IH 400 Cyclo Air

Hey guys,

This is my first time posting to this forum. I recently purchased an IH 400 Cyclo bean/corn planter. I have a few questions about this planter.

1. What have you found that works best to cover up the inside and outside rows of seed holes to make the 6 row drum work for the 4 row planter?

2. Currently the rows are set 36" apart. When planting soybeans (for deer food plots/don't plan to harvest), can I get away with planting 18" apart (plant in between the 36" rows")

Thank you in advance!

Shawnp

#1 Duct tape
#2 Yes

Not that he needs my help, but I will go with cc-sc. I hit an auction last year that had a pile of drums for the Cyclo planters. Most were 8 row and fit my planter and there were some I did not have, and some were 6 row. Several of the 8 row drums had duct tape covering two of the rows to convert them to 6.

As to the double planting to get 18"? I took a stupid pill a few hours before I planted corn this Spring and lost track of my count. Darned fool PS pump was dropping pressure after a few minutes of operation. After 30 years of staring at CRT's it is a little much to ask me to read the gauge thru the dusty cab window. I have the basic monitor which pretty much was telling me "all is well" when it was not. And every time I got down and looked at the drum it was full of seed...half of which was not making it down the tubes. So I ended up going over the whole works and planting twice. Pretty easy to line up where you want to be. I don't think I missed a row by more than 6-8" all day.

Right now it is sitting out behind the barn. Next year I am trying something different. The cyclos have a good concept (but). Last year, after getting past repeated issues with the drive clutch, I was able to get a really good stand...half of which drowned but it was good enough to cover my cost to plant. This year the clutch issue came back so I guess I never really got it fixed, even though it worked for a day. Then the pump started to fail and, mysteriously, the monitor (which ONLY tells you if there is seed in the tubes and in the hopper), just randomly flashed an occasional shortage in random tubes. People wonder why I bought a JD 7000 when one came up?

Your CaseIH dealers sells rubber type bands that are made specifically to cover the drum holes. They seal well. Still, it really does not matter as the "manifold" for a 4 row only has 4 openings and 4 cutoff wheels, so if seed is in the 6th and 8th rows doesn't matter...it is not going anywhere. The planter will still work regardless.