Tumble Drumn Seed Mixer, Planter Filler

Tumble Drumn Seed Mixer, Planter Filler PLANTING EQUIPMENT Accessories 18-5-40 "When we're getting low on seed we just radio to the edge of the field and by the time they get to us, the seed is all treated. It takes only about five minutes to fill our 16-row planter before we're back in business," says Paul Seger of the ingenious double-duty "tumble drum" mixer he uses to treat soy-bean seed and fill planter boxes. Built for Seger by Bob Fetherston, an Atkinson, Neb.-area, innovator, the rig mixes soybean seed with innoculant. "When you mix seed and innoculant by hand, it takes at least 20 minutes. Then it seems like you only plant for five minutes before you've got to start the whole process over again," explains Fetherston. "We were looking for something faster but still gentle." The heart of the system is a converted 300-gal. fuel tank, which holds 24 to 28 bags of soybean seed, plus innoculant. Seger and Fetherston got the tank for $60, and thoroughly cleaned it out to eliminate any safety risk before Fetherston went to work on it. First, he cut out half of one end, hinged it, and then attached latches around the edge to hold it shut. Seed and innoculant is loaded in through this lid. Fetherston next cut a 6 by 8 in.-section out of the opposite end of the tank and re-attached it to serve as a hydraulically operated sliding unloading door. The tank is held in a U-shaped frame that mounts on a Deere 158 loader. The tank is held at an angle by swivels and pillow block bearings. Powered by a hydraulic orbit motor off an old grain auger, the tank rotates at 5 or 6 rpm's. The rotating action mixes the seed and innoculant. Once seed is treated, the tank is elevated and the unloading door is opened hydraulically. Seed gravity-feeds down a 9-ft. long, 6-in. dia. piece of pipe. The bottom of the pipe is fitted with a 10 in. long piece of inner tube to ensure a gentle landing for seed and to help prevent spills. When not in use, the unloading tube folds back towards the loader frame and is secured with a tarp strap. Likewise, when soybean planting is finished, the system can be removed from the tractor in a few minutes. Biggest investment in system was $60 for fuel tank."This was the first year we used it and it worked great," says Seger. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Seger, P.O. Box 99, Atkinson, Neb. 68713 (ph 402 925 5244).

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