Home-Built Implements Get Corn & Soybeans Planted Fast

Home-Built Implements Get Corn & Soybeans Planted Fast DISKS Disks (58D) 17-5-7 Leslie Johnston and sons Danny and Doyle run a large hog operation in addition to their corn and soybean cropland so, when it comes to planting, their goal is get the job done as fast and efficiently as possible without sacrificing quality. They've built three pieces of equipment which they say help get planting done quickly and right. They put on chemicals in the spring with a tandem offset disk with a boom mounted on front of it. To carry chemicals, they reworked a cart that was originally designed as a pusher cart for the front of the tractor. They turned it around and attached it to the back of the disk with rigid steel tubing. The cart is fitted with four wheels, two on each caster mount. They follow almost immediately be-hind the disk with either their Deere planter (if they're planting corn) or their grain drill (when planting beans). The Johnstons modified their planter by mounting home-built rolling baskets across the full length of the front of the planter. The baskets, fitted to a heavy steel frame that allows as much down pressure as the planter can apply, are made with heavy steel rods that work up the soil, break up clods, and leave a well-groomed seedbed. Fitted with heavy-duty down springs, each basket covers the area ahead of two planter row units so they adapt to varying terrain. The rolling baskets are aggressive enough to wipe out wheel tracks from the tractor pulling the planter and those tracks left by the chemical cart behind the disk. On their bean drill, the Johnstons made a tillage caddy with four rows of S-tines and rolling baskets just ahead of the drill, which is mounted on back. Built from scratch, the drill caddy has a parallel linkage lift system that keeps the cultivator level as it's raised and lowered to prevent gouging. The main frame of the cultivator is made from heavy I-beam with cross pieces for each gang made out of 2-in. square tubing. Short lengths of chain raise and lower the cultivator while two pivoting rods on each side of the cultivator hold the unit level. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leslie Johnston, Mason, Ill. 62443 (ph 618 238-4318).

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