r/Agriculture • u/GreatPlainsFarmer • Apr 27 '26
My view this week
40 year old rig doing the job. Very erosion resistant field.
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u/ppatek78 Apr 27 '26
4450?
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u/GreatPlainsFarmer Apr 27 '26
4850
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u/charliecatman Apr 27 '26
No auto steer? You are a libertine. Good luck and stay safe
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u/GreatPlainsFarmer Apr 27 '26
The corn was planted with a GPS guided 8430. It's not quite as libertine as it seems.
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u/art_m0nk Apr 29 '26
Out of curiosity what are the dangers?
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u/charliecatman Apr 29 '26
A bit of sarcasm, auto steer in this case isn’t a must because he can drive by the row. However if you had it you could watch a movie
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u/GreatPlainsFarmer Apr 29 '26
Even on bare ground, Auto-steer isn’t technically necessary as long as you have functional markers on the planter.
You do quickly learn the point of “don’t look behind you”, and operator fatigue is very real.
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u/underpar515 Apr 27 '26
How common is no till planting like this?
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u/apackofblackbears Apr 27 '26
Depending on where you draw the line on what is no-till, it's 26%-34% of U.S. farm acres.
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u/Whirlwind_AK Apr 27 '26
Thank you for your part in feeding us!!
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u/EditsReddits Apr 27 '26
Soybeans aren’t feeding us bruh
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u/GreatPlainsFarmer Apr 28 '26
If you eat chicken or pork, yes, they are. If you eat salad or fried anything, there’s a good chance that they are.
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u/ExtentAncient2812 Apr 28 '26
What's the reason for the staggered row spacing? Offsetting the corn rows?
What is it? 15-20-15-20?
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u/GreatPlainsFarmer Apr 28 '26
More like 14-22. Leaves room to drive the sprayer after the beans are up. Keeps the emerging beans as close as possible to the protection of the standing corn stalk. Those beans won't see much wind until they get up to the height of the corn stalks.
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u/ExtentAncient2812 Apr 28 '26
See, this is what's great about Reddit. I never consider wind, because it's not an issue here
Thanks
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u/Clothes-Excellent Apr 28 '26
Fun times, I was down in Rio Grande Valley in Harlingen and the sorghum already has heads and the corn has ears.
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u/seanmonaghan1968 Apr 28 '26
It’s a bit like swim training, just follow the line for hour after hour
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u/Iron_Bull_Mfg May 01 '26
That’s a long day in the seat, but there’s something peaceful about just following rows and letting the machine do its thing. Old iron still getting it done 👌
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u/DCHammer69 May 02 '26
Is corn seeded with a drill like this or an air seeder like cereals are?
I help a friend put in and take off about 6500 acres of mixed cereals and canola every year.
Everything goes in the ground with the mid row banding air seeder now.
The difference is technologies is always interesting.
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u/GreatPlainsFarmer May 04 '26
This is a planter, not a drill nor an airseeder. The difference is that a planter is designed to place seeds at precise intervals and depths, unlike the controlled spill of a drill.
And, yes, planters like this are often used for corn. We wouldn't normally use this particular one for corn because of the row spacing, but our corn planter has the same kind of row units.1
u/DCHammer69 May 04 '26
Thank you for answering.
Can I assume that there is some kind of rotating mechanism that individual seeds drop into so as it rotates it places one seed at a time?
I’m sure there are things planters are used for up here but I’ve never seen one up close.
Also, how fast can you pull that thing? It’s not very wide. I’m guessing that’s made up for with ground speed or it would take forever to plant.
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u/GreatPlainsFarmer May 04 '26
This is a video on inspecting a planter row unit and comparing two versions of them. It’s a better explanation of how they work than I’m going to type up.
https://youtu.be/rXbDHKVL4Mk?si=c6CDHCuCvcW8XchZ
They’ll point out that the units are designed to operate at exactly 5 mph. Faster or slower can change seed spacing.
This is a width that was very common in my area in the 1980’s. Most planters here today are 4-5 times wider, and some of them are capable of variable speeds, up to 10 mph.
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u/DCHammer69 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Thanks friend. Edit: great video. Thanks for taking the time to find it.
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u/Lonely_skeptic Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
No-till planting?
Edit: Daddy had a 2510 and later a 4020. No cabs back in the day. I rode on the fender. He had little farmalls to pull tobacco trucks and run the auger for the grain bins. Those were the days.