What brand no-till drill

Looking at CIH 5400, JD 750 or 1590,and Great Plains 15' notill drills. I will be planting soys and wheat. Alfalfa I use a brillion. What are the good and bad points of these drills. Thanks.
 
I have little experience. I can only share my observations. I had used my conventional drill, resisting the heavy no till drills, until I started looking about a year ago. The IH and Great Plains I looked at were three point hitch units hanging on the back of a cart. Even the JD with front dolly wheels I'm told is too heavy for a 100HP tractor. I considered the Great Plains drill unit alone, but the depth mechanisms were well back of the openers. Definitely made for flat ground. I found and bought a nearly new JD with two point hitch. I planted wheat this past fall with it behind a 100HP MFWD tractor. It still seems like overkill, but it beats dragging around all that cart stuff with an even bigger tractor!
 
I have a 20' Great Plains drill and coulter cart. Pull it with a Case 1170 6 1/2 mph. Sow wheat and soybeans. Even with the drill full of seed you don't know it is behind you. Does a great job. I do some custom planting with it also.
 
I assume then that there is virtually no weight transferred onto the tractor hitch? That tractor is heavy enough to maintain control of the drill in all situations- like negotiating a turn going down hill?
 
I tried out a 1590 many years ago with our 4010. It had a dolly arrangement and I had no trouble pulling it regardless of where I went.
 
My concern was not the pull- it's being able to control all that weight behind the tractor without loosing grip and getting pushed around sideways. At least that's what I was told- multiple times. Not an issue for me now anyhow with a lot of weight transferred to the tractor. Plus, the occasional soft spot should be less of a challenge with some of the weight on the tractor.
 
It depends on what kind of ground you have, A lot of ground around me a JD 750 is less than useless to plant with, Unless you like to replant. In my ground anything that pinches the ground closed unless the ground is just right makes a rock hard seal and the beans brake there necks trying to come up.

My advise is to look around your area and see whats being used and ask guys around you for there ideas on whats best. What dealers are close by and how hard will it be to get parts for it?

I guess the best way to put it is like this, If your ground can be worked wet ( first pass) and can come back a few hours later and brakes up easy and fine then a JD 750 no-till drill will work great. If you work your ground alittle wet and it turns to rock hard clods that wont brake up no matter what you do, I would get the Great Plains No-Till drill or the CIH drill as they will work better than the JD 750 drill in this kind of ground. This is what I have learned over the years. Bandit
 
I have a 750, and have since 1990. There are great plains and CIH ones around the neighborhood; however, the Deere seems to be the best for planting in hard soil conditions, and stands are better than most.

My neighbor, who has a CIH, frequently is complaining, "it's too hard to plant wheat." I don't have that issue.

With any of them, planting beans with half the holes blocked off (giving 15" rows) offers advantages. The plants are closer together, and are able to break through easier if the land starts to crust.

You will also find the Deere is excellent for planting alfalfa... your Brillion can be retired. I do approximately 100 acres of alfalfa a year, and have yet to be disappointed. My agronomist has commented several times, "how did you get that great stand???"
 
I won't retire the brillion... Lol. I have a Great Plains dealer 2 1/2 miles away and a JD 7 miles. CIH is about 30 miles. So basically I am curious about ease of set up, major maintenance issues. I noticed that Great Plains has double disc openers?
 
Drill hitch hooks into the three point quik-coupler. Turn around down hill no different than when the corn planter is on the tractor. I'm always amused when people say you need a 180 hp. JD tractor to pull any no-til drill.
 
This was my first year with a 750. Before that it was a 435 minimum till. I like the 750 a lot. The soil here ranges from very ashy, to sand, to hard clay, to nice mellow soil. A little of everything. I was impressed with it. It holds a decent amount of seed and with the dolly wheels there isn't any way the 4440 knew it was back there. If I hadn't had duals on it I may have been able to do with two rounds for headlands, but the 750 is pretty long so I had to do three. Look and see if it has the new style cups and tubes. Mine does not. It's not a huge issue but I had one tube come off when I turned around on a waterway this year. The new style would be more secure.

Overall I was pretty impressed with it. I also got a new (to me) 1750 planter that is the cat's meow, so the 750 kind of took the back seat.

For what it is worth, the guy that I bought it from even planted corn with it (blocking some holes obviously). He said the stand was better than he expected.

Turn the closing wheels to make sure they are free and make sure they have been greasing it. Every unit has three zerks plus all I've the drive zerks and wheel zerks. There are literally a gajillion more than the planter.
 
Yes, the Great Plains is pretty much a regular drill with a bunch of coulters out front to loosen things up.

Deere uses a single disk opener. Both of them will require maintenance. When the blades are shot on a JD, I usually use the impact wrench, remove the whole planter unit, and put it in the vise. Then I can change whatever need help with ease. If shopping for a used drill, look over condition of blades, boots, bearings, etc. Also inspect the holes that the boot bolts to. These can wear eggshaped after many years and acres. Hizey Farm Service in OH offers a good kit to correct this.

Keep in mind the no till drill does the work of the plow, disk, etc. And while there may be more upkeep in a no-till drill vs a conventional one, you dont have to fix the plow, etc!
 
Bob,I have done well over 5000A with a 15&20FT.750,1590 and 5400 behind a JD 4030 and the tractor never knew the drill was back there.The ONLY thing is the JD dolly wheels DO NOT LIKE soft wet ground(ball up).All my beans and wheat has been no till for over 40 yrs.1972 I'am running a 5400 with harrow attachment now,but over all JD is a better drill,but is higher Maint.
 
I have a 15'Great plains with caddy & no till colters & it works great.But there is a lot of maintenance with it.I have 2 neighbors with deeres & they can not figure out why I don't replant every year & they both do.
 
I have used a 750 drill since 1997. I use it in conventional tilled ground and no-till situations and it works great either way. They are NOT a high maintenance machine unless one is bought that has not been kept up. I have little down time with mine. The 1993 and newer drills have only one grease fitting per row and also have active down pressure that adjusts the down pressure on the go. These will be easy to tell by the pressure gauge mounted above the frame. I have used mine to seed alfalfa, bromegrass and other small seeds as well as the usual soybeans and wheat. It has never let me down. Mine has the dolly wheel setup and after a few years I built a two-point hitch setup for it that leaves the dolly wheels in place. In soft conditions I can lift the three-point of the tractor and transfer some weight to the tractor and go right through many softer spots that would bog the tractor had this not been done. This hitch also makes it much easier to hitch the drill to the tractor. I have pulled this drill with a 4020 weighing 12,000 lbs., a later 4020 with cab weighing around 15,000 lbs. and now have it behind my 4440 that is heavier (have never weighed it). They all worked but the 4440 works the best because of it's ability to shift on the go if necessary. The fellow I bought my drill from had a coulter cart drill before the 750. He said there was no comparison in the ability to get a stand in all conditions, especially if the ground is hard. I've ran this drill in every condition imagineable and have not noticed a weakness in seed placement. I run a tine tooth harrow behind it and that helps, too. You won't be sorry with a 750. Mike
 
A 750 sounds like a perfect combo for a "Tim S" 4020 set-up? I have a late model 4020 that Tim put his turbo set up on . We weighed it at 14400. It has 18.4-38, sounds to me like a combo?
 
The only drawback to using a 4020, and it's not a big one at that, is the lack of a two speed. If yours is a power shift then I would say to go for it. Even if it a Syncro-Range, it will still work. A 4020 will handle a 750 drill just fine, hills or not. Mike
 
Buy a JD with the two point hitch. The dolly wheel models are a Pain. The two point gets ride of the wheels so your not stuck in a wet spot all of the time. You also have more weight on the tractor to help with traction. The best part is the two point hitch drills turn much shorter than the dolly wheeled ones.

The trouble with Great Plains. Tye and the others is they control the depth with the closing wheels. This is too far away from the opener unless your in perfectly flat ground.

Look the openers, bearings and the boots for wear as you can spend a lot of money on one that is worn out or has had poor maintenance.
 
Looking at a 750 with dolly wheel coming up at auction in March. It's a local piece that just been gone through in 14. They take care of their equipment. What's a nice one worth?
 
I got to plant soybeans this spring with a JD 1590 (I think) no till 10' with dolly wheel. I used my JD 2520. It worked great but I was on mostly flat ground. I know I would of needed a bigger tractor or duals to pull it on any really significant hills. Maybe the drawbar or two-point hitch type would help on hills.
The owner of the drill had cautioned about the dolly wheel setup. If your familiar with the dolly wheel setup, a prior user of the drill had the drill ride up over the reach when going down hill. Pretty scary. I have always wondered what the best hitch is, standard draw bar or two-point. I did not like the dolly wheel. I talked to the dealer about one and he recommended the dolly wheel but at first experience I don't agree.
Good topic, thanks.
Interesting, I looked at the Great Plains this last weekend and come to the same conclusion on my own, it's a flatlander drill.
Paul
 
A Great Plains drill is not just a flat lander drill. I farm flat and real steep hills and that drill does a good job . You just need a few more ponies pulling the drill up some hills.
 

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