Low-cost planter?

[Kevin Tree]

I"d like to buy a low-cost planter, probably 4 row. I"m starting small and plan to plant only 6 acres for the first few years.

The low-cost planters I see advertised on Craigslist are IH 56 and IH 400 Cyclo, both for $400 to $600.
Some have said the JD 7000 is better, those are around $1,200

Can someone tell me the difference between these planters?
Or is there a web site that talks about how different planters work, and what to look for?
What years were these planters produced?

Since I"m starting with such a small acreage, I"m thinking I would want to start with the cheapest, and possibly buy something better later. But I still need it to work, and be able to get parts for it.

Thanks for any advice you can give,
Bill

 

[Rootsy]

(quoted from post at 15:03:41 05/08/12) I"d like to buy a low-cost planter, probably 4 row. I"m starting small and plan to plant only 6 acres for the first few years.

The low-cost planters I see advertised on Craigslist are IH 56 and IH 400 Cyclo, both for $400 to $600.
Some have said the JD 7000 is better, those are around $1,200

Can someone tell me the difference between these planters?
Or is there a web site that talks about how different planters work, and what to look for?
What years were these planters produced?

Since I"m starting with such a small acreage, I"m thinking I would want to start with the cheapest, and possibly buy something better later. But I still need it to work, and be able to get parts for it.

Thanks for any advice you can give,
Bill

First things first... What are you going to grow?

 

[Anonymous-0]

For 6 acres you could go to something like a JD 495, IH 450 for scrap price $100 or so. 56 is good planter and later model 400 with depth control update is about the simplest thing you can find. That price does sound high and get a manual for whatever you end up with.

 

[cd1]

I'd see if you could find someone in the neighborhood to do it for you. 6 acres or 600 you might as well see that a good job is done and you can make all you can from it. For me personally 6 acres is not near enough to warrant keeping and maintaining a planter that will give me a good stand.

 

[rrlund]

Why do you think you need a 4 row for 6 acres? Find yourself a decent John Deere 290 two row. No hydraulics,smaller and easier to store the 364 days of the year that you aren't using it.

 

[sammydwm]

Around here you'd pay 2 to 3 times as much for that little 2 row and you would have to upgrade later when more acreage was wanted.
Better to pick up an old 4 row at close to scrap price.

 

[Tim(nj)]

That 7000 would go for 3 times that around here if it's a finger pickup in good condition. The Deere probably has the most aftermarket support of the ones mentioned, and it is totally rebuildable should you ever want to.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Around here it seems there's no such thing as a low-cost small planter unless you want to buy one like is in the picture.

 

[Jim in Ma.]

You didn't say what you want to plant. For most seeds, I think perhaps you you could start with a tool bar type and add planter units as you go. For 6 acres 2 row should get you by.

 

[Kevin Tree]

Sorry, left out info. I want to plant corn this year, soybeans in another year.

rrlund, I would consider a 2 row, but what year were the 290 produced? Is this a 1950s model? That seems a little old.

CD1, Yes, having someone else do it is a good idea. The problem is timing; getting someone to do it, when it's dry and before it's too late in the year. People with planters seem to be doing their own crops, at the right time. I thought I had someone last year, but then he backed out at the last minute.

I'm trying to get a better understanding of planters, like the difference between: "finger pickup" vs "air" cyclo
Also "plateless"
And figure out the year these were produced. Is there any kind of web site that gives details on equipment, like as external_link does for tractors?

Thank you

 

[Leroy]

That McCormick 449-450 planter will bring close to a thousand dollars. This spring a Amish friend paid for me to take him a hundred miles to a sale to buy on for $950 so when figuring cost to get it home he had $1100 in it and I still need to find new seed and fertilizer disks for it that McCormick does not make anymore. The clutch lift and that they can be set at 30" rows is what drives the price up. Still looking for one for anouther Friend. So scrap price must be way up there. If I could find 2 dozen of those McCormick planters for your price they would be sold in a day. Even if they were only parts machines.

 

[rrlund]

Ya,they would have been a 50s planter,but they used the same plates that Deere used right up to the end. There are still some nice barn kept ones out there. You're not going to find a much simpler planter,easy to set,easy to use.
You get in to something plateless,you're going to need a monitor,electronics,hydraulics,all kinds of BS. It'll take you longer to get set up and horse around every year with one than it would take to plant your 6 acres with something like a 290,then clean it up and put it away.

 

[Fordfarmer]

Around here, a decent 2-row will bring more than pretty much any 4-row except the JD 7000. And a 2-row will get too small very quickly if/when you add acres. The 7000 would get my vote. Parts support (JD and aftermarket), rebuildability, speed/accuracy, etc.
Two strikes against plate-type planters are needing the correct plates for the seed you buy (flats, rounds, large, medium, small) and needing to go slow for good accuracy. Speed won't be an issue for you on just a few acres, but down the road...
I had an IH 56 and DON'T miss it. Took too long trying to get my corn planted between moring and evening milkings, and seemed like I spent as much time fixing the fertilizer drive as using it. Markers didn't always work right either. I have no experience with Cyclo/air planters, but as I understand it, you still need different seed drums for different size seed. A JD 7000 will plant pretty much any size seed corn with its finger pickup, and beans with the bean cups in place of the finger units.

 

[Fordfarmer]

Remote hydraulics, yes... unless he finds a 3-point version (that would be a 7100, I think). But most 4-rows use a remote cylinder. Monitor/electronics? Nice to have, but not a HAVE to have. My 4-row 7000 didn't have one. And besides regular maintenance, after the initial setting of your population and fertilizer rate (E-Z to do)what set up is there on a 7000?

 

[DeltaRed]

Since you are 'new' and have a small acreage,I would suggest something SIMPLE.A Plate type would be your best bet.With a 2 row you will prolong the 'experience'.As for "old",I have planted over 70 acres(furrow irrigated) a year for several years with a late '50s Jd # 70 'unit planter'(6 row).I provides just as good a yield as the neighbor's JD 7100 Maxemerge.

 

[rrlund]

I'm not going to get in a pizzing match over it. Doesn't matter a lick to me what somebody else owns,but I don't see anywhere in his post where says what he has for a tractor. If he has something like an H or M Farmall with one way hydraulics and buys something that needs two way for the markers or something,then what?

I'm just not up for telling somebody that they need big enough equipment to farm ten times the acres that they're talking about farming. One of the best and most honest equipment salesmen I ever dealt with always told me "keep it as simple as you can".

 

[Fordfarmer]

Didn't mean to come across as antagonistic. Sorry.
Keeping it simple IS a very good idea. I was mainly going by the models he listed in his initial post. I assumed (I know - not a good thing to do) that he has a tractor capable of handling them. But as far as that goes, every 7000 I've seen can be run on single-acting hyd's. - the markers ARE single-acting, and are feed off the lift side of the cylinder. Just take the drop hose off and put a breather in its place.

 

[Bevan]

Some guys will pay you to haul their 4 row 7000 series away. Had my 2 doors down neighbor do just that two years ago.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If only six acres and not going notill any working planter would work. An IH 400 that doesn't have either the late model depth control option or an aftermarket alternative, only work reasonably well if on very level ground. Plate planters might limit what seed you can use. The 56 used plates and I believe a 400 plate version was available but I've never seen one. Could have been given a different model number. Parts for either the 400 or a JD 7000 are readily available either thru the dealer or at salvage yards. I had an IH 400 and wasn't satisfied with the performance until locating and adding aftermarket depth control wheels. Found parts at a salvage yard; made it a much better planter.