| Jim - 11/28/2011 23:24 the std 7000 2 outside dp springs were intended for potting soil conditions. You can ad more springs but often the 7000 frame doesnt have a lot of weight to transfer. Springs can only transfer weight, they don't create downforce.
On a 7000 unless you want to go through the whole planter this winter, you can get good results by adding dead weight to each row unit. On the order of 200 lb per row. The easiest and cheapest way to do this is to add sand or sandbags to the insecticide hopper. I have also seen cement blocks wired to each row. But use enough to make a difference. An advantage of ballast dead weight over springs on an older lighter frame planter is that some folks add so much spring they unload the drive tires causing the meters to run irratically and get a por stand because of drive wheels slipping.
Coulters take a lot of downforce to get into tHe ground. I would make sure your vee opener blades are in good shape and adjusted properly to interfere for 1.5 inch at the tightest point and use a faceplate mounted fixed not floating row cleaner and no unit mounted coulter.
the weight and row cleaner should help you get in the ground and hold consistent seed depth without bounce over clods. It can work. Good luck.
Jim at Dawn I agree w/ all of Jim's advice above. One additional comment: Adding 200 lbs of weight to each row unit is quite effective, but does put a lot more stress on the row unit subframe, and the 7000s were none-too-stout to begin with. You'll probably get by for a year or two this way, but eventually it will hasten the demise of the row units (cracking, etc). So if you truly are going to get serious about no-till (planning for success, not failure), you might want to opt for the heavier aftermarket springs and add the weight to the toolbar instead. Also, if you upgrade to the 3.5mm opener blades, don't necessarily strive for 1.5" of contact area. You cannot mash these thicker blades together as tightly as the 3 mm ones. |
thinking of going no till
