JD 71 flex planters

Please recommend any weak points of these JD planters so I can check them out with a better idea of what to look for in wear points. Also any info regarding the proper plates for sweet corn, grean beans and peas would be greatly appreciated. We plant 8 or nine varieties of squash so I dont know that one plate would work for these.

Thanks for the help. Hope everyone is well.

Mike Peroni

Buy a bucket full of plates for large seeds. It is easier and faster to change the plates than the sprockets. Once you decide that you like them, you can get 36 and 72 hole plates for small seeds.

JD parts can be expensive, so if you have a chance to buy a third unit, I'd buy it even if it is a little beat up. If extra units are really cheap, buy several and leave your Planet Jrs in the shed.

Extra hoppers would be nice. Ones from 494 will work, 290s will not. I have a set of short, large diameter hoppers that make it easy to see what is going on from the tractor seat. I'm thinking that a little Bondo around the outside edge might make them fill the plates for vegetables better. There are several kinds of hoppers. Beet hoppers work better for small seeds. They have a loose n=metal filler plate under the seed plate. The corn / bean hoppers will work better for large seeds. The seed plate in those runs directly on the hinged floor.

Otherwise, it is just the basics. See that all the parts are there and anything that should move actually does. See that the spindles have been greased and aren't all loose. I can't imagine that the bevel gears could ever wear out. The shoulders on the carriage bolts that hold the packing wheel / adjust the chain are are always rounded off.

Getting enough rain and warm weather ?

Greg

Make certain all the sprockets are included. (They're stored inside the chain enclosure) Should be a total of 4 per row unit.

Check the bearings on the disc openers. also check the diameter of those disc's. Anything less than 10-1/2"s, chuck 'em, and get new ones.

I'd suggest getting the "depth bands" (still available through Deere) They go on the disc openers to serve as a gauge wheel of sorts. Keeps a more consistant planting depth...

Replace the drive chains with a high quality "bicycle" chain. (and NEVER back up with the drive wheels on the ground.)

Plates..... start rounding up all the different variations you can get your hands on. I bought about 25 different sets off of E-Bay. Also, get familiar with Lincoln Ag. They sell new "Lustran" plates. No one or two plates will do it all.

One down side.... Fertilizer attachments are hard to come by for the #71. I'm currently working the bugs out of my own design for a liquid fertilizer attachment. Worked mighty good a few weeks back when we planted 5 acres of sweet corn!