5' Grain Drill for 6' Tractor?

Stickbo · May 16, 2015

I am going to take a look at an old grain drill that is 5' wide. But my tractor is 6'. I would be running over a bit of previously planted strips on every pass and the drill won't quite cover my tracks behind me.
I like the idea of the smaller drill for ease of transporting on a trailer, but not sure how that would work out for me. Should I pass on this one and keep looking for a little wider drill?

flusher · May 16, 2015

You can transport a grain drill up to 8 ft wide on a hitch or on a trailer without getting into trouble with the law. I'd find one at least 6 ft wide--7 or 8 ft is better.

I restored two Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drills (10 ft wide, 20 drops, single disc openers) that I bought for $275.

It's relatively easy to reduce the width of a drill like this to 7 or 8 ft.

Good luck

Stickbo · May 16, 2015

Thinking about it, I suppose I could just pull the drill with my ATV. I think it would handle a drill that size. I'll be interested to see what kind of shape it is in.

kevin37b · May 17, 2015

Actually you will see better germination in the tracks of the planted ground .

ovrszd · May 17, 2015

kevin37b said:
Actually you will see better germination in the tracks of the planted ground .

Yep, going back to the old cultipacker days.

Xfaxman · May 17, 2015

Stickbo said:
I am going to take a look at an old grain drill that is 5' wide. But my tractor is 6'. I would be running over a bit of previously planted strips on every pass and the drill won't quite cover my tracks behind me.
I like the idea of the smaller drill for ease of transporting on a trailer, but not sure how that would work out for me. Should I pass on this one and keep looking for a little wider drill?

Offset the drawbar so that the planter covers one side or the other.