Billy Fussell's Planter Pics, etc

[jim turner]

Question, I have a 172 and a 174 planter and the picture don't look like either of mine is that a different model?

[bob in CT]

MUTILATE Whoa Nellie! Nice guy there Mr. Dulas Gimme some credit here, we make the best jet engines in the world in my home town (I sure some folks in Evendale and Lynn will disagree).

The plates I have have a series of 3 dimensional blades that are part of the center of the plate. From the bottom they look like radial spokes but from the top they look like they may be intended to move air to tho OD of the hopper. maybe someone can comment as I have never seen it in action but they must be there for a reason. Maybe an EDM would work for that.

Bob

[bob in CT]

Jim Becker pointed that out too, Jim, and you are right because it does not resemble any of the variations of the Cub planters from the 170 on up. This thread took off on plates and ended up not seeing the planter through the plates.

Maybe it pre-dates the Cub? That single seed hopper dates back to horse-drawn equipment and with part numbers on those plates I may be able to date the design back to my 1939 manual for h-d hopper parts.

[Billy Fussell]

As usual, I am late getting to the dance. As Pete said, I have the single seed hopper with both bottoms.
It is the runner that I cannot identify. In protected areas, there are traces of green paint. JD perhaps? The nose of the runner is adjustable for depth, and the furrow opener is adjustable for depth and for tilt. You can set it to run flat or as rank as you want it. The brace that attaches just ahead of the seed drop tube is also adjustable up and down. The spring loaded arms just ahead of the packer wheels drag dirt in and covers the seed just before tha packer wheels tamps the dirt down. The packer wheels float, relying on their weight to get the job done. There are two blades in the back of the packer wheesl that scrape off any dirt that might catch on the wheels. The plates for the corn bottom would be easy to make if some one had a plasma cutter. Just in case someone had a corn bottom and no plates.

Billy

Billy

[jim turner]

That may explain it , looks like it may have been a part of a gang maybe 6 row JD or Oliver planter

[Billy Fussell]

Forgot to add. The fertilizer applicator, the black thing in the pics, is not origional. I bought it from Agri Supply out of North Carolina. Cost $17, gone up now I think. It is made in India, but is a carbon copy of the farmall one, and this one is heavy. It weighs in just shy of 10 lbs. The plants and fertilizer don't have any idea it is foreign!

Billy

[Jim Becker]

Actually I just bought a couple of blanks which are tough to find. I think the thickness may be just right too. Good suggestion, Pete. You only have to hit me over the head once to see the obvious! That way I get to keep one as a collectible and put another to good use.

Before you drill or mutilate either blank plate, could you take some measurements? I have a plasma cutter and have been looking for an excuse to make a CNC setup for it. No tellin' when I'll ever get to it, but it never hurts to have another project to look forward to.

One of those cast iron blanks could probably be used as a master to cast new ones out of plastic. Plastic plates would be easy to drill and might not break too easily with a center punch.

[bob in CT]

If I use one, I will "archive" one on the barn wall.
Bob

[pete1941]

The subject of those plastic plates came up some time back in a different thread. I have two reliable sources still living, one is an IH dealer, still working some and the other is an uncle who sold Cubs in the late 40's and early 50's. Both of them told me the same story on the plastic plates. Back then the Seed Companies were continously developing new hybrid seeds and naturally they wanted the seed to be planted right and to come up in order to sell more seed next year. So, they developed and tested the plastic plates with the Cub planter and others I am sure. When you went in to buy a bag of seed of 25 or 50 pounds of seed, the seed guy asked what planter you used, and you were given a seed plate for your kind of tractor planter. I was very young at the time, but I still remember those plates that they told me about. Pete

[evielboweviel]

had two uncles that farmed at the time. One would save all his plates and try to reuse them the following year. Fussed real hard if he had to buy new ones. Other uncle bought new plates each year cause they didn't cost much and he wasn't going to mess around saving old plates
Ron

[pete1941]

Jim Turner, whoa a lot of Jim's here, why don't you post pics of your planter and lets see what it looks like. There was a 171 planter, if my memory serves correctly, and also a Blackland planter runner.





There is one very noticeable difference in the 174 frame and my frame from above. The arms, on both sides of the frame, start at the press wheel and extend forward to the front of the adjustment bolt. On the 174 version, those same two arms stop at about the seed discharge chute. That, and other than the difference in how they mount to the universal mounting frame, is about the only distinguishable difference in these two planter frames. Pete

[Billy Fussell]

The blackland planter it totally different in appearance than the 172, etc. My cousin uses one in his garden. Out in front is what looks like a solid sweep that he sets flat to smooth out the ground and roll the clods to either side, and the runner itself opens the furrow, drops seed, covers, and packs. Having never used one though, they look to be able to handle rougher prepared soil than the 172 etc. Just my observations.

Billy