The narrow seeding window on the Prairies can force farmers to push into wet spots where drills can become stuck, costing them time and money for repairs to broken equipment.
Often, weight on the front drill frame is the culprit. Terrain-following openers transfer weight to the front of the drill while they’re in the ground. More openers in the ground mean more weight is transferred to the front frame.
When the front castors of the drill start to go down, the possibility of becoming seriously stuck goes up.
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SeedMaster engineers have developed a device that lifts weight from the front castors and transfers it to the rear frame and forward to the tractor. Their Lift Kit enables the operator to adjust weight distribution between front frame, rear frame and tractor.
“There’s a single active hydraulic cylinder that connects with a square steel tube to the rear frame of the drill. At the other end of the cylinder, we have two cables that run up to the front of the hitch,” said SeedMaster representative Ed Mann during Manitoba Ag Days, which ran in Brandon from Jan. 19-21.
“The more the cylinder pulls, the more weight it takes off the front frame. The result is better flotation so your front castors don’t bog down in the mud.
“The cylinder runs directly off the hydraulic block, so the operator can easily change the manual adjustment and change weight distribution.”
Mann said that in muddy conditions, the rear frame and tractor can generally handle the extra weight without sacrificing flotation.
In extremely hard conditions when the rear frame starts to lift out of the ground and the fronts stay down, the system can also be used to transfer some weight to the rear.
Mann said that farmers stress the frame members and shorten their drill’s life expectancy every time they have to hook up an extra tractor to extract it from the mud.
The Lift Kit option is available for all sizes of SeedMaster drills. List price is $2,700.
For more information, contact Ed Mann at 888-721-3001, or visit www.seedmaster.ca.
