lots of planter numbers

lots of planter numbers being talked about in below posts,,,sorry to say I know nothing about any of them,,,,,,but ,,on a smaller scale I do know a good planter my dad had,he and my brother planted a lot of corn with it,It is a Ford model 309 corn planter,,two row,,,my brother still has it,but hasnt used it for years. At first my dad planted with an old 8n a neighbor would loan him,the wheels were spread wide,,then later my brother had a model 6oo Ford they planted with it.The 309 planter was always good,never failed.So many numbers of planters were being mentioned,I wanted to mention the Ford 309 planter

I have two 309 planters mounted on a tool bar. Rebuilt it 22 years ago and still plant 20-25 ac a year with it. Planted 38" rows a few years now plant 32". Only problem I have is seed is getting smaller. Went from large flats to now very small rounds. I am going to fill in my plats and re-drill them next year.

This afternoon my dad was talking about his first planter, a Deere 290. He had to get off the tractor to re-attach the wire at every end of the field and when he planted beans he had to refill the boxes every round if he could make it. Sometimes he carried a pail of beans along so he could get to the end in one round. Planting speed was no faster then 3 MPH or so many buttons per minute. The farm was 240 acres total but after taking out oats, hay and pasture acres he probably had 180 acres to plant to row crops. Lots of hours spent planting approximately 180 acres two rows at a time at 3 MPH and getting off and back on the tractor 70 or so times a day. He planted that way only a couple of years, then he got a big new 490 planter. I can barely remember him planting with a check wire and for some reason only one field comes to my meager memory.

In contrast, the way new planters are set up today, if the computerized monitor isn't getting signals from satellites above us, it won't give the planter the signal to go ahead and plant. We can plant a different population in every row if we choose and the tractor steers itself. And they are pretty darned reliable mechanically. But they are massive. Just a quick thought: If a new 36 row planter was melted down, how many two row horse planters would that steel make. What does a Deere 36 row weigh? 30,000 pounds? More? Less ? 20,000 pounds of steel? What does a 2 row horse planter weigh? 400 pounds? The horse planter would be all steel. Too tired to do the math. Just some rambling goofy thoughts. Four hours of sleep a day will do that to a guy. LOL Gnight folks.

I have a two row planter, but not sure of the model number. It is fully mounted, takes a fraction of a horse power to operate, on hot days the tractor mounted to it may boil over, so extra water or some sort of liquid is required. I can't find the wiring harness for the monitor, and I think gps is out, well it is all up in arms!