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East of Broken Bow | Check the bottoms of the furrow openers for wear. There is a little gauge that came with the planter when it was new. If you didn't get one, buy or borrow one because it you aren't familiar with the planter, it isn't all that easy to tell just by looking if they need replacing.
Also, look at how the gauge wheels are attached. On our old 950, they were held in place with standard lynch pins. Great for getting one off quickly, but in no-till cornstalks, one would occasionally get pulled out by a stalk. You can either use a 'locking' lynch pin, roll pins, or small bolts with locking nuts. Trust me, it isn't fun when your trying to get some planting done, to lose a gauge wheel. The wheels are adjusted to the opener disks with shims, and if it comes off, your chances of finding the shims are about zero.
Also, corn stalks can have a tendency to get into the chain transmission (if yours uses the standard chain and sprocket population control). Case makes a highly overpriced shield that goes underneath, to keep the stalks out. If you can bend a piece of sheet metal, and weld or bolt a mounting ear onto it, you can make one yourself.
The only other thing I can really think of, is that ours planted spot on for population, and was pretty forgiving as far as settings went. However, one year it kept planting 'low' compared to where it was set. We had a pull type, and it turns out the drive clutches were getting worn, and would occasionally 'slip' a cog or two. I don't know how badly it affected yields, but we had a field or two that would have a few whole planter 'skips', usually just after we lowered the planter to the ground. Replacing the drive wheel clutches and springs fixed it. A local planter tech told me that if you are spending the money for the new clutch pieces, get the springs as well, because often the cause of the clutch slipping or wearing out was a weak spring, and the new ones were notably stronger than the old.
Lastly, be sure to spray some graphite lube where the drum seal rides every now and again, but be sure it is dry before re installing the drum. If put together wet, it can actually 'glue' the drum seal to the box, to the point of taking out the shear bolt. Don't ask me how I know.
If you got a pull type, you will need power to the hydraulic module that controls the markers and lift/lower box in order to use the planter. If power is lost, or the module goes bad, neither the planter, or the markers will want to come down (the exception to this would be the 6 row narrow or 4 row wide - with them, the frame will still go down, but not the markers).
Other than those few things, it should be pretty much like any other planter, just watch for overall wear and upkeep. | |
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bought a 955 cyclo planter and would like tips and advice
