16/ 30 rows

Bruce from Can.

Well-known Member
This is how my corn is getting planted this year. Cheaper for me to hire neighbour with this rig than doing it myself.
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that takes a couple ton of fertilizer just to fill it up the first time. Holds mire seed than you will probably plant. 2bu x1632 bu then about 2.5-3 acres per bag so about 80-100 acres per fill up on seed.
 
Yeah....when I see those outfits pass by, it makes me wonder what the heck am I doing with my 30 year old 4 row planter....

Ben
 
I bought my 4 row cyclo 800 CaseIH planter used over 25 years ago. And it was 36 inches. Planted a lot of acres with it, but it is done. The seed hopper leaks so much air, every time you want to plant you take a tube of sealant and a roll of duct tape to try and stop the air leaks, been driving me crazy. I may pickup another planter in the future, but so long as I can get by hiring a neighbour with a rig like this, that will plant for me in timely fashion, maybe its just not worth spending 15-20 Grand on a corn planter for 1-2 days a year.
 
How warm is your ground Bruce? Planting corn on 5/12 seems early for where you are located. Maybe you are a lot warmer than I thought though too.
 
We have warmed up a lot this past week, and could reach 80F today. So that top few inches is getting plenty warm enough to sprout corn, and most of the growth the first7-10 days is all in the root system under ground. I have seen 2 inch high corn take a frost and come back. But 10 inch high corn is killed. I mostly plant 2800 heat unit corn, but our area is rated for 2650 heat units.
We had a late frost 20 years ago that caused all of the leaves to die and fall off of our Maple trees. Two weeks later, the trees put out a whole new set of leaves, not as thick of a canopy, but still not bare trees.
 
Met a tractor and 4 row planter on the road yesterday, on my way to the Coop. So, I got to wondering who that was. And thinking about how far back in time you'd have to go in the combine world, to come up with a 4 row head to even pick it at harvest time.

So, I asked at the Coop if they seen it go by there. And inquired about who it was.
Come to find out, it was an employee from the Coop (who had the day off). And had brought his 4 row planter down to the Coop to plant thier sweet corn patch they do every year, right there at the Coop. So, ... that answered that. It wasn't being used to plant field corn.

As fast as larger equipment can do things (be in and out), it's really only feasible to use smaller equipment if your doing it yourself and got the time. And maybe not then, if you can find someone who hires out cheap enough, and you are behind on things. And that's factoring in, you already have the smaller equipment to begin with.
 
I had to smile at the idea of planting a small plot of sweetcorn with a four row planter, it seems large, but that is probably what is most widely available now and is much less expensive than finding and fixing up a smaller planter. I remember when local demand for two and three bottom plows jumped in the 1970s because the large plows used on most farms would not fit in small garden plots.
 
If I had to guess the manufacturers will dry up specialized parts such as the hopper for an 800 Cyclo to push sales on newer units if not factory new. That does not bode well for a small operator who depends on decades old equipment to make a go of it. I thought I might be better off replacing current equipment when needed with IH iron but now have that worry that regardless of how old or what brand it will not be supported unless Shoup or Abilene Machine can make a buck on it.
 
You have to figure it out on a per acre basis....if a 10000 dollar planter lasts you 10 years, it's costing 1000 per year. If you plant 100 acre every year....2 days with a 4 row planter...your planter cost is 10 dollars per acre. At 5 acres per hour, for every hour you need 50 dollars to operate and fuel a 50 hp tractor..another 10 dollars per acre. Add 20 dollars an hour to put a driver in the seat, another 4 dollars...At 25 dollars an acre, you could probably hire it for that.....but on a backwards year when everyone wants the custom planter yesterday, having your own looks even better. Depends a lot too if you like doing the job and your level of competence compared to the custom planter.

Ben
 
I know several people (places), that plant as much as an acre or two, to sweet corn. But, ... they are not planting that for 1 family or a couple people. Maybe as many as 12 people (neighbors, friends, family, whatever) ends up picking roasten ears when it's ready. And eat, can, and freeze it.

I don't really get in on the sweet corn distribution. I'm more of a home grown tomato guy. Maybe that's how come I know about these sweet corn patches. They know I won't come and clean the patch out, when it's ready. LOL.
 

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