Zone-till Cart With Kinze Row Units NO-TILL EQUIPMENT No-Till Equipment 19-2-3 One of the showstoppers at the recent National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kent., was Unverferth's new "Zone-Till Cart and Planter" - a one-pass conservation-tillage planting system that combines the Rawson coulter cart with Kinze planter row units. The row units are 3-pt. mounted on a toolbar behind the cart. The new planting system is available with either 6 or 12 planting and insecticide units and is equipped with a tank and ground-driven pump for starter fertilizer. Planter units mount on a 7-in. sq. toolbar that attaches to the cart with a heavy-duty 3-pt. hitch. You can also pull trailing type planters or drills. "It's the first zone-till planting system on the market complete with liquid or dry fertilizer capability and planter row units," says Ray Rawson, inventor. "The large tires on the cart and the even weight distribution between cart and planter can handle the tank's weight without excess soil compaction. "The cart is designed so the planter row units follow exactly in the tilled zone created by the cart's coulters. We chose Kinze row units because of their simplicity and long life, as well as the accuracy of the soybean brush meter. Farmers who already have a conventional pull-type planter or drill can pull them behind the cart. You can also use the cart to strip till in the fall without a planter attached." The cart has three adjustable-width coulters per row that work together to create a thoroughly tilled 4- to 8-in. wide seedbed. "One of the big advantages of this design is that the coulters can be hydraulically raised or lowered on-the-go independent of the planter row units," says Rawson. "On conventional no-till planters, the coulters operate at the same depth as the seed, which can create air pockets and poor seed-to-soil contact." The planter is equipped with a ground-driven, side-mounted transmission that allows you to adjust seeding rates quickly and easily without tools. An adjustable link in front of the transmission is used to ad-just depth of the planter toolbar. "It keeps the drive wheel in constant contact with the ground no matter what the terrain is like," says Rawson. "If the planter drops into a depression, the wheel drops with it." The 12-row planter toolbar folds hydraulically to only a 15 1/2-ft. width - the same width as a 6-row planter. A 6-row model complete with tank, monitor, pumps, and insecticide units sells for $29,000; a 12-row for $52,000. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Unverferth Mfg. Co., Inc., Box 357, Kalida, Ohio 45853 (ph 800 322-6301 or 419 532-3121).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.