Row Spacing & Planter/Cultivator Set up

e.myers · Mar 20, 2013

Considering purchasing a one or two row planter to use for planting field corn etc., but I have never used a tractor for planting.
I think my tire centers are currently set at 51.2" based on my measurements (center of rear tire to center of rear tire) and the manual.
This comes out to 38" between tires, which matches the front between tires (which are not adjustable). I THINK my preference is for 36" row centers, but would not be opposed to 30" or 38", or some sort of twin row configuration. +/-. According to the manual, the max distance the rear centers can go is 60.8" BUT since the front centers cannot be adjusted, that would put the front tires rolling over things that the back tires are not.

So, I'm having trouble figuring this out. Seems like it makes the most sense to leave the tires where they are because in the current configuration, the front and back tire insides line up with each other +/-.

So, what are my options here? Not opposed to a single row planter (I think I would actually prefer it for my small scale) if that could make sense some how.

Any ideas? Suggestions?

Wyobuckaroo · Mar 20, 2013

I think it depends also on what crop you are planting. If it is something that will grow low and you will be doing one or more cultivating passes with your tractor, then you would want the front and rear wheels centered on one another and work with the width available there.

I have a row hilling implement I can configure for 1 hill or 2 hills per pass. With the 2 hill setting they are to close together to power cultivate, but just fine for hand cultivation and irrigation. Also more plants per acre.

Also my tractor doesn't set high enough to be well suited to power cultivating.....
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Single row planter = 1/2 the problems a 2 row planter will give you. But more seat time. Then as you say, it is a small scale thing....

Good luck

e.myers · Mar 20, 2013

Thanks for the response. I'm not opposed to hand cultivating/rotary tilling.... it's all I know right now, but options are nice.
Is the row hilling implement also a planter? Could you explain a little about how it works/the idea behind it? What are the row centers? How wide are the rows?

On my tractor if I were to set it up for 30 inch row centers, I would have about 3.5" between the tires and the plants. I'm thinking this is too close to cultivate, but technically I guess the cultivators could be directly behind the tires anyway, thus 3.5" plus away from the plants. Don't know anything about cultivator set up.... is this the problem you're running into?

How does this power cultivating thing work. I know how it works with a rototiller, but I'm thinking that with a true cultivator, you're not going to get near the same weed kill. Aren't you basically just uprooting/severing the weed roots?

I'm ok with the seat time vs the maintenance. I've long since gotten over having fun turning wrenches!

tony Cecil · Mar 20, 2013

If you are doing hundreds of acres, the row spacing is important....I gather you are just going to plant a little....if you figure out how far you can space the rows, then use your cultivator to make the bed, come back on the bed with the same tractor with the planter...then follow that with your sprayer with herbicide , hope for rain and a stand, the take your cultivator ,after a few weeks,and the plant being say five inches high, cultivate it with your speed constant..The cultivator should throw a little dirt up under the corn plant, or very close to it...After the plant is up about a foot and three quarters, then you would side dress it with liquid nitrogen..the sprayer would be equipped with drop nozzles.....If it is just sweet corn, incorporate the fertilizer when you are bedding up, and skip that last part....Tony

6011Artist · Mar 21, 2013

I am a basically self taught farmer/gardner. Never did it for a living or on a big scale. I had 2 tractors and bought the old guy's house next door that had a really nice garden spot so I went for it.

After talking to a much older cousin that had done some farming on 50 acres with a Super A Farmall, he told me a good bit but also said cultivating is something nobody can really teach you, you got to learn it on your own. But I did learn from him that speed and having your inside sweeps "throwing dirt" to your plants is important. If you plow close enough to cut out the grass n weeds, you plow close enough to take out your plants also.

To lay my rows off I basically built a 1 row "layoff plow" as I call it. It plows 1 row at a time. After I lay off the first row, I then turn around to do the next row letting my tractor tires run in the same track as my last row. (just 1 side) So my tire track from the last row is also my row marker for my next row. I'm using a small Yanmar 2200 so I'm guessing my rows are somewhere in the 48" width. But it does give me sufficient row spacing to get back in there to cultivate. After my plants get too big to run over with the tractor, too tall or too wide, I then have to resort to a small tiller but tractoring sure beats tilling or hand hoeing.

As my plants grow I can take my C-tine cultivator and easily keep the grass n weeds out. I built mine and have the two sides mounted seperately on a tool bar. I can easily slide each side out or in, according to how close I need to get and widening the sides out as my plants grow. I'd hate to think I had only 3.5 inches play or clearance between my plants and tires. As they grow they get wider, I'd be driving over top of them. And we all know you won't hold it straight every time. Maybe a seasoned guy will but like you, I'm still in the learning curve.

Some of you older hands might have a totally different way of doing this but like I said, I basically taught myself. It might not be the right way but this way works. Mr Meyers, maybe reading this, you might have picked up a few ideas that you can use and go with. Thats basically all I had to get started on.

wcampbell47 · Mar 21, 2013

The OP also started a thread about L4400 row spacing so I am guessing his tractor is an L4400. Not exactly a row crop tractor. I have not been very successful in cultivating my garden by tractor as it does not have the clearance a good row crop tractor would have. I must say it has been over 50 years since I cultivated with a tractor.

Currently I use a disc hilller to form the rows. At the end of a run I turn around and run the opposite direction with only a tire width separating my rows. This is all in prep for hand planting and hand tilling, one row at a time. This is just about right for cultivating the furrow with a small tiller. I don't see why a similar setup would not work for a one row planter.

6011Artist · Mar 21, 2013

My Yanmar isn't the best row crop tractor either but I do cultivate with it until my plants get too tall. I can run thru my little garden in 20 minutes with my tractor vs hrs any other way.

My first year I planted squash n zuccini on the ends of seperate rows. They bush out more. It wasn't long before I could't pass over them. I learned to plant all those bushy plants in the same row and I make it wider. Also learned to plant cukes and build a trellis for them to climb. Makes it a lot easier to keep the grass out.

6011Artist · Mar 21, 2013

While talking about planters, I have an old Cole mule drawn planter with all the plates. I've seen them converted to be a 1 row tractor planter and they seem to work great. Just have a steel mule pulling it. If you could run across one of those on the cheap it makes a good 1 row rig.

I have one of those small push garden planters. It works so good I've never rigged the old cole. Wouldn't use it for large fields but for a small garden it's hard to beat.

blueriver · Mar 21, 2013

If your tires are 51.2 O.C. ... divide that in half or 25.60 would be your row spacing. That way your tires will run down the row centers.

vtsnowedin · Mar 21, 2013

On food plots and small gardens it doesn't matter but if your going to have it chopped of picked by more then a one row machine then the rows need to match the harvesting head. From what I have seen 30 " is the most common spacing for field corn today. Two rows 30" apart should fit between the inside of your tires without any over tracking.

e.myers · Mar 21, 2013

Looks like I have some options, although none are ideal.
Blueriver- so it's that simple... divide wheel centers by 2 and that's the optimum row spacing. My guess is that's going to be too tight. Might could consider it for my irrigated plots I suppose. Any thoughts on that spacing for corn? If I set my between row spacing at 25.60 I guess I could adjust my in row spacing to something farther apart to effectively end up with the same plant footprint as 30 inch centers.

Or, maybe I could twin row the corn. Have two rows very close together with a larger alleyway between. Anyone know of optimal spacing for this and/or if it could work/why I wouldn't want to do it. Seems like I could at least set up a cultivator relatively easily to work with whatever twin row spacing I come up with. If I were to set up for twin row, what is the closest distance I could get away with between the twins and still be able to cultivate between them?

Anyone know if 2 planters on a tool bar could be set for say 25"? Meaning, I'm sure there is some limit as to how close together you can put the planters together. Is there a magic minimum distance?

Artist- I'm right around the corner from you. Just outside of Bishopville. In the grand scheme of things, I'll only be planting max 2 acres of anything that needs to be planted. Right now I'm comfortable with "sticking" and transplanting ballpark 1/4 acre. Tried the earthway push planter last year for southern peas and went back to sticking it. Too much multilple seeds and skips. Part of my problem was I didn't prepare the soil good enough ahead of time though. Will probably try again this year. Seeing as you have good luck with it, only makes sense that I give it another try.

Wcambpell- I've been trying to make up my mind if I'm a complete idiot for breaking out my hand tiller when I've got a full size tiller and can buy a tractor drawn planter and cultivator to go behind my tractor, but for my 150' rows of my market garden at least, tilling, hand poking seed, and dropping in transplants, I'm just not sure it doesn't make the most sense. I have a wife and 2 boys that I can sometimes rope into helping so, it's just really not that bad. I like the idea of being able to twin row my lettuce and not twin row other crops. And now that I've moved off of trying to go to 30" centers to cram more stuff in there, I can come back later with my rototiller between the rows to clean things up. Also have been experimenting with allowing clover to grow between the tilled areas (row middles) this year. Once my plants start taking off and the clover gets out of control, I should be able to handle it ok with the tiller I hope, without too much moisture competition. The main reason I'm looking at tractor implements is for corn and okra. Planted about 1/4 acre okra with a stick last year, and although it was certainly manageable, it did seem a little tedious at times. Wondering how much I'm going to enjoy hand sticking that much okra plus twice that amount of corn in the next couple weeks..... Problem is, while I know it doesn't take that much time changing out tractor implements, that is not a lot of fun either. Just weighing my options here. BTW, since you have experience with both, how effective is cultivating with a tractor & a hoe vs cultivating with a rototiller & a hoe?

Tony cecil-
Sounds like you have your system down. So you don't put down any preplant fertilizer for your field corn (or do you just broadcast before making the beds) and wait till it's up to almost 2 feet before adding fertilizer? How many weeks +/-?. I don't think getting my crops planted on 30" centers is my problem anymore. It's more a problem of how to cultivate later after I get it planted without running over my crops. I'd be interested in your thoughts on my questions below about twin rowing corn.

vtsnowedin- 30" will fit for planting but will be very tight for cultivating later (about 4" between tire and seed/plant).

Reyer Farms · Mar 21, 2013

E.myers- it is tricky but possible. You ask about twin row. Last year I experimented by building a bed (row) with my bedding machine without laying plastic. Then I planted twin rows on the 32" bed with a earth way push planted. I wanted to see how it grew for future planning. The crop did fantastic. Some of the best corn we had. I did hand weed it. My plan was to build the bed, plant corn with a yetter planter on a tool bar ( they can run very narrow spaced w/ their tight design), cultivate with a raised bed shaper cultivator ( buckeye tractor design), and after harvest mow the bed for fall crops plastic. Always experimenting, there are no rules! Have fun.

6011Artist · Mar 22, 2013

Emeyers, I hadn't noticed your location, Howdy neighbor!.

My planter does good but I'm only planting a few 40' rows. If your goal is 150' rows on 2 acres, yes, you need to figure it out and do it with the tractor. And if you are pushing a push plow while the tractor rests...yes...you might be a lil crazy...lol.

For what you talk of doing I think a spring tine cultivator would be your best bet. On the angle iron frame you've got a series of holes and you can move your plows to whatever configuration you need. But think of this in your planning. To be able to tractor cultivate it will cost you some planting space. If doing it by hand, you can plant closer together. Another thing to think of. You said you hate changing out your implements. If you single row some of your crop and double row other parts, unless you buy double equipment you'll have to constantly change your spacing on your planter and cultivator. Now that is a lot of work to me. I'd decide which way I wanted to do it and do it all the same.

You said you'd start out with 1/4 acre and work up to two acres. Go ahead and plan on planting that 1/4 acre on 1/2 acre and work it with your tractor. It will give you a lot more fishing time and you'll be less tired too.

Do you weld? If so, I built all my plowing and cultivating equipment. It works great and I have no plans of buying expensive factory made equipment. You're close enough to me I can show you mine if you are interested. My c-tine cultivator adjusts out or in with just the turn of a couple of bolts. Never seen one like it and wouldn't trade it for anything I've seen on the market.

vtsnowedin · Mar 22, 2013

e.myers said:
Looks like I have some options, although none are ideal.
...snip.....
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vtsnowedin- 30" will fit for planting but will be very tight for cultivating later (about 4" between tire and seed/plant).

If your L4400 is 4WD then the front tread can't be adjusted according to tractor data.com but the rear can be set to 60.5 inches. That would center the rears in the middle of 30" rows and the front 45.5" tread minus the six inch tire width would give you that 4.5 inch clearance on just the fronts which you can see while steering. That should work well if you cultivate when the corn is less then a foot high.

blueriver · Mar 22, 2013

I plant with two tractors ... both are set with 60" center to center on the rear wheels and I plant 30" rows ... works for me. One runs a 2 row for the garden and the other a 6 row for the fields.

super55 · Mar 22, 2013

Planting corn at 30" rows has always been a farming standard typically. I don't know if it was because of the width of tractors or the pickers or what but you buy any old two row planter or cultivator it's usually set up at 30". If planter or cultivator is on a tool bar than you can really adjust to any width you like. I have heard of people planting corn at 18" spacing but never cultivate at that width with a tractor. The people I knew were using RR corn. I plant about 1 1/2 acres of corn with an old JD 290 corn planter and have a two row cultivator for weeding and it is set up for 30" rows. It definitely pays to take your time and set up some type of row marker for the way back. I can see why the old Allis Chalmers and Farmall Cubs had mid-mount cultivators because trying to keep the tractor straight and while keeping an eye on a three point cultivator is an art in itself.