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Cheap Way To Convert To No-Till
"After looking at no-till planters and drills, as well as pricey add-on attachments, I decided to try to modify my existing planter myself for no-till," says Gary Andries, Mediapolis, Iowa.
"Using a little scrap iron and parts off a plow and snowmobile, I was able to modify my 4-row 36-in. IH 400 Cyclo air plante
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Cheap Way To Convert To No-Till NO-TILL EQUIPMENT No-Till Equipment 18-1-18 "After looking at no-till planters and drills, as well as pricey add-on attachments, I decided to try to modify my existing planter myself for no-till," says Gary Andries, Mediapolis, Iowa.
"Using a little scrap iron and parts off a plow and snowmobile, I was able to modify my 4-row 36-in. IH 400 Cyclo air planter so it works as well as any expensive no-till planter or drill on the market.
"I first mounted 5/16-in. rippled plow coulters on front of the planter. Then I bolted 2-in. wide metal strips along either side of the disc openers to keep dirt from being thrown out of the seed furrow. The metal strips mount horizontal to the ground and are curved upward at the front. They're positioned about 3 in. up from the bottom of the disc openers and are held in place by brackets at either end.
"I mounted two 7 1/4-in. dia. snowmobile boggie wheels right behind the disc openers, positioned at an angle to close the furrow. I added extra down pressure weight to the planter by putting about 50 lbs. of 3/ 4-in. crushed rock in the herbicide boxes.
"This closure system worked so well I was able to no-till soybeans into green orchard grass and alfalfa with excellent furrow closure and depth control. The seed emergence was also excellent. This attachment also works well in tilled soil, providing better seed-to-soil contact, improving emergence on tilled ground, too. The problem with many of the no-till planters and add-on systems on the market is that they're so aggressive they throw dirt out of the furrow to open it up and then can't close it back up to cover the seed. My planter now does as good or a better job than any no-till planter or drill I've seen.
"The modification is as simple as it sounds and should work on other planters as well. It cost only about $200 to equip a 4-row planter, which is less than the cost to buy commercial add-on attachments for a single row from after-market manufacturers."
Andries says he'd be willing to sell de-tailed plans on his conversion if there's enough interest.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary Andries, Rt. 1, Village CT., Mediapolis, Iowa 52637 (ph 319 394-9342).
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