potato planter

[Marshall]

I have a slight dilema. I wanted a potato planter for the longest time. Last December I bought one and drove 10 hours to pick it up because I couldn’t find one closer. This spring I hooked it up and planted spuds. It worked pretty good. So yesterday I see an ad for one with the fertilizer attatchment and it was only twenty miles from my house(go figure). So the dilema is do I sell the first one or keep it as a backup or parts machine? It is good enough to use so I hate to part it out. The one I am going to keep is in good condition so I probably don’t need the second one but they are getting hard to find around here. Any thoughts?

They are both McCormick Deering.

[dominiquer60]

When given the chance to obtain an old small scale potato planter, never pass it up, they are so hard to find. We know of a couple farmers that scrapped theirs, only to find that we would pay them double what they were worth as junk. If you don’t really need it, you may find someone on this site that would love to own such a treasure, what brand is it? We just picked one up two weeks ago, we have been looking for a one row, but found one for sale “saved from the crusher,” that is a 2 row IH with JD hoppers on it. It will need some work, but should be fine come next April.

Erika

[Stone Horse Farm]

I would definitely get the other one, if it seems affordable. It is always good to have a backup if your primary breaks during planting. You might also find, if it is the same brand/model, that it has a different sprocket for the spacing, in which case you are that much more flexible with your plantings (ie. we plant fingerlings at 18 inches and others at 12).

[dominiquer60]

Here is and ad for an Iron Age, we didn’t even pay half the price of this one for our two row. They can be costly, especially with the original paint in decent condition.

http://wad20.wantaddigest.com/forsale/item.asp?&adclass2=FARM&headsub=POTATO%20PLANTER&category=Farm%A0Equipment&onlineid=AAZJL92&adid=A00515

[Marshall]

Erika, thanks for posting the ad. I didn’t know Iron Age made potato planters. I have an Iron Age one row garden seeder. I havn’t used it but it is kind of neat. Either you got a good deal on a planter or they go cheaper in your are. Around here the Amish are paying up to nine hundred for a good single row with fertilizer. I didn’t pay quite that much but it was enough. That is part of the reason I was considering getting rid of one.

[dominiquer60]

Your welcome Marshall, That Iron Age is a beauty. I have an old Planet Jr. #4 that I use all the time in our market garden, in fact I was just about to go and plant 4 rows of beans with it, until I saw sheets of water drifting across the valley here. Maybe it will dry up enough in a hour to finish that task before the next storm arrives. Our IH 2 row was in a hedge row and was sold to us by and antique/junk dealer as a lawn ornament. He was surprised to discover our intentions while we were loading onto our trailer. I was glad to find a manual for it on ebay last night, it even has information on setting it up for different horse and oxen hitches 🙂

[Author]

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