TO BEGIN

1)Attach the planter to the 3 point hitch on the tractor.

2)If the fan is of the P.T.O. type, cut the shaft to fit the tractor

3)If the fan is of the Hydraulic type, when the fan is running, make sure that it is rotating in the right direction.

4)Take the planter to the field.

5)Put the planter unit into the planting or floating position.

6)Raise or lower the toolbar so that the parallel linkage on the planter unit is level or just  a little bit lower in the back.  The difference may be up to about 1” between the back and the front of the parallel linkage.

7)Adjust the drive wheels, by using the bolt on the front bottom of the the drive wheel frames, to the appropriate height of the bed.  Adjust these bolts so that the wheels are tight against the ground.  Then make sure that the nut on the bolt is tight so that the drive wheel frames do not move up or down.

8)Adjust the press wheel for the desired depth (more on this later).

9)The tension spring by the parallel linkage is used to adjust the down pressure on the press wheel.

     a)Too much pressure will put a valley in the plastic.

           b)Too little will not adequately cover the seed.

           c)About 5” from the eye-end of the eyebolt to the nut on the eyebolt is a good place to start.

10)It is not necessary to make the ground level where the seed is planted.  An indent in many cases is desirable, for example:  a cucumber seed sowed 1.5” deep with ½” of dirt on it should germinate better than a seed ½” deep and covered flat.  This is because the ground should have a more even moisture content at 1.5” than at ½”.

11)The easiest way to check depth is to check the hole made by the planter before the press wheel covers it. I use my index finger and look for the depth of the hole to be second knuckle deep.

 

12)Once these steps have been performed you should be ready to plant your seeds.

TROUBLE SHOOTING

1)The planter is not punching a good hole in the plastic:

     a)The edges of the beaks may need sharpening.

           b)You are planting to shallow.

           c)In some instances, on a very hot day, the plastic will stretch instead of cutting-  plant earlier in the morning or later in the day.

2)The beaks very rarely clog but if they do:

     a)Move the cam backwards so that the beak opens later- this means that you will have to plant a little slower

           b)Call us if this does not solve your problem.  (724) 946 - 2973

3)If the beaks seem to stick open:

     a)If that does not work, take a  hammer and tap the stainless steel point one way or the other.  It may be rubbing.

4)The seeds ever so often are found out of the hole on the plastic.

     a)See # 3.

           b)The timing may be a little off -  move the chain on the seeder sprocket forward or backward one link.

5.   The Hydraulic fan does not give enough vacuum -  the fan may be running backwards.

Polyplanter Manual

     PLANTING

1)Select the right seed plate and place it in the seed unit.  Remember to put the brass knocker back on before closing the seed unit.

2)Turn the vacuum fan on.

3)With the drive wheels off of the ground, spin the drive wheel and adjust the marker on the side of the seed unit for the desired singulation.

4)Doubles will result if their is too much vacuum.  Usually the biggest problem with singulation  is too much vacuum.

5)Too little vacuum will cause seed to fall off.

6)Better precision is obtained  with a planter speed between 2 to 4 mph.

7)Always be moving the tractor forward when dropping the planter to ground planting position, otherwise you can clog some of the beaks ( planting points) or cause damage to the planter if you backup while planter is on the ground.

8)When using a plate that drops a seed in every other beak (when you have removed every other beak) the seeder must be timed.  The chain that is going from the seeder to the planting wheel must be moved forward or backward one link on the seeder sprocket so that the seed drops either a little earlier or later.