JD 450 Bean Drill Press Wheels

[FarmerMatt90]

I've got a JD 450 bean drill and the press wheels are 4" wide. I've struggled to get the bean seed covered and often have to run my cultipacker over it afterward. I've adjusted the planting depth, the setting of the press wheels, etc to many different combinations. I'm in a clean disked seed bed and cultipacked before planting, so the soil is fairly soft and sandy.


Would I benefit by changing the press wheels to something more narrow? What would be best, a smooth or ribbed wheel and what width?

 

[flying belgian]

Do you do any fall tillage? Any spring tillage before planting? What crop last year? What are you seeding with it? Soybeans? Give us some more info.

 

[FarmerMatt90]

Do you do any fall tillage? Any spring tillage before planting? What crop last year? What are you seeding with it? Soybeans? Give us some more info.

I only do annual spring plantings, no fall plantings. Working the soil with a disk in the spring before planting beans and cultipacking before planting to help smooth the soil after disking before before using drill. The soil if fairly soft and sandy. Previous crop is either beans or corn, I rotate.

 

[Roger in Iowa]

Do others cultipack before planting? I would think that would make the soil to hard so there would not be much loose soil to cover beans??

 

[FarmerMatt90]

Do others cultipack before planting? I would think that would make the soil to hard so there would not be much loose soil to cover beans??

I do that to try to help level the disked field, as its too rough. I'm looking at adding some rolling baskets behind disk to help and do away with using cultipacker.

 

[FarmerMatt90]

I do that to try to help level the disked field, as its too rough. I'm looking at adding some rolling baskets behind disk to help and do away with using cultipacker.

Sorry I should rephrase this. My father has a large drag type implement similar to a cultivator with some rolling wheel on the back behind the tines that helps smooth the ground. So its not a cultipacker, more so a cultivator.