towing corn planter 100 miles

I will be towing a corn planter home 100 miles. It is 13 foot wide, the farthest and widest piece I have towed yet. Do I need an escort in Michigan? I plan on staying on state highways. Any ideas aside from taking it slow?

Make sure wheel bearings and tires are good.

Have a couple spares,unhook the wheel chains,a slow mover sign,chain the markers up, and away you go.

Good idea on chains.

When I have had to road equipment that distance I am hooked up and ready to roll toward home at daybreak on a Sunday. Very little traffic to deal with usually before 10 am or so.

Unhook the drive chains as well. You dont want the 'workings' going 50mph for a hundred miles...

What kind of planter? Make sure you take anything off that could work loose. I have a Cyclo 800 with end transport and the insecticide boxes can pop off if not secured well. I just take them off. That is a long way to haul anything but I have done it pretty routinely. I only go back roads, paved if possible. I stay away from the highways.

If you are going to tow it at 30MPH, I'd stay off the main roads and use as many gravel side roads as possible. Go around towns instead of through them. Sunday mornings is the best time to move things like that without disrupting traffic. Try to be off the road by the time the churches start letting out, people seem to drive like demons after church.

For 100 miles, are you sure you can't rent a trailer or hire someone to haul it for you instead of trying to towing it?

Dave h has a good idea. Anything that can come loose and go airborne will do just that. Lids can be removed and put in the back of the pickup. When you're going down the road with it the shoulder can be rough, and the washouts and holes will always be right where you have to pull over when you meet a car. Mailboxes jump out at you when you're meeting someone. Seed boxes might block your view from your mirrors so it might be a good idea to check your rear view before you take off. It's easier to remove boxes before you take off than when you are on the road. Jim

Planters pull easy. When I started farming about 16 years ago I purchased a like new JD 7000 and pulled it home just short of 100 miles. Four years ago I bought a Kinze eight row narrow rigid with no end transport. I think it is about 24 feet wide marker arm to marker arm. Pulled it home down the highway and through three towns (45 miles) without any problem. Three years ago I bought a 6 row with 5 splitters rows and pulled it 240 miles. Took the splitter units off to reduce weight and increase weight in the pickup box. Went right down Highway 30 through the center of Iowa. Like others have said detach any drive chains from the lower sprocket and wire the chain to the planter so they won't ever drag. Make sure the markers and planter lift are locked up with the transport locks. Remove box lids as they can fly off. On a 4 row you can run the passenger side lift/drive wheel right on the white line at the edge of the road. On a 6 row with 4 wheels you can run the inside lift/drive wheel (passenger side) on the white line at the edge of the road if necessary. Keep an eye out for mail boxes. When I move wide machinery/equipment/buildings I also prefer early Sunday mornings. As soon as it is day light you are moving. Actually a corn planter could be moved anytime during the day fairly easily. Depending on the weight of your pickup you could run up close to 40 mph. Safety wise and liability wise keep your planter/implement on your side of the center line markings. Even with my eight row narrow I was able to be only on my side of the road. Guess I have always ran with my 4 ways on and have also used a safety chain attached under the pickup and through the tongue of the planter. They pull alot better than a disk or a field cultivator as they don't whip and also you can see traffic behind you unlike a wagon. Good luck.

Best way is to put it on a trailer sideways, block the tongue up, strap it down, and remove the tongue. Make sure all of the ids are tied down or removed, or you'll lose them. You'll save a lot of time, less wear on the machine and far less chance of an accident.

If you have time...Make sure that the wheel bearings are lubed/packed. That's a long way to go on a dry bearing.

last week we pulled a six row kinze planter 125 miles in ohio. a lot of it was on us 30. no problems. drove 40 mph.