macecase
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2012
- Messages
- 97
- Location
- Princeton, KS
- Tractor
- 1965 John Deere 3020 Diesel and 1975 John Deere 4630 Diesel
I purchased a John Deere 494A planter. I hooked it up to test the planting and have found it won't drop seed. Everything looks fine..... the drive chains, etc.
My first suspect would be the "hydraulic lift". I have a ratchet setup in lieu of the hydraulic cylinder. I am pulling this with a Ford 8N which doesn't have any hydraulic hookups. So, it was delivered to me in transport mode. I put this ratchet on and cranked it further up to loosen and remove the transport hookup. From there, I lowered it down to what looked like the planting position and went along.
From what I can tell, the seed plates don't spin. They seem to always be in the same position as well as the gears that would have to turn to make the plates turn.
The seed plate appears to the be the right size. I thought that if the kernel was too large, it wouldn't be able to grab the seed to drop. However, I tested that and it appears to be fine.
Any thoughts? I feel I might be missing a lever or something that engages the gears to spin the planter boxes.... Something that may have been set for transport mode. OR, maybe I don't have the ratchet released far enough?
PS: I verified that the seed drop channel is clear. The guy that sold it to me suggested I run a wire down through the channel to make sure it is clear. It was a good suggestion as two were blocked with dirt (wasp nests, probably).
My first suspect would be the "hydraulic lift". I have a ratchet setup in lieu of the hydraulic cylinder. I am pulling this with a Ford 8N which doesn't have any hydraulic hookups. So, it was delivered to me in transport mode. I put this ratchet on and cranked it further up to loosen and remove the transport hookup. From there, I lowered it down to what looked like the planting position and went along.
From what I can tell, the seed plates don't spin. They seem to always be in the same position as well as the gears that would have to turn to make the plates turn.
The seed plate appears to the be the right size. I thought that if the kernel was too large, it wouldn't be able to grab the seed to drop. However, I tested that and it appears to be fine.
Any thoughts? I feel I might be missing a lever or something that engages the gears to spin the planter boxes.... Something that may have been set for transport mode. OR, maybe I don't have the ratchet released far enough?
PS: I verified that the seed drop channel is clear. The guy that sold it to me suggested I run a wire down through the channel to make sure it is clear. It was a good suggestion as two were blocked with dirt (wasp nests, probably).
