"Your readers might be interested in the 10-row, 21 1/2-in. planter I built from scratch in my farm shop," says Harvey Friedrich, Rodney, Ont.

"The triple frame consists of 5 by 7 and 7 by 7-in. heavy-walled square tubing. The front bar carries a 650-gal. liquid N tank and also an independent hydraulic-controlled coulter toolbar with three Till-Tech coulters per row.

"The middle bar carries the dry fertilizer boxes, which were narrowed up 6 in. to be centered between rows. The center bar is also fitted with transport wheels from a Deere 7000 planter.

"The back bar carries the 10 row units, the three transmissions, and the four driving wheels. One transmission drives the liquid pump, another the dry fertilizer, and the third drives the planter units.

"A small hydraulic cylinder lifts one of the driven wheels off the driver wheel and the differential consists of an over-running clutch hub, which I machined out of a block of steel and runs in an oil bath.

"I mounted a small stainless steel tank on the tongue which contains a dye solution. An electric pump controlled by a push-button control lets me spray a 3-ft. burst of dye to mark each pass.

"The first of the three coulters up front is directly in front of the row unit. The second coulter loosens soil in front of the dry fertilizer openers, which are now single bladed. Depth control on the dry fertilizer openers is controlled by an ordinary cultivator gauge wheel. The third coulter is approximately 5 in. off center and it applies all of the 28%. I use a Red Ball monitor on the 28% nitrogen lines.

"I harvest corn 8 rows at a time. The 21 1/2-in. row width eliminated any frame modifications to my existing 6-row, 30-in. cornhead. I simply added two row units and dividers.

"The planter took about 9 months of spare time to build, weighs 9 to 10 tons loaded, which puts about 1 1/4 tons of load on each tire when raised and about 1 ton on the drawbar."