the snowblower the speed over the ground won’t change the distance between seeds “I plant going slow because I want the rows as straight as possible and equal distance apart ” He also installed a disconnect to make it possible to drive the planter to and from the field without dispersing seed This makes it possible to load in advance and only toggle the hopper to release seeds when he’s ready to plant Bunniss added weight to the front wheels to keep the seed chute at the proper depth and installed dual wheels to support it He also put a tee in the fuel line to make winterization easy “I put chains on the wheels so they wouldn’t spin ” he says “If the wheels spin it’ll dump numerous seeds without any spacing which would just waste seed ” And while Bunniss used precise calculations to develop a positive drive system that mimicked EarthWay’s ratio for proper seed spacing he believes it’s possible to take a simpler route if precision is less critical “Actually just mounting the EarthWay Planter on the snowblower would work fine if only planting a feedlot for deer ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tony Bunniss Webster Minn glennlee1964@gofast am

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