DJL, I can"t help you with most of your questions, but I will tell you of some experience I have with planting pumpkin seeds with a JD7000.
I repair/adjust/callibrate corn planter meters for a winter time hobby...about 300 meters a year, for the last 12 years.
My neighbor owns a super market and plants his own pumpkins, at least a couple hundred acres of them. He owns a JD7000 with 30" rows.
First of all, corn finger meters are not engineered for planting other crops; they do a fair job with sweet corn.
I just recently ran his meters on my test stand. His meters are in excellent shape with little wear and new brushes. We tested 3 different sizes of pumpkin seeds. The best those corn meters can do is about 65% singulation....the rest is skips and doubles. Just to make sure for a double-check, I ran some Pioneer plateless flats in those meters and they planted 97-98% singulation....an excellent score.
Thru the years, I have tested meters for other pumpkin growers, with the same results. I have not yet tested JD Vac planter meters to see if they will do a better job.
I have tested a meter with only 6 fingers. The results are the same, except with 6 fingers you get 1/2 the total number of seeds planted.
My neighbor says he is satisfield with that 65% singulation; he said there is no need to be concerned with that since pumpkins are not that sensitive to lack of growth due to spacing or skips. They produce very well no matter how accurately they are planted. He is very happy with his pumpkin yields.
There are special meters designed for pumpkin seeds, but the price of them offsets whatever advantage they have over corn fingers for your 1/2 acre.
My advice: If your meters are in good shape, pour the pumpkin seeds in the hoppers and plant in the 30" or 38" rows your planter is set for. Keep the weeds in control and pray for rain.
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