Planters planters

[greenthumb]

anyone ever used a compact tractor to pull a small 4 row planter for corn before? would a 40 horse tractor do it?

 

[johan3400]

30 years ago I pulled a four row planter with an Allis Chalmers D15 all the time. That would be a 42 hp at 4000 pounds.I pulled a JD1240 planter and then when IH came out with the Cyclo planters I pulled a 400 cyclo. I had no problems at all. We have rolling timber ground, I traveled at 5 mph up hill and down. I would not hesitate to pull with my L3400 now, It pulls better than my D15 did. I think the problem may come if you try to put no till coulters on the planter.

 

[PineRidge]

I'm assuming you have a lot of land to plant, hence the 4 row planter. Not to start a hydro war but a 40 HP gear model would be my preference over a hydro for ground engaging equipment.

That said I own a 40 HP hydro. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[teddydo]

Pineridge, no war on the way here but may I simply ask why you would use a gear over a hydro pulling ground engageing equipment especially a planter? I have a 4330 with hydro and I pull my turning plows with all ease and the disk. I don't think I am ruining my tractor, I just put it in low gear. Again I simply wonder what you are basing your thinking on, maybe you know something that I don't. Only negitive thing about the hydro that I find is the expensive hyd oil and filters on a regular schedule. Thanks teddy

 

[Dargo]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Not to start a hydro war but a 40 HP gear model would be my preference over a hydro for ground engaging equipment. )</font>

The 955 Cat dozer with around 90 hp I used to own had a hydro and it never had a problem. It only used ground engaging equipment. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[PineRidge]

Guys my last tractor was a gear model and it seemed to me that it handled the plow a whole lot better than the hydro for extended use. The hydro needs to get rid of a lot of extra heat when dealing with ground engaging implements. Whenever I need to plow I throw on a short sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts and plan on losing 10 pounds sweating with the extra heat that I'll be faced with while using the hydro for any length of time.

Don't get me wrong, I do love my machine and I wouldn't go back to a clutch for love nor money but I do feel that a hydro is better suited for things like mowing, loader work and the like and that a gear model is best suited for direct ground engagement. That's my two cents worth anyway.

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

One "concern" would be the amount of time spent with a hydro tractor using a plow or such. You would easily get away with a few hours of plowing (provided you aren't trying to pull one that's way too big to begin with) Where things get dicey would be IF you would try, let's say, several days of continuous plowing. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Then you would likely see some "ill effects". /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

A few years back, I had an International Harvester Hydro 100 that I'd bought at auction, with the intent of re-selling. While I had it, we used it on the farm. It was WONDERFUL for baling hay, pulling a sprayer, and general "chore work". I ALMOST decided to keep it. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I sold it to a gentleman that finally hooked it to a 16' disc, and started working a cornfield to get it ready for planting wheat. He called in a couple days, complaining that the tractor I'd just sold him was a piece of junk. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif When I drove over to see what the problem was, I couldn't touch the tranny housing... It was red hot! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I explained to him when he bought it, that hydro's weren't "tillage tractors". He chose to ignore that. If he'd just tried to disc a few acres, maybe it would have done fine, but 120 acres KILLED it. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif