One-Pass Tree Planter

One-Pass Tree Planter PLANTERS Planters 27-4-26 "It lets us plant two rows of trees 8 ft. apart and one mile long in just 30 minutes," says Dale Younker of the Hodgemore County Natural Resources Conservation Service in Jetmore, Kansas. The planter was built at Younker's request by Mike Hornung, Offerle, Kansas. "I'd built a lot of farm machines but I'd never built a tree planter," says the machine shop operator. Hornung enlisted Melvin Strecker, a farmer and neighbor, to help him build the machine. "The NRCS wanted a heavy-duty machine that would plant trees into sod, lay down a plastic subsurface drip irrigation line, and put a black plastic weed barrier over the top, all at the same time," Hornung says. He studied other tree planters, but in the end, he decided he needed a new design. The tree planter requires at least 70 hp to pull. Using it, farmers and NRCS workers have been able to plant two rows of trees 8 ft. apart and a mile long in just 30 minutes. Directly behind the tractor is a 3-pt. mounted toolbar with a spike that rips open a furrow where trees are to be planted. The drip irrigation line is inserted by the spike as it digs. Two operators facing rearward ride behind the bar to drop trees into the open furrow. Wheels on the main bar assure uniform depth of the furrow and the drip tube. On the rear of the tree planting unit are caster wheels that allow the unit to follow directly behind the tractor, even on sharp turns or while backing up. On back of the planting unit is a 3-pt. hitch and parallel linkage to which the fabric unroller is attached. A third operator rides on the fabric-laying unit to run a knife to slit the plastic around each tree. A brake on the unroller keeps the fabric tight as it unrolls onto the ground. Finally, heavy disc hillers on either side of the fabric throw soil on the edges to hold it in place. Younker says the planter, which cost about $15,000 to build, was used to set out around 3,000 trees during the first year, and another 5,000 this past spring. He hopes it will increase participation in the district's tree planting programs. "Since it's a one-pass planter, land owners will no longer have to spend a lot of time preparing the area where they're going to plant trees," he says. And, too, with the buried drip line, tree survival rate should be greatly improved. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mike Hornung, Hornung Machine Design and Repair, 110 Locust St., Box 64, Offerle, Kansas 67563 (ph 620 659-3767) or Dale Younker, NRCS District Conservationist, Box 277, Jetmore, Kansas 67854 (ph 620 357-8334).

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