Old planter hiding in the briars???

[flusher]

I removed one of the planting units from this 4 row planter. It is a pull type, with another bar out front with coulters that open the soil. I assume this means it is a "no till"? I also assume I can forget about that section and simply mount this unit on another bar and add 3 pt. attachment hookups. THat would be fairly simple. Does that make sense?

I also need to look at each unit, but I probably will make a 2 or 3 row out of this. Pulling it with a 70 horse Kubota, which would be better? What is the normal spacing used for corn or soybeans? This will be for food plots. Most plots are fairly small, under 1 acre.

I think this is in pretty good condition. When I turn the wheel, everything moves. The seed plate looks new. It just needs a good cleaning up. I probably will go ahead an sandblast it, but I expect it would work as is. What should I replace? The springs are shot, and the coulters are a little worn. Overall, it's just rusty. I will start breaking it down. So here is what I have now. What seed plate is this? Are others available? Are parts available and where?

Coulters: not necessarily a no-till. My JD 71 two-row planter has coulters but definitely is NOT no-till. You need powerful springs on those coulters to get no-till operation.

70 hp? You could handle a 10-row planter with that tractor . I'd go with 3 a three-planter setup.

One rusty sheet metal, I'd use Gempler's rust convertor. Works like a charm and eliminates the need to remove the rust by sanding/grit blasting.

Gempler's Rust Converter Success Stories | Gempler's

 

[jimgerken]

Electrolysis used in this thread, start reading carefully at post #5...
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/182656-restoring-couple-jd-71-planter.html

 

[BrianR]

I made my own seed cans on a JD 290 that I restored a few years ago. Just bend some 20 gauge steel sheet around a gas cylinder (argon, co2, etc) and then weld it along the edge. Best to overlap it by 3/4" and spot weld it using Mig welder. Then roll a bead along the top of the can using a 3/8" bead roller. Obviously, you will need a welder and bead roller or at least know someone who does.

I would definitely consider that AC planter worth grabbing.

 

[HCJtractor]

Thanks. That looks nice!! I am still working on it. This project may have to wait until after hunting season, but I am slowly progressing.

 

[flusher]

I made my own seed cans on a JD 290 that I restored a few years ago. Just bend some 20 gauge steel sheet around a gas cylinder (argon, co2, etc) and then weld it along the edge. Best to overlap it by 3/4" and spot weld it using Mig welder. Then roll a bead along the top of the can using a 3/8" bead roller. Obviously, you will need a welder and bead roller or at least know someone who does.

I would definitely consider that AC planter worth grabbing.

Neato--good job:thumbsup:

 

[BrianR]

I used electrolytic rust removal on my 290 planter, pulleys, chains, etc. I used a 5 gallon bucket, with water, and half a box of baking soda. You basically use a 12 volt car battery charger on 5 amp charge and put the black or - terminal on your part you want to clean, and put a sacrificial peice of steel on the red or + terminal of the battery charger and then turn the battery charger on.

Needless to say, in electrolysis, you will be creating hydrogen gas, so do not operate this in a confined space. You will need some degree of non-electrical ventilation.

Do not use stainless steel as the sacraficial anode as it releases toxic fumes.

Link:

Stovebolt Tech Tip -- Antique Chevy / GMC Truck Restoration Help

 

[HCJtractor]

Brian, I hope my hoppers are salvageable, but just in case, what type of business has a beading tool? I have a good mig welder, but have never seen a bead made. Pretty cool. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[rambler]

Set the rows up at 30 inches - that is very common for both corn and soybeans. If you ever want to pick corn, not just food plots, match the planter to what your picker/combine is. Old was 38 inches, more modern is 30 inches. Best to make your planter bar able to handle different configurations, just move the planter units on the bar.

It is uncommon to have an odd number of rows for 30 or 38 inch rows. It is difficult to straddle the rows, and it is best - by far for corn for sure - to plant on fresh ground, not in the wheel tracks. It is easy to straddle 2 rows, harder to straddle 3 with a small or medium tractor. The real small tractors can straddle one row I would suppose.

Your 70 hp tractor could easily pull an 8 row planter, anyhow a 6 notill full fertilizer planter for sure, so keeping it at 4 row would be no problem at all. Takes 10 hp per row or less.

--->Paul

 

[Bartcephus]

Eastman tools has a bead roller as does Harbor Freight (Fright) tools. Metal working shops use them as well as automobile restoration. You can look either up on the respective vendor's web pages.

 

[jimgerken]

I made my own seed cans on a JD 290 that I restored a few years ago. Just bend some 20 gauge steel sheet around a gas cylinder (argon, co2, etc) and then weld it along the edge. Best to overlap it by 3/4" and spot weld it using Mig welder. Then roll a bead along the top of the can using a 3/8" bead roller. Obviously, you will need a welder and bead roller or at least know someone who does.

I would definitely consider that AC planter worth grabbing.

Brian, NICE seed tank!!! Did you also come up with a cover for it?