They Inject Starter At Rear Of Planter

They Inject Starter at Rear of Planter PLANTING EQUIPMENT Accessories 12-3-29 "We needed a starter fertilizer attachment that wouldn't get in the way of up-front tillage equipment on our planter. There was nothing on the market so we built our own," says Don Ohlman, Central City, Neb., about the rear-mount starter fertilizer injector he designed and now manufactures. Ohlman runs ridgers on the front toolbar of his 6-row Deere Max-Emerge planter so there isn't room for conventional starter fertilizer attachments. But even if he could use them, he doesn't like the way most commercially available starter fertilizer knives works. "They plug up with trash under minimum till conditions and they tear up the seedbed. Our unit eliminates both of these problems and lets you accurately apply starter off to the side of the seed where it does the most good," says Ohlman. With the help of his son Dave, who is an engineering student at the University of Nebraska, he's worked on the attachment for three years. After trying 14 different designs, he's finally settled on a unit that easily attaches to the rear of most planters with no modification. He produced 50 units for use on neighboring farms this spring and plans to go into full production later this year. The new attachment mounts on most planter units - including Deere, Kim, and IH - that mount on a parallel linkage. It consists of a straight coulter followed by a swept-back knife. The coulter cuts through trash and the knife follows with minimal soil disturbance. Both coulter and knife can be adjusted up and down and back and forth in relation to the seed furrow. Starter fertilizer can be placed as close as 3 in. from the seed. Each unit has adjustable down springs to adapt to varying conditions. Ohlman says one of the best benefits of his fertilizer attachment is that it doesn't disturb the seedbed. "Because front-mount starter knives rip up the seedbed, you end up planting into loose soil. That makes it hard to maintain concise depth control," he says. Another benefit is that soil isn't packed behind the rear-mount starter knife. "The fertilizer doesn't get compacted under packer wheels so it spreads out more rapidly toward the row," says Ohlmar, who applies 10 to 20 gal. per acre of starter (a nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium mix). For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Donald F. Ohlman, Rt. 1, Box 80, Central City, Neb. 63826 (ph 308 946-3431).

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