Planters Planter question....(Indydirtfarmer?)

TNhobbyfarmer · Jul 13, 2005

I found a guy around here that is making two row planters using old Allis Chalmer planter units on toolbars. The unique thing about these planters is that he is putting no till coulters on them. He is selling them like hotcakes for $400.00 each. Have any of you guys ever seen a planter like this, and if so, what are your opinions.

Indydirtfarmer......I know you like to play around.....er... I mean work making two row units out of old planters. Ever seen anything like this? I consider you the planter guru and would like your opinion. I might consider buying one since my old JD 246/247 planter didn't serve me very well this spring.

PineRidge · Jul 13, 2005

This is an old Alllis 2 row planter. Is this the same style as the one that you are looking at?

TNhobbyfarmer · Jul 13, 2005

Mike, I haven't actually seen one of these planters. There is a used equipment dealer in the area that sells these planters for the guy making them. He sells them as fast as he can get them and is waiting for his next batch to come in. I will go take a look in the next couple of weeks and post a picture whether or not I buy one.

That is a mighty nice looking planter you have. Did you restore it? It looks like a first class restoration job. Is it a "from the factory" planter or a "fabricated from parts" model? The one I will look at is a "fabricated from parts" implement. I think the thing that interests me is the no till aspect.

rswyan · Jul 14, 2005

Hey Mike,

Where are you hiding that thing at ?

I didn't see it when I was over there .....

Indydirtfarmer · Jul 14, 2005

( I found a guy around here that is making two row planters using old Allis Chalmer planter units on toolbars. The unique thing about these planters is that he is putting no till coulters on them. He is selling them like hotcakes for $400.00 each. Have any of you guys ever seen a planter like this, and if so, what are your opinions.

Indydirtfarmer......I know you like to play around.....er... I mean work making two row units out of old planters. Ever seen anything like this? I consider you the planter guru and would like your opinion. I might consider buying one since my old JD 246/247 planter didn't serve me very well this spring. )

PLAY?????? This is serious stuff man! (Or at least that's what I try to make my wife believe....)

Those A-C planters were some of the first AG planters to be successfully used as no-till units. They lend themselves quite well to that chore. I've seen a few in action (mostly years ago...)

The biggest liability to any planter attemting to no-till is getting enough down=pressure on the coulters and disc openers (or runners). In some cases, weight must be added to the planter unit. Those old A-C units are quite heavy.

I've modified a few #71 Deere units to no-till. They require adding coulters in front of the disc openers. (In some peoples eyes, that takes the planter out of the classification of no-till, and puts them in "strip-till" or "minimum till")

I'm not at all familiar with AGCO's parts situation, regarding those planters. That is why I lean towards the Deere 71's. Plenty of parts still in the system for them.

At $400, I'd say he'll sell all he can build!

Planter Guru! I like that! (But don't know if I've quite earned it yet.....)

PineRidge · Jul 14, 2005

TNhobbyfarmer yes it was necessary to do just a bit of work on the planter. Take a look at the picture and you'll see what it looked like when I found it. It turned out pretty nice when we finished with it.

Randy the planter was actually a little large for our needs so we made a deal with John and it now has a new home at his place. He used it for the first time this spring and said that he was happy with the results.

Indydirtfarmer · Jul 14, 2005

I don't have any pictures, but the A-C planter I was referring to is a much later model. They are toolbar mounted "units". That looks like a nice planeer though....You do good work!

johan3400 · Jul 14, 2005

How callous of you to paint an Allis Chalmers BLUE. Good God man! have you no feelings?? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PineRidge · Jul 14, 2005

I didn't want anyone thinking that I was going to switch to a Bota. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Besides I had NH blue left over........

ZJ_HR · Jul 15, 2005

HAHAHAHA,
that planter looks just like mine, a thousands of miles far from you. And it is made in Croatia!!!

My planter is from 1977, bought new. Still working, still good, just with some modifications made a years ago (lowering fertilizer tanks).

ZJ_HR · Jul 15, 2005

Another view ...

ZJ_HR · Jul 15, 2005

And that's a way how we add necessary additional weight - my father /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
BTW I'm driver
/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

kensfarm · Jul 15, 2005

Wow.. the fertilizer containers seem pretty large compared to the seed containers.(Compared to an old JD 2-row planter) Why is extra weight needed.. the weight of the planter itself should be good for 2-inch depth.. the ground you are planting.. looks worked up good. Though I know rocks will make the planter jump up some. Are you planting corn?

Indydirtfarmer · Jul 15, 2005

( Wow.. the fertilizer containers seem pretty large compared to the seed containers.(Compared to an old JD 2-row planter) Why is extra weight needed.. the weight of the planter itself should be good for 2-inch depth.. the ground you are planting.. looks worked up good. Though I know rocks will make the planter jump up some. Are you planting corn? )

A little confusion on my part...???? When I'm refering to weight needed, that's in no-till situations. It's hard to keep a rolling disc opener at a constant depth without adiquate weight. It's not just a matter of getting the disc opener to penetrate the soil, it's KEEPING it at that depth through hard spots.

The photos showing the planter on worked soil aren't mine. Although.... When I use my #71 planters, it's USUALLY in tilled soil. Then the issue is keeping the disc openers from running TOO DEEP. (I use "depth bands" on the disc openers to maintain that depth.)

Farwell · Jul 15, 2005

Mike,
Looks a lot like the horse drawn conversion that I spent hours and hours sitting on as a kid. We had 80 acres and generally had around 12 acres planted with corn. My job was to monitor the hoppers and shut the feeds off on turns. Never used it but we also had the wire knot trippers on a reel underneath the metal seat that I sat on. I think I have fond memories of those days.

ZJ_HR · Jul 15, 2005

As you can see from attached 3rd pic, we don't have any rocks. Originally planter had seed containers double size then it has now. Containers can accept seed up to 2 acres. That works for us, as we don't have bigger pieces of soil. We lowered it approx 8" due to slopes, and easier fertilizer filling. Each box can accept about 30 kg (65 lbs) of fertilizer.
Add weight is usuall necessary to close planted rows, and not allways.
Yes, we use that planter only for corn, and on pic is corn planting. Distance between rows is 70cm (28in). This is common distance here, and all picker and corn heads are set up for it.
Here nobody do NO TILL planting, so I don't know what equippment is necessary for that procedure.
We plow in autumn, up to now disk in spring and till.
This year we start to using tiller instead of disk, and will se results. Seems that tiller better cover residues, and not cause planter clodging.
I'm open to any suggestion to improve our way of working /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

PineRidge · Jul 15, 2005

Farwell I do believe that the Allis planter was originally designed to be pulled by a horse. It originally had a very large and heavily made eye that was on a vertical plane for attachment purposes. Who ever had it before me made the transformation to a 3 point and seemed to do a pretty decent job of it.

We would always do as others have suggested and till before using the planter. There was an adjustment that you could set the depth of the planted seed and it was pretty accurate if used in tilled soil.

The fertilizer seemed to come out a bit on the heavy side but I would rather have a bit more than to little when putting the seed in the ground.

Farwell · Jul 16, 2005

Mike,
We always tilled the soil prior to planting any of our crops. I am amazed when I look back and recall the quality of crops that we grew every year. When I left the farm I was 14 and they were starting to talk about not plowing the corn fields prior to planting. Guess the corn stalks didn't offer much to the soil when turned under. We also rotated crops every year and every fifth year we would plant clover, let the field set until we plowed the clover under and kept the field worked until the next year and then planted a crop.

Slamfire · Jul 16, 2005

You seem to be doin' alright, a full corn crib, plenty of bean poles, a fine crop of dandelions and a relative willin' to work for his dinner. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

kensfarm · Jul 18, 2005

Looks very nice!

"Seems that tiller better cover residues, and not cause planter clodging."

I found that true too.. but sometimes it's easier to till.. if the field's been run over once w/ the disc.

I use a 2-row corn planter too.. but this year we've experimented and also planted beans, pumkins, and winter squash w/ the same planter.. same spacing. We did plant the Lima beans by hand.. seeds are too fat.