This Grain Drill Is Really Tractor Mounted

This Grain Drill Is Really Tractor Mounted DRILLS Drills (42C) 6-6-35 "We built it because we couldn't buy one," says Stan Brown, who along with his father and brothers has designed a new "interseeder" that actually mounts through the center of a tractor for near perfect intercropping accuracy. To build the machine, the Browns cut a brand new 16-row, 10-ft. Great Plains drill in half, mounted one half on one side of the tractor and one half on the other side. They then added two extra rows beneath the tractor to give them 18 continuous 10-in. spaced rows. "We tried intercropping soybeans into wheat with a trailing drill but that caused nearly 20% damage to our standing crop. This year, with this design, we cut damage to around 5% and it did a near-perfect job seeding," Stan told FARM SHOW. To mount the drill, the Browns built a frame underneath the tractor, using existing bolt holes for the most part. They say the drill can be dismounted, one half at a time, by unhooking just two pins, and then unbolting the frame. There are two hydraulic cylinders, one on each side, for lifting the drill. To minimize damage when they interseeded soybeans in wheat, which was as high as 28 in., the Browns also widened the front axle and mounted narrow 9 in. tires ù available by special order through both Goodyear and Firestone ù on the rear of the tractor. Hubs for the narrow rear wheels weren't readily available, however, and they had to weld their own onto the 9 in. wide rims. "We planted our wheat in 10 in. rows and then harvested it at the normal time around the first week in July. At harvest, the beans were about 16 in. tall and the wheat 30 in. We had to go to interseeding because we're too far north for double cropping," says Stan. Stan says their interseeder idea would work with any drill. In fact, their first prototype was a John Deere. But they prefer the Great Plains drill because the disc openers have the down pressure needed on the tractor-supported unit. They also note that the interseeder can be used for regular field seeding. The Browns, together with a local fabricator, plan to begin building units on a custom basis this winter. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Browns Interseeder, Rt. 2, Box 125A, Pierceton, Indiana 46562 (ph 219 839-5411).

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