Boyden, Iowa Sioux County | I have run mounted planters for probably 30 years now, have had 8 row without lift assist, 12 row with lift assist, and now 16 row stack fold with lift assist. I have not had the planter come out of the ground on rough ground. The lower 3 point pins are to be used to "pull" the planter when it is down in planting position, I always drop the 3 point all the way and have the pins removed on the lift links so they can float. The weight of the planter is supposed to be on the drive and/or gauge wheels on the planter frame.
I would say that compared to a long tongue on a 24 row Deere the mounted planter will let you plant more accurately on the strip if you can see or sense the strip well enough and then steer accordingly.
I have flat ground and some fields with contours and terraces. I have been on ridges since about 1983 and have in the last couple of years transitioned to strip till. In order to stay on the ridge I've tried most everything through the years and the last couple years actually was doing it manually with a camera and monitor setup to watch the row unit on the ridge/strips. With strips it gets to be a challenge to see the center of the strip with all the dust and sometimes sunlight glare. I used the camera and monitor on the strip till rig also which worked better because the bean stubble is easy to see.
This Spring I started to use a Trimble AutoPilot with RTK and implement steer and would say that from what I have seen so far, it is the answer that I've been looking for since 1983. With all the other systems it was always the "sensing" of where the ridge or strip is that gave the problems. Now with the RTK the "sensing" is replaced with the GPS line generated by the AutoPilot system and with the repeatability it will be usable day or night and in very dusty conditions.
The camera system worked to the extent that you could see well enough but a day of that was very tiring.
With the implement steer the guess rows are right on even on the slope and contour with the terraces. I'm looking forward to using it on the strip till rig for the first time this Fall.
I could post some pictures of the beans contour planted with the implement steering if anyone is interested? |
Jim, others, strip till and planter configurations
