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Planter efficiency versus number of rows??

5

55 50 Ron

Well-known Member
Did a road trip today from south central MN to west central MN and saw many planters at work. Surprised to see number of rows on a planter varied from 6 up to so many I couldn't get an accurate count while moving by at highway speed.

Made me think of what, if any, is an "optimum" number of rows on a planter? Seems that some of the really big ones would take so much more time to prepare and load that efficiency would suffer. MANY rows have the hassle of transporting, also manuvering in small fields, etc.

What are your experiences?

Ron
 
In our area se il. Planters have toped out at 16-30" rows. With a splitter row between for beans. Or 16-31 which is 40ft. Wide.
 
I don't know. Couple days ago the bto with 36-30 planter moved in to plant the field across rd. from me. It looked like quite a production to get the thing unfolded and backed into the corners for first round around field but after that it sure didn't take him long to complete the 40 acre field. It is a central fill JD planter and I don't know how many bushels of seed it holds but he never needs to stop and fill the planter which would save a lot of time. I suppose he only has to fill it once a day and that is done with a conveyor or forklift and tote or some other automated thing which I bet goes a lot faster then me ripping open all those seed bags. I know we all like to find fault with the bto but I actually think they are pretty efficient.
 
Efficient at least with the planting. Now when it comes to harvesting it is another story. I could make a good living with what the bto wastes at harvest. Grain cart running over, trucks running over, piles of corn all over the field. Not taking time to properly adjust combine and going to fast thereby losing alot through combine.
 
The larger planters mostly have central fill for seed these days so loading them is faster than using bags of seed. Then the insecticide is in pre-loaded "smart boxes" So loading a larger planter can be as fast as a smaller one. Then you get that many more acres per fill.

We are using mainly the plastic "Pro boxes" that hold 50 units each. The tender we have hauls six of these boxes. You can fill the central fill on the JD 1770 planter in less than five minutes and it can hold up to 100 units of seed. That is 300 acres per fill.

So 16 and 24 rows planters are more common around here than they used to be. 12x30 is the most common right now. Few 6x30 planters left anymore.
 
I've got a 12 row 1760 with three bushel boxes. It makes planting pretty easy but you only get 30 acres (I'm too nervous to go the 36 acres it could do) on a fill. I use bulk bags and dump them in the seed wagon, but I have to fill that planter lots. Most of the fields here are small and irregular so I can fill a majority of the time at home. I usually only plant about 750 acres of beans, but that means lots of fills.

I've thought about box extensions but I can't see that those are good for the planter. Especially when you fold it up and all of the weight is on two tires. It's all the planter I'll need.
 
We run a 36 30 planter and I feel efficiency is just as good if not better than a smaller planter. Takes longer in the corners but we only put 36 endrows ...holds a hundred units of corn filled with a seed tender in ten minutes.
 
Fella with a twin row planter is the big guy around here, can't tell if it would be a 24 row or 36 row (x 2 for the twin row....) size.

Can cover a lot of ground, but there is a lot of time spent dolding and unfolding it, and seems there are 3-4 pickups, the tractor and planter, and a trailer with a Bobcat with the Bobcat driving around a lot all afternoon.

When I plant its just me, no crew. So if 4-5 people were planting like I am, maybe we would cover a lot of ground too, and true efficiency might look a little different with a real account of manpower and machine power.

Paul
 

They don't plant many small fields. They either get converted to large by removing fences, waterways, roads, houses, and other obstacles, or just left for a smaller guy to use.
 
Watching my renter plant it took less with the bigger. I was thinking also how much easier and efficient versus bag it used to have piles of empty seed bags and what's the cost of bags and labor to handle bags. In point rows it was neat to see the planter shut off and raise individual rows no overlapping. It also allows use of more unskilled labor (especially us guys that can drive but aren't good on computers).
But as in all business you have to pick your help with the amount invested the wrong guy can cost you. We have several in the neighborhood some are bad but there are some good. One bigger guy got to close to the fence and a little damage incurred but a small guy next to me had the hired man run down a brand new post with the disk and a team of horses.
 
Get the biggest that works for your fields, I think a 12-16 row is optimum for most.

Based on experience here:

6 row about 5 acres per hour
12 row about 12-14 acres per hour

So less field time, more rows means less turning around.
 
I planted a 2 acre field yesterday with a 12 row 30 inch planter. Triangle shape.

I bet I still did it faster than a 4 row would.

But I also did 58 50 and 40 acre fields and used no lights and went to supper at 7 PM with my wife.

Gary
 
Can't imagine the planters you guy's get to see. A six row transplanter is the largest I've eveer seen around here. Big Deere, six racks, and six guy's sitting on the bottom.
 
A few days ago, I watched a fellow plant a 40 acre field with a 24 row planter. I swear it could have been done a lot faster with a 12 row.

Can't say about other parts of the country, but around here farmers seem to be obsessed with who has the biggest equipment, even moreso than who farms the most acres. The way the size of equipment has mushroomed over the last several years, it will be only a matter of time before equipment is too large for a public road. Then what?
 
Some of it doesn't meet road laws now.

And how much actually gets done with a big or small machine is more dependant on the operator, pre season planning, and the "pit crew" than anything else. 2014 was a difficult planting window here. We got every last acre planted in a timely fashion (a little over 500 with our six row.) The largest of our neighbors has a 60 foot planter (narrow row). He only got 500 acres planted that season! Breakdowns and a machine too heavy for field conditions were reasons. The ease of prevent plant insurance might have had something to do with it as well.
 
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