Smart Planters
Feb 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By David Hest
Row-crop planters are getting smarter and wider, and the now cover acres faster while planting more precisely.
RowCommand, a CANbus-controlled electric clutch system, is integrated into row-unit ProShaft cable drives, which it disengages when signaled by the controller. SeedStar 2 controls up to 16 sections and eliminates the need for a separate section-control device.
The list price to upgrade a Deere planter to SeedStar 2 is $1,300 for 24 rows and under, and $2,600 for wider planters. RowCommand upgrades list at $450/row.
The new front-fold Deere DB60 60-ft. split-row planter places alternating rows on long parallel arms. This places split-row units 7 in. behind the lead units to enhance residue flow. The DB60 has Central Commodity System seed handling and 47 Pro series XP row units in a 30-in./15-in. configuration. A base DB60 lists for $246,465.
Contact your local John Deere dealer, visit www.deere.com or www.freeproductinfo.net/fin, or circle 103.
Kinze
Kinze's model 3660 Twin-Line hydraulic-drive, variable-rate planter, introduced in 2008, is available with a 16-row, 30-in. spacing. It comes standard with a Kinze Vision display and air-driven row shutoff clutches.
The planter is available with individual row units or with a central fill model using Kinze's new Air Seed Delivery system. Row-unit models can be outfitted to carry up to 600 gal. of liquid fertilizer with two 300-gal. tanks.
A 3660 model with the liquid fertilizer option has a list price of $153,798, which includes the 3660 Premier Package with the EdgeVac vacuum seed-metering system, the Kinze Vision display package, and the Interplant Air Clutch package.
Kinze's updated model 3800 24-row, 30-in. planter comes standard with hydraulic drive and row shutoff clutches that can be set up in sections as small as two rows.
Contact Kinze Mfg., Dept. FIN, Box 806, Williamsburg, IA 52361, 319/668-1300, visit www.kinze.com or www.free productinfo.net/fin, or circle 104.
White
White's 16- and 24-row 8800 series front-fold narrow-transport planters will be more widely available in 2009. The new frame design slimmed down the planters' transport widths to fit within the 12-ft. span of tractor duals. Planters are available with ground or hydraulic drives and with individual seed hoppers or a 90-bu. central fill option.
As with other 12-row and larger White planters, these planters feature ISOBUS controllers that allow the tractor monitor to operate planter functions. The exception is controlling row shutoffs. An ISOBUS standard for controlling sections has not been set at this point, so a separate section-control device is required for this feature, says Ben Craker of AGCO's Advanced Technology Solutions group.
Contact AGCO, Dept. FIN, 4205 River Green Pkwy., Duluth, GA 30096, 800/767-3221, visit www.whiteplanter.agcocorp.com or www.freeproductinfo.net/fin, or circle 105.
PLANTER CONVERSIONS
AS THE percentage of hydraulic drives on new planters continues to grow, Trimble Navigation is targeting the large number of existing ground-driven planters for conversion to variable-rate hydraulic drives.
Trimble calls its conversion package the Tru Application Control system. It uses technology from Trimble and Dickey-john. The package also often includes installation of row shutoff clutches from TruCount, which Trimble purchased in 2008. Eventually, Trimble plans to integrate the Rawson Accu-Rate variable-rate controller. Trimble acquired the assets of Rawson Control Systems in late 2008.
The cost of converting from ground to hydraulic variable-rate drive typically ranges from $375 to $550/row, says Randy Wulf, a regional sales manager for Trimble. Those prices assume the grower already owns a Trimble Field Manager display, which handles planter monitoring and control functions, Wulf says. All major planter brands are targets for conversion.
A typical conversion includes replacing the ground drive with one or more constant-flow hydraulic motors as required by the planter configuration, a four-channel control harness and an on-planter computer/controller that can control up to four products.
This allows the Field Manager display to control and monitor applications of up to four combinations of seed, fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides and row shutoff clutches.
With well over half of planters ground-driven, the potential for conversion is substantial, says Micah Eidem, a Trimble field sales engineer. “When seed corn cost $100 a bag, there was less need to be accurate.”
Wulf notes that variable-rate hydraulic drives, when coupled with sophisticated controllers and GPS, offer the potential to prescription plant based on productivity maps. For growers not ready to take that step, variable-rate planters make changing populations more practical between fields and in areas within fields with historic high or low productivity.
For more information, contact Trimble Navigation Ltd., Agriculture Business Area, Dept. FIN, 9290 Bond St., Suite 102, Overland Park, KS 66214, 800/865-7438, visit www.trimble.com/agriculture or www.freeproductinfo.net/fin, or circle 106.
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