Wide Row Air Planter Changed To Narrow

Wide Row Air Planter Changed to Narrow PLANTERS Planters 13-3-9 "We converted our 8-row wide IH 400 air planter to a narrow-spaced 13-row planter in order to boost yields in beans," says Sandy Poppenga, Lennox, S. Dak. "When I decided to switch to narrow row equipment, I discovered that I couldn't justify the purchase of new or even used narrow-row equipment. I then started investigating the possibility of adding row units to my 400 IH planter. The local IH dealer, as well as other farmers, told me there was no way to add units between existing units. "Not convinced it couldn't be done, I started looking for ground-driven units to add to my planter. I found a toolbar with eight 386 IH ground-driven planter units. I bought it for $600. "After I got it home, I removed all of the planting units and sold the toolbar for $250. The next task was to attach five of the row units to my planter, leaving a skip row for the tractor tracks. Parallel linkage from a salvaged Cyclo planter was used to pull the units. The two outside parallel linkages had to be built L-shaped to get the planting unit behind the planter tire. The vertical linkage from the salvaged Cyclo is used to lift the add-ons when the planter is raised. The markers had to be shortened slightly and a new shorter brace arm made. Rows are 10 in. apart with a 38-in. skip. "I've used the planter for almost three years and it has worked almost flawlessly. The planter can be changed from corn to beans or from beans to corn in about 2 hrs. Total cost, including a narrow-row Danish tine cultivator, was $1,300." Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Sandy Poppenga, Rt. 3, Box 62, Lennox, S. Dak. 57039 (ph 605 647-5716).

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