Rebuilt IH Planter Uses Kinze Brush Meters

Rebuilt IH Planter Uses Kinze Brush Meters PLANTERS Planters 21-1-3 "It allows me to plant faster with more ac-curate seed spacing and population control," says Paul Downie, Rodney, Ontario, who removed the seed boxes and plate units from his 10-year-old International 800 6-row conventional planter and replaced them with new boxes that allow him to use either Kinze brush metering units (to plant beans) or rebuilt Deere finger pickup units (to plant corn). Downie removed the original seed boxes and replaced them with new after-market boxes that he bought from a local dealer. He stripped off the top of the plate drive system to accommodate the brush metering units and finger pickup units. He also fabricated new seed box mounting brackets and seed tubes. The boxes were designed to mount 6 to 8 in. farther back so he had to lengthen the drive chain off the planter's main driveshaft. The planter still has its original parallel linkage, depth wheels, shoes, press wheels, and is also equipped with Dawn trash wheels. "I liked the planter's depth control and seed placement but not the plate-type metering system because it wasn't very accurate, especially in soybeans," says Downie. "When I bought the planter 10 years ago I could plant knowing that all the seed in the bag was exactly the same size. However, seed grading has gotten worse. If I used a plate to accommodate the biggest seed in the bag I got doubles, and if I used a smaller plate I got skips. As a result I was never sure how many seeds I was actually planting. Also, whenever I changed varieties I had to spend a lot of time emptying out the boxes and switching plates. I think I had every plate that the company made. "The brush metering units are foolproof. They let me set the planter to plant at exactly the desired population regardless of seed size. I change seed population by changing the sprocket size at the end of the driveshaft. The driveshaft chain-drives the brush metering units just like it did the plates. The brush metering units let me plant at about 5 mph vs. 4 mph with the plates. I also reconditioned the planter drive system so it now drives much easier. "I used it last year to plant about 400 acres of corn and 100 acres of beans and it worked great. My total cost was about $3,000. I paid $160 apiece for the Kinze brush metering units and $150 apiece for rebuilt Deere finger pickup units. Once I had all the parts gathered and seed box mounting brackets and seed tubes manufactured, it took about two days to assemble. I think the same idea would probably work on any plate planter. Because the seed boxes are mounted farther back they're easier to fill and the weight helps the openers penetrate better. "The hardest part was building the frames and seed tubes. I used sheet metal to make the frames. I had them sheared into left and right halves by a local fabricator, then welded them together and bolted them onto the planter's original parallel linkage. I also painted them black. The original seed tubes were made out of plastic and were too long for the new boxes. I couldn't simply shorten them because they wouldn't have been shaped right at the top to fit properly around the finger pickup units. I used lengths of 1 by 2 in. steel tubing to make new tubes and flared them out at the top. I wanted to continue to use my seed monitor so I drilled a hole on each side of the tube where I mounted the electric sensors for the monitor." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Downie, Rt. 1, Rodney, Ontario, Canada N0L 2C0 (ph 519 785-2300).

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