Add On Kit For Row Cleaner Wheels

Add on kit for row cleaner wheels PLANTING EQUIPMENT Accessories 17-2-21 An Indiana inventor has come up with a new add-on kit designed to improve performance of row cleaning wheels that mount ahead of planter row units. The modification kit adapts to Martin, Dawn, or Yetter row cleaners. Ronald Doetch, Farm-Rite Solutions, says his "All Till Germinator" consists of a parallel linkage mounting bracket equipped with downpressure springs and a gauge wheel that runs right behind the row cleaners. The mounting bracket mounts on the up-front fertilizer bar, moving row cleaners ahead from where they normally mount. The no-till coulter and fertilizer tube, that would normally mount on the fertilizer bar, are moved back behind the row cleaners, just ahead of the seed disc openers. A 3-in. spacer that mounts on the no-till coulter hub moves the coulter over 3 in. so fertilizer can be placed in tilled ground 3 in. to the side of the seed. "Row cleaners work fine except that they're normally mounted in the wrong place which creates problems with depth control," says Doetch. "In soft ground they till too deep and in hard ground they often ride up out of the ground. Moving row cleaners out ahead of the planter makes it easier to control depth and allows the planter row units to work independently. The parallel linkage and gauge wheel allows 8 in. of up-or-down movement to keep the depth of tilled soil constant regardless of trash levels or soil conditions. The result is a garden-like seedbed and precision seed placement. "Another problem with row cleaners is that they make fertilizer placement difficult because they limit the amount of space available under the planter. Using no-till coulters to place fertilizer ahead of the row cleaners can lead to inaccurate placement. As a result many farmers have stopped applying starter fertilizer. By moving the no-till coulter and fertilizer openers behind the row cleaners you allow the fertilizer openers to work in clean ground as they were designed to. More accurate placement also allows you to apply higher levels of starter fertilizer." Sells for $225 per row including parallel linkage, gauge wheel, spacer bar, and mounting brackets. Doetch also sells Mar-tin row cleaners. Complete row cleaning system sells for $390 per row. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Farm-Rite Solutions, Box 75, Fishers, Ind. 46038 (ph 317 578-8037).

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