New Planters Unveiled At Farm Progress

With harvest underway or complete throughout most of the country, it is about time to begin preparing for the 2013 crop. The Farm Progress Show features the latest equipment, technology, seed and chemicals available to producers, and evaluates products through field demonstrations. During the 2012 show, companies unveiled new planters, providing producers several options when choosing new equipment for their operations.

Planter Highlight

Case IH Twin Row Planters (825A3P, 4025A3PS, 1225A FF, 1625A FF)
Case IH presented a series of twin-row planters.  The planters have eight inches between each of the twin rows and are available on 30 inch, 36 inch, 38 inch or 40 inch centers. The 25 Series row units support an optional floating residue manager or coulter, standard seed firmers, and cast or spider closing wheels. Up to 500 pounds of pressure is provided through heavy-duty down-pressure springs to penetrate packed soil and slice through residue. Additionally, an Air-Pro® metering system uses a hydraulic fan providing positive air to meter for accuracy. The series includes four models: the 825A3P rigid-mounted planter, the 4025A3PS stack-fold planter and the 1225A FF and 1625A FF front fold planters. The planter can be used for multiple crops including: soybeans, cotton, milo and sunflowers.¹

Great Plains YP-825R:
Great Plains added a rotating 8-row planter to their Yield Pro line. The machine runs on skid-steer tires in the field, but rotates up and around for a transportation width of 11 feet, 10 inches. It is adaptable for 22 inch, 30 inch and 30 inch twin row management. Seed is gravity fed from boxes to Air-Pro meters using positive pressure from a 6 inch air-seeder hydraulic fan to place each seed uniformly.²

Horsch Maestro SW:
Horsch displayed the Maestro SW, which features a quick sowing speed up to 15 km/h (approximately 9 mph) with precise seed placement, using a “Seed on Demand” system for ease and quick filling time. The design ensures the distance between fertilizer and seed is always the same, and metering devices are electronically driven and individually switchable. Additionally, an electronic control system monitors the amount of missing and double spots, as well as the coefficient of variation per row. This planter was named the 2012 machine of the year in Europe and will be available for the 2013 planting season in the United States. It can be used for all types of grain seed and is available in 12 to 24 seed rows.³

Kinze 3140 Stack Fold Planter:
Kinze introduced a line of mounted planters available for 2013. The 3140 Stack Fold is based on a three-point, stack folding design. It features spring-loaded contact drive tires, adjustable height wheel modules, self-contained seed rate transmissions and point row clutch option capability.  The planter is available in both 12 row and 16 row models. The 12 row model offers, 30 inch, 36 inch, 38 inch and 40 inch spacing, while the 16 row features 30 inch spacing. Optional Kinze EdgeVac® vacuum or mechanical meters are available for the planter, as well as a variety of row unit and frame mounted attachments.⁴

Source: 
¹Case IH (2012). Case IH Twin Row Planters Offer Innovatice Technology. http://www.caseih.com/en_us/PressRoom/News/Pages/2012-8-21-Case_IH_Twin-Row_Planters_Offer_Innovative_Technology_FINAL.aspx
²Farm Futures (2012). New 8-Row Planter Rotates Up and Around for Narrow Transport. http://farmfutures.com/story.aspx/new-8-row-planter-rotates-around-narrow-transport-0-62037
³Horsch (2012). Maestro SW. http://www.horsch2.com/us/products/seeding-technology/single-grain-seed-drills/maestro-sw/
⁴Kinze (2012). 3140 Mounted Planter. http://www.kinze.com/products/planters/3140-rigid/3140-mounted-planter-features/

Photo Courtesy of Kinze Manufacturing: Kinze 3140 Mounted Planter
Videos Courtesy of Farm Equipment Magazine: Case IH and Horsch Planters