IH 400 cyclo planter

[Patrick Wood]

I am looking at a well maintained IH 400 cyclo planter. belts will need to be replaced. i only have about 120 acres of corn but it is getting way too expensive to have someone else plant. are these a good machine? some say to stay away other say they or ok but not great.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

I am looking at a well maintained IH 400 cyclo planter. belts will need to be replaced. i only have about 120 acres of corn but it is getting way too expensive to have someone else plant. are these a good machine? some say to stay away other say they or ok but not great.

They are a good planter if you are not in a hurry with it or have really stony/cloddy fields. You have to keep after all your vacuum seals & make sure the drum, hoses, etc. aren't cracked.

Mike

 

[cjunrau]

I have 3 of them. I love them, but like others say just drive slower so the bounce doesn't jar the seed out or you will have misses. As far as sealing the top lid, Plastic shrink wrap on the bottom and silicone on top of plastic, close lid but do not clamp down. let cure and you have a new softer seal. the seal on the drum has never given me an issue. more rpm on the pto to bring pressure up if needed.

 

[spacechem]

I am looking at a well maintained IH 400 cyclo planter. belts will need to be replaced. i only have about 120 acres of corn but it is getting way too expensive to have someone else plant. are these a good machine? some say to stay away other say they or ok but not great.

Unless you do full conventional tillage, you may have issues with seed depth. Manufacturers went away from the pressure system to vacuum because of seed bounce. Then there is the air pump drive and all the seals to maintain. I'd be looking for a JD7000.

 

[casecollectorsc]

Move up to a 800 cyclo if you can find one. I used a 400 for 20+ years but the 800-900 are better planters in my opinion.

 

[flying belgian]

I am looking at a well maintained IH 400 cyclo planter. belts will need to be replaced. i only have about 120 acres of corn but it is getting way too expensive to have someone else plant. are these a good machine? some say to stay away other say they or ok but not great.

I had one for a lot of years and liked it a lot. As others said,, accuracy goes up the slower you drive. More important is having a level seedbed so depth is closer to same. With corn especially you like seed at same depth so they come up uniform. Don't know what your budget is but JD 7000 is a better planter.

 

[NY 986]

I started with a 400 planter and maintaining the lid seal and drum seal is critical. Ground needs to be worked down well to minimize row unit bounce and swaying of seed tubes. A good planter which needs your mind on your work when using. Can be bought for around 1,000 dollars for a good 6 row unit. If your budget is around 3,000 dollars or more the JD 7000 or IH 800 are better alternatives.

 

[paul]

The 400 is the reason you saw 90% of the Red tractors in my neighborhood pulling Green planters for many decades. I don’t recall anyone having a 400 more than 3 years….

The 600 was an attempt at a quick upgrade fix, wasn’t much really.

The 800 series was what the 400 should have been, but it wasn’t enough better to bring people back. For those needing a second planter for beans, these actually became very popular on the used market - they did real well at planting soybeans for cheap.

The 900 series and folk started taking Red planters seriously again.

But it was the 1200 series before you really saw very many Red planters come back to the neighborhood.

And here going east is a very very Red community. They all had Green planters for decades……

It will work to plant your corn. It wouldn’t be my first choice.

Paul

 

[NY 986]

The 400 is the reason you saw 90% of the Red tractors in my neighborhood pulling Green planters for many decades. I don’t recall anyone having a 400 more than 3 years….

The 600 was an attempt at a quick upgrade fix, wasn’t much really.

The 800 series was what the 400 should have been, but it wasn’t enough better to bring people back. For those needing a second planter for beans, these actually became very popular on the used market - they did real well at planting soybeans for cheap.

The 900 series and folk started taking Red planters seriously again.

But it was the 1200 series before you really saw very many Red planters come back to the neighborhood.

And here going east is a very very Red community. They all had Green planters for decades……

It will work to plant your corn. It wouldn’t be my first choice.

Paul

As far as closing the seed trench the JD 7000 had it all over both the IH 56 and 400 planters and was the biggest reason as to the switch but many here were using JD 494, 494A, and 1240 prior to owning a 7000. The 7000 closing wheel system is the reason I went from a 400 to a 7000 and even though money was very tight the benefits were far too great in my case to ignore. Tight heavy soils would be a reason to recommend to the OP to bypass the 400 and go to a 7000 where there is a large aftermarket supply of parts along with used parts.

 

[Patrick Wood]

Thanks to all who replied. that was some very good info. I will continue to look for a better one. we do do conventional tillage and the seed beds are good but the occasional rock does appear.

 

[paul]

I should add we have very heavy soil here. We have rocks.

We have rolling hills from the glaciers melting, and I believe there were some issues with the. 400 when they leaned on a hill?

Paul

 

[Patrick Wood]

I should add we have very heavy soil here. We have rocks.

We have rolling hills from the glaciers melting, and I believe there were some issues with the. 400 when they leaned on a hill?

Paul

we have heavy soil also. northwest taylor county, wi. sod take forever to work up nice the corn/bean areas usually take two passes and it look good. just have to hit the correct drying conditions. the planter is only 400.00 but if it skips too much that is 400 wasted

 

[Olyj1947]

My brother and I each bought a 400 and put up with them for 2 years and bought JD 7000's. We are 'red ' people and put up with some guff but that 400 was not a good investment! And still going green on the planters

 

[EFV]

If you really want a "green" planter you should buy a"blue"one. SAE fasteners instead of metric, important
when a bolt breaks or falls out and repair needs to be done five minutes ago.
OP didn't say where he's located but 400 Cyclo says 4 or 6 row planter. Fertilizer on planter or no ?
Highly suggest purchase of the widest planter you can afford. I would take the challenge of an 8 row
400 against any 4 row finger pickup unit.

 

[flying belgian]

If you really want a "green" planter you should buy a"blue"one. SAE fasteners instead of metric, important
when a bolt breaks or falls out and repair needs to be done five minutes ago.
OP didn't say where he's located but 400 Cyclo says 4 or 6 row planter. Fertilizer on planter or no ?
Highly suggest purchase of the widest planter you can afford. I would take the challenge of an 8 row
400 against any 4 row finger pickup unit.

You make a good point on buying big planter. If you have a big enough tractor to pull it you can buy a 12 row for about same money as 6 row. At least here in southern Mn. Everybody going to 24 row. For your 120 acres corn you want to get it in timely manner. Wait until conditions are right then get it in as quick as you can.

 

[NY 986]

If you really want a "green" planter you should buy a"blue"one. SAE fasteners instead of metric, important
when a bolt breaks or falls out and repair needs to be done five minutes ago.
OP didn't say where he's located but 400 Cyclo says 4 or 6 row planter. Fertilizer on planter or no ?
Highly suggest purchase of the widest planter you can afford. I would take the challenge of an 8 row
400 against any 4 row finger pickup unit.

There was a university study done shortly after the Cyclo planters were released on the market. Unless the field is table top flat and even there will be considerable tube sway to the outside rows affecting seed spacing with an 8 row Cyclo. Stay 4 or 6 row or go with another model planter.

 

[cjunrau]

There was a university study done shortly after the Cyclo planters were released on the market. Unless the field is table top flat and even there will be considerable tube sway to the outside rows affecting seed spacing with an 8 row Cyclo. Stay 4 or 6 row or go with another model planter.

I bought an 800. 8 row. 2 years ago I did 10 acres. The spacing was very much perfect on all 8 rows. Yes you need to drive slow, field must be smoothish and chopped fine, as in no big lumps. Would I do 120 acres ? If the field was more level than some of mine maybe. I would say up to a 10-15 degree slope is no problem but I have lots of 45 degree or maybe more. I have a few spots I can only go down hill on. The job mine does is equal to a finger planter but not going to do it as quick.

 

[EFV]

Erratic spacing on all Cyclo planters has often been found to be a groove worn in tubing to row unit.
Seed follows a predictable path long enough to wear tube internally. Changing crops or seed size
made seed snag on wear path. Replacing older/high mileage tubing is a good idea. While seed spacing
has a focus of many advertising campaigns even seed emergence is still a bigger factor in maximizing yields.
Any plant coming through soil surface not within 24 hours of it's neighbor is a drag on yield.

 

[mudcreek183]

If decide otherwise I'm retiring and have a JD 7000 for sale . totally rebuilt 150 acres a row. Many upgrades pm if interested.

 

[NY 986]

Erratic spacing on all Cyclo planters has often been found to be a groove worn in tubing to row unit.
Seed follows a predictable path long enough to wear tube internally. Changing crops or seed size
made seed snag on wear path. Replacing older/high mileage tubing is a good idea. While seed spacing
has a focus of many advertising campaigns even seed emergence is still a bigger factor in maximizing yields.
Any plant coming through soil surface not within 24 hours of it's neighbor is a drag on yield.

When I bought my 400 around 1986 I wound up replacing all seed tubes after seeing cracks in a couple. It was easy to see grooves worn on the inside of a tube. Depth and cover are perhaps most important to seed emergence as seed has contact with moist soil being the most critical objective. Something that the JD 7000 and later planters had all over their earlier counterparts.