There are tools every farmer knows to have handy while planting: a hammer and punch to drive out broken roll pins and shear bolts; a Crescent-type adjustable wrench to tighten nuts on shear bolts or turn hex shafts; an assortment of zip ties to tie up dangling hoses and wiring harnesses. Here are a few useful “pocket tools” unique to planting:
A small pocket screwdriver for digging seeds. If you have to use a foot-long screwdriver to find and pry seeds from the seed furrow, there’s a problem with closing wheel down-force. A small screwdriver should be all that’s needed to dig through firmed soil.
A pocket tape measure allows accurate measurement of seed spacing. Just because the in-cab seed monitor says seed spacing is 6.5” doesn’t mean they’re ACTUALLY 6.5” apart. Calibration of sensors for the planter monitor may be slightly off, which means that the population displayed on the monitor will be inaccurate. Planter monitors have been known to lie—or at least tell fibs.
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