Is a 2 row 56 planter any different than a 4 row?

Hey all,

Gonna get my planters Saturday. If you didn't read my earlier posts, I'm buying a pair of 56 planters and taking off the fertilizer to mount on a cultivator to sidedress. I'm wondering what to do with the rest of the planter. I'm not afraid to scrap stuff (took in $800 worth of unusable iron last week), but HATE to see good, useable equipment go into the yard. Scrappers that do that make me sick.

I was looking through pics of 56 planters on a google search and it seems like a 2 row is literally a 4 row less the outer 2 rows. Am I able to cut the 2 outer rows off and have a "stock" 2 row planter?



UPDATE - after looking at some more pictures and a few youtube videos, I think I'm more likely going to have to move the hitch and wheel tubes and cut the planter in two versus just cutting off the outer rows.

Huh?

I never saw a 2 row 56, aren't you buying a very expensive
chopped down 4 row already, and then plan to throw away the
planter only keeping the fert tank?

Those plot planter are sold for big money, would seem
cheaper to buy a fert tank by itself from a scrap yard, or even a
new fiberglass tank would be cheaper than scraping out a plot
planter?

Paul

I was kinda thinking like Paul.

Buy a liquid tank for the cultivator. Use liquid fertilizer. Get a small pump and eliminate your drive problems on the dry fert.

Gary

The pics are "for example". The two planters I'm buying are both 4 row and I'm paying scrap price - about $500 for the pair. I'm looking to cut them down like shown in the picture.

I started out looking for liquid tanks or dry fertilizer tanks, but once they're off the planter, they get expensive - or at least the asking prices are high. These tanks will essentially be free if I resell the planters.

Frankly, I know little to nothing about IH planters. I have a 7000 Deere 6 row 30. So maybe there was never a 2 row 56 and all I'm finding are cut down 4 row planters. In that case, I'll just do it the easiest way - cut off the outer rows.

I see! 'Here' a planter like that is going to run more than what a
new fert tub from Shoup would cost, so it was confusing to
me.....

I've never done it, but cutting down old planters into feed plot
planters for the 10 acre homesteaders and deer hunters is a
big business, hence the price of old planters... Again 'here' talk
of scrapping good planter units would be crazy talk. I believe
you would shorten the frame to accommodate 2 rows, and
then move a pair of rows to fit on the planter, with a fert tub,
and work out the drive. I believe it would be hard to move the
hitch and it would be hard to keep the 2 inner row units. You
would want to lop off 2 rows after taking everything off the
main bar, and then place either the left or right pair back on
the planter.

The 2 extra row units would be converted into a single or
double 3pt planter as well, no markers, just need to savage a
drive wheel assembly from somewhere.

They ask $1400 for a setup like that with fert tub around here,
so you would get over $5000 for your 'scrap planters' around
here with some time and a spray can of paint invested.

Enough worthless babble.

Have you used a front mounted cultivator much? I ran some
for a couple decades. Maybe you are on very dry land, but
here, again, you would not ever want 1000 lbs more weight on
one. Trying to get through the wet spots is an adventure as it
is, without any extra weight!

I like your ingenuity, but think this will be a long work in
progress until it becomes a happy solution for you.... For a few
acres like you have a smaller setup would work, and when you
get bigger this will become too cumbersome, I fear.

You really need a ground drive for it, off the rear axles or a
drive wheel, so you can always match fert flow to ground
speed. Hyd or pto or electric drives will add more complexity
as you can't easily keep your fert rate matched to your ground
speed. I remember cultivating, it takes a lot of more throttle
from time to time.....

Paul

Hey Paul,

I'm not looking to "make" money off them, just get mine back. I could do it by hauling them in, but that would feel wasteful. I was gonna set one up, sell it for $500, and move on with my free fertilizer units.

Is my tractor big enough? My cultivating tractor is an FM 6-30 on a 4010 deere. The tractor doesn't even know it's working. The frame is the same gauge square tubing they use on the 12 row cultivator. I have the castor wheels off an 8 row cultivator if I decide the 6 row cultivator needs help holding up the weight.

Could it be a hassle? Sure, you're probably right that it could be, but I want to see if it's more of a hassle than it's worth. I'll have 17 to 20 acres of corn this year. At 600 pounds litter holding capacity and 150 pounds per acre, I'll have to fill it 5 times per cultivation - 10 times total.

Will it be worth it? Maybe. My feed guy goes in with a pull-type spreader and spreads 350 lbs chicken litter per acre after his last cultivation. He had a test plot for various varieties and the plot average was 144 bu/a on organic corn in the middle of a severe drought here in SW WI. If 350 lb per acre at canopy works, why wouldn't drop spreading 150 lb per acre on both cultivations work better? This is obviously not the only key to his success, but sidedressing is proven to be an effective way to get nutrients to the crop when it's needed. Our forebears surely would not have sidedressed if it didn't work.

Am I out anything if it doesn't work? Unless I break the cultivator frame, nothing but my time. If it turns out to be an ineffective PITA, I'll tear 'em off and throw them in the junk. I surely hope this doesn't happen and I'm investing the time to do it right to increase my chances of success, but I won't cry any bitter tears if it turns out to be unproductive. I'll just move on to the next idea.

But this thread wasn't about the mounting the fertilizer boxes to the cultivator. it was about how to make a 4 row 56 planter into a 2 row 56 planter. I called a good friend of mine after reading the initial responses. He's a very knowledgeable IH fanatic. He assured me that IH did indeed make a 2 row 56 planter and his neighbor has one. It's about a 100 mile trek, but I'll be nearish there next week. I'm gonna take plenty of pics.

I did not know they made a 2 row version. Good to know.

Manure is typically slow-release or converts to useable slowly.
I'm surprised there is a response to a later application of it,
over applying it pre-plant. Is there any speculation on why it
works better applied after the corn is up quite a bit? I could
sure learn some more.

Your tractor is plenty of power. It's the floatation. Putting all
that weight, if your ground is soft it will really sink in, and a
front cultivator you can't lift high enough to get out of the mud.

I'd think cutting down the 56 to a 2 row; or making some 3pt
units out of the extra rows would not be too difficult for you. If
you get to see a factory model, that will be cool to copy it!

Paul