[AT] OT--- 800 IH plate planter

[jtchall at nc.rr.com]

It worked fine, I think. Let me elaborate. The fields I planted in corn were 
in milo last year. I cut it right before Christmas, miring in the mud and 
leaving ruts all the way. When it finally dried out in March I bushhogged 
the  stalks and then proceeded to tear the ground up. We got a nice seed bed 
on most of it, although some of the areas were a little clody so the corn 
has not come up in those yet. Due to the extensive repairs to the planter, I 
didn't get in the field until 2 weeks ago, about 3 weeks later than I would 
have liked. I think the areas that have not come up will in the next day or 
two as we just got some rain. Isn't it funny how it won't stop raining and 
then when it does, it doesn’t want to start back? I wanted to plant more 
corn but with the cheap price and our low yields (compared to the midwest) I 
only planted on the best land I had available.


Regarding the planter, the only problem I had was with the fertilizer hoses 
stopping up. I bought a set from Shoup. When the planter is operating there 
is not much drop in the hoses and almost a horizontal run. I've been told 
agri-supply carries some that are much shorter. I had to use duct tape to 
stretch my hoses fairly tight. That and dropping the ground speed to give 
the fertilizer time to flow worked well. I was putting out just over 400lb 
acre. To get the fertilizer back operational required a couple shafts to be 
made and a few new bearings as well as a sprocket. I also had to replace the 
fertilizer discs and put on some new chains. I had to buy 2 fertilizer drop 
tubes and 3 of the sheet metal pcs that hold them--those 5 pcs were over 
$300 from IH. I engineered a set of aluminum locating blocks so the tubes 
can't get into the discs up top. Too bad these planters are old or I'd make 
a bunch and sell them! The shaft that drives each planter unit needed all 4 
of those custom flange hex bore bearings. I searched everywhere and it 
appears they are unique to IH, at over $40 each. I bought 2 sets of scrapers 
from Shoup, cheaper than IH and they were carbide--I had to "adjust" them to 
fit properly. Put on 2 new press wheel tires and bought 2 more gauge wheel 
tires that I didn't have time to change. Of course the old ones worked fine 
but if the new ones weren't here they would have finished splitting. I also 
put a new chain on each row unit. I have new chains to go on the series of 
step up/down sprockets but didn't have time to change them. I did install a 
new chain on each drive wheel. Before next year I need to order a set of row 
openers and consider replacing the bushings on the gauge wheels. Noticed the 
beginnings of some stress cracks in the fertilizer hoppers that need some 
attention. The cast iron arm that the closing discs connect to the back of 
the row unit needed drilling out and making new bushings. I tried one 
evening to get the monitor working but it appears I will need a set of 
photo-eyes(sensors). Worked fine without it, haven't noticed any skipped 
streaks. We did figure out after 48 years that Deere built 4020's with a 
float position in the hydraulic--you have to unbolt the cowl around the 
controls and move some linkages on the lever. Hard to believe that tractor 
has been here that long and we never knew about or needed that feature until 
now. I evicted my grain cart so as to have a shed to put the planter under. 
Now I need a shed for it, guess that means I should get serious about 
selling dad's thresher and binder.

John Hall

-----Original Message----- 
From: Greg Hass
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2015 7:17 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: Re: [AT] OT--- 800 IH plate planter

If you don't mind, John, just how did your "new" corn planter work out
for you? Hope you like it.
  Greg Hass
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