Closing Wheel didn't close Seed trench

[cutman]

Last year was my first year with my 2 row 7100 JD planter. I have it setup for no till with row cleaners and heavy duty springs. Believe it or not, I will be planting corn in about a month, so I want to have all the equipment ready.

I plan to spray the rye cover crop by early March so everything is nice and dead by the end of March. Planting date will be March 29 if weather cooperates. Here is my main issue from last year:

The closing wheels did not do a very good job of closing the seed trench. I feel like one of the problems was I only had about 10 days before spraying and planting, so the dying residue was neither alive nor crispy dead. Soil moisture seemed adequate at the time.

What should I look for this year, and is there anything obvious I should do to the planter itself to close the trench better?

 

[MarkDarvin]

Some guys that do that will plant first and then spray a few days later before emergence.

 

[X-farmerdan]

I've been avoiding offering anything here because I, well, probably don't have a lot to offer. Or, maybe it's because if there's a simple answer, I'm not likely to see it! LOL, I hope. But, yes, maybe for the way you have your planter's many adjustments set, waiting until everything was crispy dry would have provided better results. We're about to get into philosophy again. If we know it or not, we all have a way of thinking about how we do things. So, my philosophy about planting is, hook the tractor to the planter and go! I know that's wrong, but it's also good enough (for food plots) in most instances. So, I guess my question is, do you want to learn to adjust your planter to match your planting conditions, or do you wait and find the conditions that work best for your planter?

At the very least, we all want to be sure in any situation, when the planter is planting, it's level front to back and side to side. After that it gets more involved.

 

[cutman]

I would love to learn how to adjust the planter to meet the conditions. I've read the manual and done the obvious, easy fixes, but nothing ever turns out easy, does it?

I researched this topic a ton last year but don't recall finding a solution.

 

[X-farmerdan]

Ok. Sounds like you've done everything you can do. I assume you're planter is running the standard, smooth, hard rubber closing wheel?

Have you considered a different closing system?
Like a spiked closing wheel?

 

[cutman]

I have considered it, and I will look into it more after this planting season if my results aren't good enough. Thanks.

 

[j-bird]

Just a shot in the dark here - but I know even on a no-till planter that gets used on my place hey still have a "drag chain" to help close the planting furrow. I use this to help with my conventional old school plate planter as well.

 

[farmer]

Do you have rubber closing wheels or cast?
Going to cast is a huge improvement, spiked is even better. I often run one side cast and one side spiked, unless really wet conditions you shouldn't need two spiked.
Do you have the tension handle in the highest position? All the way too the back? Are your springs and bushings in good shape? Residue shouldn't be any issues on closing the trench, if the colters and openers run through it, closing wheels have easy job. Hope this helps.

 

[JDunham]

When I plant my corn and soybean mix with a Great Plains 706NT I often have the same result in sprayed sod. The trench is still open in many spots and I can look down and see seed in some spots. These unclosed areas can be pretty big depending on the condition of the field. It seems to be the soil conditions more than anything. We have decent clay and if the moisture is just right it is just a decent slit or trench that I don't really see how the wheels could close it. The corn and soybean is deep enough that it doesn't seem to bother germination rates too. I have gone back and checked several of these fields over the years and both the soybean and corn germinate fine. Is this just in spots that aren't getting closed or most of the row?

 

[Smallplot]

How are the bearings in your closing wheels and are they running true? If they are too far in or out you will not get a good close. If they are running at a bad angle it will effect how they close.

I would check your down pressure springs as the pinching action of the closing wheels is what closes the seed trench. Someone mentioned their GP Drill but that is a different animal due to most having the single closing wheel.

One other aspect that jumps out at me is wondering if you have your hitch height set correctly. The hitch height can greatly effect your closing wheels and how much (too little or too much) pressure is being applied.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cutman]

Thanks. The planter is being stored down the road from my farm. As soon as I have it in hand I will go through all of yalls suggestions step by step.