Is Your Planter Ready for Spring?

A careful preseason planter inspection is time well spent. “I always tell operators to start at the hitch pin and work backwards,” said Brad Niensteadt, senior lead product specialist at Kinze.

Follow this checklist to get your planter ready now.

 Meter Maintenance

Completely disassemble each meter, regardless of type. After cleaning, examine all the working parts for wear and tear, using the owner’s manuals as a guide.

When it comes to finger pickup-style meters, Kevin Kimberley, Successful Farming’s planter doctor, replaces certain parts, such as brushes, belts, and their idlers, yearly. With pneumatic meters, the most challenging issue is removing seed treatment from plastic parts.

Disk Openers and Depth Gauge Wheels

Sharp disk opener blades provide additional, even depth control, and thus more even emergence. Change disk opener blades when they wear down to (Most disk diameters start at 15 inches.) Niensteadt recommends replacing the disk opener blades and the inner scraper as a set any time one of the components needs replacing.

With the planter in transport position, grab depth gauge wheels and turn them to check for “operating slop, indicating worn eccentric bearings,” Kimberley advised. More than a quarter inch of free play means it’s time to replace the arm, according to Niensteadt. 

Seed Tubes

Seed tubes are often ignored because they’re so well hidden, but you need to remove tubes every year and examine them for wear. While you have the tubes out, look at them lengthwise to determine whether they are straight, as warped tubes lead to spacing problems.

Clean the eye of the monitor sensor in the tube and inspect cast guards for wear. Replace the seed tube protector.

In high-speed planters, check the brushes to ensure they are straight, and clear of dirt or other debris.

Parallel Linkage

The bushings on parallel linkage arms wear, sometimes to the point of elongating mounting holes, and their arms can bend or twist.

Evaluate linkage by grasping the row unit from behind and moving it up and down and side to side. Look for sloppy motion at the mounting points and whether the row units rise and fall at an angle. “A good rule of thumb is: If it moves more than a half inch side to side, you’ll need to replace it,” Niensteadt said.

Check down pressure springs for tension, and the fittings on air bags for leaks, using a spray bottle of soapy water. 

Closing Wheels

Closing wheels are the most often overlooked maintenance parts. “Yet, they have a huge impact on seed-to-soil contact, which greatly promotes rapid emergence,” Kimberley explained. He recommended moving the assembly up and down and side to side to check for slop, which could indicate worn components.

Spin closing disks (if equipped) and press wheels, listening for noise, which could mean worn bearings. Check the distance between closing wheels and adjust to get the correct gap, as your owner’s manual recommends.