Planters JD Flex 71 Planter questions

[myles57]

Hi first post

I recently acquired three JD Flex 71 Planter units and am in the process of going over them and setting them for next years corn-planting season. It appears that these planters (more specifically hoppers) were originally set up for planting beets as the steel hinged plate on the bottom of the hopper has a raised boss that the seed would pass through into the seed drop tube. I have another single unit Flex 71 "corn" planter and the bottom of the hopper just has a flat steel plate with a slot that the seed passes through.
1) Why the difference between the steel bottom plate used on a beet planter as compared to a corn planter? Is there any reason that I can't use the "beet" hopper for planting corn?

The "new" planters utilize a runner that is orientated right behind the disk openers which receives the lower end of the seed drop tube. The part number (B28953) indicates that it is designed for corn The exploded diagram in the JD parts manual is not all that clear but it appears to indicate that the drop tube setup (placement of drop tube spring/clip(s)/bracket) used to interface between the seed hopper and the "corn" runner is different than the setup used for "beets".
2) What is the correct order of parts to go on the seed tube from the bottom (runner) up?
3) What is the purpose of the spring on the drop tube?
4) Does anyone have a picture that they can post showing the correct orientation of the parts on a "corn" drop tube assembly?

Thanks in advance, Myles

 

[Briar Hill Brittanys]

Myles, you might go here John Deere - Parts Catalog . It should take you to the parts breakdown page for a 71 Flexi. Scroll down in the catalog search results box till you come to the 71. There you can look at the sectional index, and find the different seed hoppers and setups. My understanding of beet hoppers is very limited. It seems like the beet seed set-up doesn't have a knocker in the bottom. Take a look at that parts page, should help. Welcome to the forum. HTH Mark`

 

[myles57]

Thanks for the info. It appears that there is a parts listing to convert from beet to corn & vise versa. The list indicates part numbers by year. Where would I find a cross reference from the unit serial# to find the year? I have serial # 067393 on one of my units.
Thanks, Myles