McCormick-Deering Grain drill Surveyor

[Forrestm]

I am currently restoring a Mccormick-Deering Grain drill to working order. I have the manual and have read it, however i still don’t know what the Surveyor is for. So what is a surveyor and what does it do?

[jac]

Hi I have a “Hoozier” seeder that was built in Richmond and I think it may be the earlier version to yours.. I think you may be referring to the dials on the left hand side of the box that seems to be a sort of tell tale of acres covered and pounds sown ??? Almost the predecessor to the sat nav found on moden equipment…But if im wrong then im keen to know also
John

[Marshall]

My McCormick Deering 11-7 wood wheeled model has a surveyor. I always called it an acre counter. When I remember to reset it before starting it is pretty accurate.

[near horse]

That’s pretty cool! It must be calibrated to wheel circumference AND width of the specific drill – Right?

[Marshall]

I am sure wheel diameter is involved. I never thought about the width of the drill until you mentioned it. In the parts section of the operators manual there is a breakdown with several different gears. There must be different ones for different with drills and different row spacings.

[Forrestm]

So essentially the surveyor is meant to show how many acres have been covered? So to reset it; I just put the arrow back to zero and it will start measuring?

[Marshall]

Yes, it will tell how many acres planted. On mine there is a wing nut in the center. I just loosen it a little and move the pointer to zero. When I lower the lever to raise the discs it throws it out fo gear so it is not moving when you are not planting.

[Forrestm]

Thanks for the info. 🙂

[Author]

Posts