Inspecting a 7000 Planter

[Kerwin]

Is there a quick and easy way to access the finger mechanism on a JD 7000 planter to see what condition it's in?

Also, any other problem points on a 7000 to look for?

Thanks.

 

[mudcreek183]

There are three bolts to take the cover off the meter you can inspect the inside of the meter that way.Run the marker arms up and down to make sure they alternate sides.check the closing wheel arm where the hook to the planter the will wollow out.also the gauge wheel arms will do the same I have had on for years and never had any major issues with it they are a light planter for notil sometimes.You can rebuild the whole planter with shoup's part they have everythimg for them.

 

[paul]

Look for wallowed out pivot points in the arms that hold the units on, as well as the closing wheels as mentioned, and check for side slop in the depth wheels. Mid and dirt pack in when they can slop onward even a little.

All of that can be fixed and made better then new, but it affects the price.

Get a Shoup catalog and have fun.

Paul

 

[Dave H (MI)]

Actually, yes there is. You can take them to a dealer and have them tested. Not a bad idea either. Other than that you can start by turning them by hand. You should be able to do it. Some resistance will be there but they will turn easily enough. I have found that the harder they turn by hand the more likely they are to plant at a lower rate. Look at the flat side of the unit. Shouldn't be all dented up. Meters can be a little touchy about vibration so it needs to turn freely. Open it up and see if the backer plates have a lot of rust where the fingers move the seed. Look at the belt to see is it getting hard and brittle. Some of mine were really bad. A forum member was kind enough to rebuild all six of my units and replaced the backer plates and belts. All this is great and you can rebuild or replace your units as needed but if it were me the #1 thing I would assess on the planter is....

Hook it onto a tractor, raise it to full height. Drive it forward and make sure it has STOPPED planting action. Raise and lower it a few times and make sure the planter starts and stops planting as it should. If the clutch mechanism in the center of the planter is worn out, it is a fairly cheap but extremely time consuming job to get the old one out and put the new one in. Nothing technical, just takes a long time to do it.

If the marker arms are not working it is almost always a mouse nest inside the main toolbar (main steel beam) on the right side (as facing forward in the tractor). Pretty easy to fix, open her up and clean it out, maybe an hour of time.

Over the last two seasons I have almost completely rebuilt my 6 row JD 7000. Very rewarding to see it plant so efficiently now. Fertilizer still needs some work and the monitor needs some more tweaking. Great planter. I clean my meters as soon as I am done planting and the planter never sits out in the weather. Once you get a good working planter you understand how important it is.