Most farmers are up-to-speed on the major wear-points on their planters: disk openers, closing wheel bearings, etc. Here are a few spots farmers commonly overlook that can cause breakdowns or problems during planting season.
-Inner scrapers for disk openers. Planter manufacturers have different designs, but the concept is the same--some sort of stationary frog or scraper mounted between the disk openers to keep mud from building and plugging them. It doesn’t look like an important piece, and inner scrapers are often overlooked when replacing disk openers. A worn inner scraper may be only 1/4" narrower than a new scraper, but that 1/4" can be the difference between planting on a spring afternoon and spending the afternoon crawling around under the planter unplugging the disk openers.
-closing wheel rims. Everybody spins their closing wheels to check the bearings, but it also pays to carefully examine on both sides where the rubber tire meets the plastic edge of the wheel rim. Closing wheels run at a slight angle to the direction of travel, and over time the junction where the plastic rim meets the rubber tire wears thin..
-Row cleaner, aka “trash whipper” bearings need to not only be spun to check if they turn freely, but grabbed and wiggled side-to-side to see if the bearings have side-play.
-Seed disk tension, the amount of force required to manually turn a seed meter that has the seed plate installed and the door closed over that seed plate, should be consistent between all seed meters on the planter. If one seed meter turns harder or spins more freely than the rest of the seed meters it can show up as that row planting a couple thousand seeds per acre higher or lower than adjacent meters. Test stands at seed retailers or equipment dealerships can measure and compare the torque required to turn seed meters. On-farm or in-the-field, all seed meters should “feel” the same when turned by hand. In general, seed meters with plates installed and doors closed should not spin freely, but they should not hurt your fingers when turned by hand.
-The same applies to finger pickup seed meters. With the meter fully assembled, the meter shouldn’t turn freely. You should feel significant resistance, but turning the meter shouldn’t hurt your fingers.
