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Driftless SW Wisconsin | Chad,
I would not worry about your parallel links running "level" that will vary as the frame height varies, which it will on any planter when going over widely varying soil surfaces. And the soil surface's ability to support the transprot tire loads will vary enormously between you "supercoultered" ground and your notill ground.
Every planter designed in the US in recent years started out on a drawing board with a horizontal ground line and the bottomof the 7x7 frame tube 20" up from that. At that point, if the soil is a perfectly hard flat surface and I believe 2" seed depth the parallel links were drawn as "level".
There was some concern about running the links near level so the down pressure springs had about the designed force. However one advantage of the airbag system is that the down pressure the airbags apply is relatively constant throughout the range of the parallel linkage vertical travel.
So forget about keeping the parallel links level. Our primary concern here is maintaining the desired and consistent SEED DEPTH both across the width of the planter on all rows and also as you go through different soil conditions from one end of the field to the other.
In your photos the coulter (which some here may not realize is NOT on the seed centerline but 2" on the far side of the seed in our Dawn 2003 Narrow row combo pictured on your 20" rows) appears to be in the middle of the three vertical holes which puts the bottom of a new blade approx 1/8" above the bottom of new vee openers on a JD planter. Your coulter is NOT too deep but right where it should be.
The generic problem we were discussing on the Bauer bars (and other brands also) and especially on the CCS version which have a large amount of weight in the center an relatively light (per foot of width) wings when the row units are on the ground, is that it is difficult to level the planter across its WIDTH in many field conditions, and especially on 20" rows and harder ground/heavy stalks.
I believe the airbags, in your case 36 of them, are all teed together so there is approx the same air pressure all the way across.
The problem usually shows up as seed on top of the ground on the OUTSIDE rows only. The operator then increases the air bag pressure trying ot PUSH the row units down. And the result is that the heavy center section row units ARE in fact forced down but the OUTER row units just lift the relatively light ends of the toolbar out of the ground more and you STILL have insufficient seed depth on the outer end rows while the center rows may be digging ditches.
The planter needs to be leveled across its width as best as possible.
Tomorrow I suggest you pull into a typical section of the field, start planting until things settle in to equilibrium and then stop.
Take a tape measure and measure from the underside of the 7x7 frame to the average soil surface inline with several seed rows across the width of the planter. The actual height measured is not that important IF it is greater than 20" and not more than about 23". If you see large differences typically the ends of the wings will be higher and the middle/center section lower.
In fact I had to work with a 1770NT 24R30" planter near Redfield the other day to adjust the frame heiight - we moved the axle bolts on 8 wheels! Many of the NT's with CCS have (or SHOULD have) the wings wheels set in different holes than the center wheels.
Deere ships them all in the same holes which looks level sitting on concrete floor but when you get to the field in softer wetter conditions as you are seeing, with full seed and refuge hoppers on the center frame the center sinks in more and viewed from the front or rear the planter frame is like a gull wing shape rather than straight across. Often the center section tires need to be mounted one hole lower (thereby raising the planter center section) tyhan the wings. Or raise the outer wing tires one hole if that is easier.
On your Bauer bar there IS some adjustment. If you look at the two large lift cylinders in the center there are two different height holes that you can mount the butt end of the cylinder in. This will have the effect of raising the center section relative to the wings when the planter is lowered. It is NOT an easy job to change. You may not need to change unless you are seeing big differences in frame height between the center and the wings .
Overall in your second picture that looks like a good job of seeding IF your seed depth is where you want it (1-3/4"??) and consistent across all rows across the planter. The row units SHOULD be all set in the same depth setting and, as another poster points out, the gage wheels should be solidly on the ground but NOT so heavily that you can't turn them with a bit of effort.
The airbag system is in my opinion a mixed blessing. One should almost NEVER EVER NEVER be running more than about 85 psi in the airbags - more than that and you might as well have welded the parallel links.
Typically you can do a good job of seeding in most conditons with 35psi in worked ground and 50-60psi in no-till.
With 36 row units on 20" when they are on the ground there is not enough frame weight per foot on the wings of the single frame DB60 to use any more than about 90 psi. Any more than that and you are just lifting the outer ends of the wings, and the more pressure above that you add the farther towards the center you start lifting. This is why your neighbor has 1200 lb or so of weights on the ends of his.
If you do NOT focus on parallel link position but instead on seed depth consistency, you will get to the true situation.
One point I bring up for comment. I was at a large customers place near Desmet, SD the other day where they were busily running a tillage tool back and forth across bean stubble and muddy soil "to dry it out" supposedly. The surface DID appear to be drier where the tool had been run. It "looked nice".
However while digging to check seed depth and spacing I noticed that there was an EXTREMELY hard soil layer just beneath the loose surface and right about at seed depth. I could barely get my pocketknife blade into this layer. Moving to several different spots it appeared to be wide spread. I don't know for sure if this hard layer was caused by the tillage tool or some other cause.
20" customers especially, in an attempt to deal with larger and largr amounts of tougher corn residue and on narrow rows with nowhere to move it as in strip till, are increasingly moving to one of various tillage tools try to manage all the residue. It may have some other unintended consequences. I have some photos from my recent trips which I will try to organize and post soon.
Overall, Chad, unless you are seeing seed depth problems I would just plant. If you are seeing some seed depth issues there are several possible causes both planter and NON-PLANTER related.
Very nice meeting with you and other NAT folks over the past couple weeks.
Sorry for the length but lots to discuss. How is your seed depth??? reducing the air bag pressure would reduce the ridges a bit but no reason to be afraid to scoot residue to the side. Problem may be that you need the air pressure to penetrate the pan below the loose stuff left by a tillage tool???
With the wet conditions we are seeing in many areas, especially yours, I think there is a good case for looking into strip till, in the fall if possible in SD, ND & MN cornstalks or heavy wheat and 30" rows. Bean stubble and any ground not stripped in the fall can usually be covered far enough ahead of planting in the spring so it will dry out for planting.
above as always is jmho.
Jim at Dawn
Edited by Jim 5/7/2006 03:55
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Anyone here run planters on Bauer Bars??? Jim you may want to jump in here as well......
