|
North Central Iowa | I've got a JD 7000 finger planter. I've run this planter since 1995. It's been meticulously maintained, and I started using Precision parts about four or five years ago. I upgraded to a Dickey John 3000 monitor three years ago when the Deere monitor died. The DJ 3000 is the same as a Deere 350 according to the guys at Ag Express. Last year was my first season with the 20/20. For the first time I could tell how to adjust the brush for different seed size. In the past I just had my meters set for medium round seed and I just figured it would be close enough on the rest. Now I change brush settings every time that I change seed size. It took a few tries to get it right, but by the end of the season I could get pretty close when I filled the planter just by reading the tags as to where the brush setting needed to be. I sure wish I would have written that down! I discovered that large flat seeds don't plant well in my finger units no matter where I set the brush, but by opening it all the way up I can get acceptable results. I had a finger get stuck in the open position once, and the monitor showed that row underplanting substantially. Within 500 ft I noticed it and before I got across a half mile pass it bothered me enough to get off and investigate what was wrong. I also learned that the couplers at the fold were causing the outside three rows on each side to plant erratically. That one took a few calls to my dealer and to Precision headquarters to figure out, but after thirteen years of running this planter I've got the best stand I've ever had, and I would put it up against most newer planters for the job it does. I haven't harvested anything yet, but based on stand counts I love this monitor. If you're not willing to stop and fix things in season, it may not be for you, but it will teach you things about your planter that may suprise you. If the "picket fence stands" will translate into increased yield, it will pay for itself very quickly. | |
|
20/20 seedsense results??
