Equi-Distant Planter

Equi-Distant Planter PLANTERS Planters 9-1-9 "It's the only planter ever designed that plants seeds an equal distance from neighboring seeds in every direction," says Frank Ray, Winfield, Kans., who recently patented his equi-distant planter design. Ray thinks his equi-distant planter will be ideal for soybeans and milo and other small grains and other crops planted in narrow rows. It'll particularly excel in arid areas or for double cropping where moisture use is critical, says Ray. He's building a prototype that'll plant 6-in. wide rows with seed spaced about 7 in. apart. Seed is planted by a drum with curved seed planting spokes fixed to its surface in a staggered arrangement. The powered drum, rotating faster than ground speed, deposits the seed in each spiked hole, pushing dirt to the back of the hole. A following packer wheel, rotating slower than ground speed, pushes dirt back into the hole. Drives for the planter and packer drums are interconnected to minimize overall power requirements. Seeds are dispensed from a hopper into the end of the planter drum and they're fed to each shoe by curved seed tubes inside the planter drum. "It works like a hoe. The planter shoe pulls the soil back like a hoe and drops in a seed. The packer wheel comes along and tamps it down, and packs it," explains Ray. He's already built a crude model for planting milo and has already fabricated most of the parts for his complete full-size prototype, which he plans to begin testing in late 1985. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Frank Ray, Rt. 2, Box 236, Winfield, Kan. 67156 (ph 316 221-3235).

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