Adapting 3-point corn planter

[Andy Carson]

As a winter project, I have been thinking about adapting a one or two row tractor drawn corn planter to use behind my single next spring. It seems like you can pick up an old corn planter pretty cheap (especially if the fertilizer boxes are ruined). I would like to be able to pull a two row planter, as they don’t seem like they would have high draft. Historically, I always saw a two row planter pulled by a team, though… Do you really need two for this job or were the old timers likely using a team because everyone was used to working that way? Also, I think that a corn planter could be adapted or metered to plant other large seeds. I am hoping they can plant sunflower seed and peas as well as corn. Does anyone out there know if your run-of-the-mill corn planter can do this?

[Jonathan Shively]

I only used big ponies/small horses (55-60 inch range, 900-1400 pounders). When I was still planting corn, I used a team pulling a four row IH planter without fertilizer boxes. Basically the stripped planter, used remote hydraulic hand pump from HF I think to raise and lower it. They pulled it fine in my mostly black sandy loam here in NW Indiana. I preapplied granular fertilizer from a cart earlier and disced crossways. Don’t know if this is the info you are looking for or not, but they used to be plentiful and I think I gave a 100 bucks for mine. It was more accurate than my 1901 McCormick planter. If it is a plate type planter, there are dozens of plates available for hundreds of types of seed. Good luck on your winter project.

[Andy Carson]

It is exactly the type of info I was looking for, thanks Jonathan

[Jonathan Shively]

From what I remember when I rebuilt my 1901 planter (it had automatic marker arms!!!) they (planters) were also called listers. My 1901 has the ability to check, plant, drill and something else. Don’t know what I did with the owners manual (paid more for that than I did the planter!). Let me know specifics and can do some checking for you. Feel free to pm me questions. Also, planter/seed plates will be your friend and sometimes are dirt cheap and don’t ignore the plastic ones. Sometimes it isn’t knowing the specific plate number but matching a hole in a plate with the size seed you are trying to plant. Want it to be able to select the seed, drop it in the tube without cracking/crushing or ruining the seed coat. Oh, and my IH 4 row planter, heck each planter box (fiberglass with black cover) will hold a fifty plus pound bag of seed. Never filled mine clear full. Put enough in to do a couple of acres and then during the rest, filled, greased, checked harness and went back at it. Planter will perform more evenly and what the heck, if I was trying to make a race out of it, wouldn’t have been using a team to begin with!

[OldKat]

@Jonathan Shively 22447 wrote:

From what I remember when I rebuilt my 1901 planter (it had automatic marker arms!!!) they (planters) were also called listers. My 1901 has the ability to check, plant, drill and something else. Don’t know what I did with the owners manual (paid more for that than I did the planter!). Let me know specifics and can do some checking for you. Feel free to pm me questions. Also, planter/seed plates will be your friend and sometimes are dirt cheap and don’t ignore the plastic ones. Sometimes it isn’t knowing the specific plate number but matching a hole in a plate with the size seed you are trying to plant. Want it to be able to select the seed, drop it in the tube without cracking/crushing or ruining the seed coat. Oh, and my IH 4 row planter, heck each planter box (fiberglass with black cover) will hold a fifty plus pound bag of seed. Never filled mine clear full. Put enough in to do a couple of acres and then during the rest, filled, greased, checked harness and went back at it. Planter will perform more evenly and what the heck, if I was trying to make a race out of it, wouldn’t have been using a team to begin with!

Jonathan,

I think a “lister” was kind of a combination tool; some did a light cultivation of recently sprouted weeds in a previously prepared seedbed, some could be set up to create rows and they also formed a “list” or a slit in the soil to receive the seed & finally there was usually a packer wheel or some other sort of device to close the list. Not sure when or why that term fell out of favor.

[Marshall]

If you go on the Merit seed website there is a chart for all the old planter plates for the different seed sizes. They even include blackhawk. I never used there seed but the Amish do around here so there is some useful info.

[Author]

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