Once you have your seed meters set and seed singulation is calibrated, Jennings says to move on to checking closing wheel alignment and the condition of any seed firming devices, components that manipulate the seed furrow and are essential for good seed to soil contact.
“Sometimes guys will back the planter into the shed after they finish up, and maybe they caught a seed firmer on the door and bent it sideways or something like that, and now it’s not working as it should,” Jennings adds. “Inspect those components thoroughly and make sure they are all functioning and aligned properly.”
Putting on “pop-up,” or starter fertilizer, at planting is commonplace in corn and soybean planting. And it’s basically a pre-requisite to ensure strong emergence if you’re planting into green in a no-till system. Niedsteadt says to inspect those components closely.
“Are (they) worn out? Are our hose routings right, and do we have the right orifices in? Are we changing (application) rates? All those types of things – making sure it is cleaned out, that we get any RV antifreeze out or wherever you used to winterize it – and making sure everything works,” he says.
Precision Planting’s Scott emphasizes checking the furrow cleaning, creation and closing functions of the planter. That process begins with checking planter bar levelness to make sure your row cleaners don’t plow, and the coulters are above seeding depth. And then, for furrow creation, users need to inspect the parallel arms for wear and ensure your disc openers have enough life to last the entire planting season.
“It is also crucial to confirm proper gauge wheel shimming to the disc opener, inspect the seed tube guard and perform block checks to find uniform depth settings on each row unit,” Precision Planting’s Scott adds. “And the optimization of the furrow creation function involves checking for excessive wear on the depth mechanism, replacing it if needed, then running seed meters.”
Scott also recommends farmers perform a scratch test to “make sure the closing tail is centered over the opening system and check the closing wheels for excessive wear.”
