I recently bought an old Dearborn 2 row corn planter, model 12-88. It is similar to a Ford 309, if not identical. This is to plant a 10 acre dove field with sunflowers.It came with one set of seed plates, for medium or large sized corn. There are probably 5-8 sunflower seeds that fit in each cell. I did a little trial run (raised the planter and turned the wheels). The sprocket/chain combination was set for the longest seed spacing. I turned the wheels enough to equal 30 traveled feet. Each planter dropped around 115 seeds, that's about 3" average spacing, but it's probably actually less because it's not dropping the seeds when the tooth of the plate is over the chute. QUESTION: How can I make the cells smaller? I thought about epoxy but my concern is that I might not be able to the the epoxy off the plate if I bungle it up. Polyurethane? I've read where it can be shaped and grinded like metal if it's put in the freezer for awhile (or done outside, it's 18 degs today). I've tried finding replacement plates (lincolnagproducts.com, Ford tractor dealerships, searching Ebay for months, etc) but have not found any. It seems like I'm going to be stuck with these corn plates and have to modify them somehow. My main goal is to attract doves to a 10 acre field. There is some public hunting land about 30 miles away, the state plants it with sunflowers and the place is covered with doves. Last year I just broadcast and disked the seed and fert in, most of the field was pigweed. This year I plan on spraying preplant herbicide and using the planter. Any tips or advice would be appreciated.
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