Written By Steve Jones
Routinely, we would like to highlight some initiatives that producers have implemented to solve an issue/make things easier/more efficient. If you know someone who has built something unique, or is progressive in their thinking about a particular issue, we want to know!
In this issue we are highlighting a modified soy planter that Steve Jones of North Simcoe built.
Steve Jones’ modified soy planter
We had been planting with an older Kinze 82D corn planter with splitter units making it an 11 row, 15” planter for soybeans. As acreage grew, we were looking for ways to plant more acres in a day, while dealing with the problem of corn stalk trash close to the rootball affecting seeding depth and consistency.
A discussion with OMAFRA Soybean Specialist Horst Bohner at a Pioneer meeting had us thinking that it was the seeding depth consistency provided by the planter row unit that was the priority over the seed singulation that a planter provides, when it comes to soybeans.
We had purchased a Flexicoil 1740 air cart with 8100 30’ toolbar and 12 Kinze planter units to plant corn a few years prior. We were moving away from broadcasting fertilizer prior to no-till planting, preferring to sideband as much as we could, and apply the rest of the N at side-dress with the sprayer. The air cart gave us this capacity, and being an older unit, it didn’t break the bank.
It was then that we found a Flexicoil 8000 20’ toolbar with older Great Plains planter units that had been used for soybeans. As the toolbar wasn’t originally designed for planter units, we modified some support members to be able to mount the planter units to plant 12” apart in between the corn rows, and leaving 18” where the old corn row was. This has helped get the disc openers away from the corn stalks, and a more consistent establishment.
Close-up of modified soy planter
We mount the soybean toolbar on the air cart, and meter the soybeans through the air cart. While the in row spacing isn’t as consistent as a planter, the beans have the ability to flex and compensate to fill in the gaps. The cart can also hold about 5x the amount of seed that the smaller planter could.
We have since changed out the older planter units for some ‘newer’ Case 1200 units that are easier to find parts for, and added a seed population monitor. As the Case unit has a leading edge disc opener, we have also dropped the no-till coulters we previously used. Seeding rate is around 150,000 per acre in no-till.
Perhaps this can provide you with some inspiration.