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Illinois | I've run a 12/23 2600 planter for no-tilling beans into corn stalks for many years. It is equipped with factory no-till coulters and rubber closing wheels.
I added a used 16/31 3600 model this year and ran them together on the same farms. That planter is equipped with one spiked Martin closing wheel and one rubber one. It also has seed firmers and Yetter coulters. I was excited about this set up, especially when running it, because the one spiked closer seems to do a beautiful job in the heavy stalks.
The stand difference behind the 2 planters is amazingly different, with the old 2600 being by far the best. Some of the beans behind the 3600 didn't even emerge. Where the stand is similar, they are at least 2-3 days "behind" those planted with the 2600.
My theory is that the combination of the heavy planter, heavy tractor pulling it, aggressive spiked closer exposing soil that crusts, and the seed firmers, all came together to create a less than ideal situation. I also ran the closing wheel springs on notch #2 on both planters, like I always have in no-till. Maybe that was too much on the 3600 with the heavy spiked closers.
What are your experiences or thoughts? Should I ditch the firmers? I've never run them before and don't know anything about them. Forget the spiked closers too? | |
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Huge performance difference between 2 Kinze planters/ closing wheels
