22 Inch Ridged Rows

22 Inch Ridged Rows COMBINES Modifications 10-4-29 Minnesota farmer Mike Tisdell, of Olivia, raises sugar beets, corn and soybeans. Wanting to consolidate his equipment, he now plants all three crops in 22-in. ridged rows. He notes that he saves by eliminating extra machinery, reducing fieldwork time and cutting down on erosion. "A lot of farmers around here plant in 22-in. rows but we were the first to go with 22-in. ridged rows," says Jess Nolting, farm manager. Last year, he planted corn with 9-in. kernel spacings for 32,000 plants per acre. "Corn yields are getting better every year," says Nolting. "Last year, yields came in at 148 bu./acre while soybeans yielded about 40 bu./acre. Bean yields were down from our 50 bu. average, due mostly to wet weather during harvesting." The Minnesotans use a modified Deere 7100 planter to plant 12 22-in. rows at once and also have specially built cultivating equipment. Their tractor is equipped with Keltgen "Tall Tires." Their Deere combine is also modified for 22-in. row spacing. It has duals with each tire in the dual set spaced 44-in. apart center to center. The final drive is in the middle between the duals. The 12-row header was custom built. Since ridges make it necessary to make it to the end of the field before dumping the combine hopper, they added sides to the hopper so it now holds 320 bu. and also added a 3-ft. long, hydraulically-powered, vertical auger to fill the hopper to capacity.

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