LOUISVILLE, KY – Farmers come to the National Farm Machinery Show looking for solutions. The know the problems all too well. They know transporting and maneuvering large planters through narrow bridges, gates, and county roads can be a challenge. When transporting from field to field, they need narrow configuration with plenty of underframe clearance to navigate narrow roads and highways. John Deere has solved this problem, showing off the new 1770NT 16-row MaxEmerge®Plus Planter. This new planter has been designed with more maneuverability, more productivity, greater reliability, and narrow transport.
”Because of the new frame design,” says Bill Barr, Project Manager, John Deere Seeding Division, “we’ve narrowed the transport width to 12 feet, which is 3 feet less than our older model 16-row planters. We’ve also increased ground clearance to 22 inches. The end result is a more maneuverable planter that is more convenient for transport.”
Not only does the new frame design on the 1770NT Planter allow for narrow transport, but it also features more strength and greater frame flex. There is also a telescoping hitch that couples closer to the tractor and allows more maneuverability while planting in the field.
There are two frames available in the 1770NT Planter,” says Barr. “The non-fertilizer frame uses a 7 X 7 inch center frame tube with 3/8 inch thickness. The fertilizer frame has greater wall thickness to carry the additional weight of a center-mounted fertilizer tank.”
The fertilizer frame also offers an optional rear trailer hitch that allows towing a fertilizer nurse tank of up to 2,000-gallon capacity.
The 3-section frame of the 1770NT offers the greatest frame flex of any John Deere planter, with a 21-degree wing flex relative to the center section. Planting over rolling ground or terraces has never been easier.
John Deere has redesigned the hydraulic system on this new planter. It is a simplified system that features two frame raise heights. One at 11-inches for field operation and the other at 22-inches for road transport.
”There are five fewer hydraulic cylinders, and 7 fewer solenoid valves in the 1770NT system,” explains Barr. “This new design ensures that the planter will raise and operate level in the field without frame humping or wing droop, and will require less maintenance and no rephrasing of cylinders.”
The liquid fertilizer system on the 1770NT planter consists of a single center-mounted 600-gallon tank, central manifold, and a piston pump.
“We’ve increased the capacity by 40 gallons,” says Barr. “And the single center tank design eliminates fluid transfers from tank to tank when planting on side slopes or terraces.”
The use of a flow divider or central manifold provides a more reliable system that requires less maintenance. Clear hoses carry fertilizer from the central manifold to the fertilizer openers. Less plumbing and fewer fittings translate to fewer leaks and less maintenance.
The entire system is protected from contamination by an 80-mesh strainer in-line to the bottom of the piston pump. There are two unit-mounted fertilizer openers available—a row unit mounted double disk opener, and a row unit mounted single disk injection opener. For those hard No-Till conditions, there is a redesigned frame-mounted single-disk fertilizer opener available.
A new marker system has been designed for the 1770NT planter. It is a high-strength market with a tri-fold configuration. The new design narrows infield working width by 8-feet compared to the older model.
“The marker arm winglets have been eliminated,” says Barr. “Operators can now get closer to the fence rows and field edges.”
Marker hydraulics are above the marker arm to keep hoses and cylinders out of residue and soil. The cylinder rod also retracts when the marker is in the folded position, and this increases reliability because the rod is not exposed to the weather and elements when being transported or stored.
Marker breakaway protection is also standard equipment, and the float range has been greatly increased.
