Closing Wheels…Why start at the back?

Mar 4, 2020 | Newsletters, Planter Setup

Here at Exapta, we field lots of questions about closing wheels and whether they affect yields. It’s easy to start with the closing wheel when trying to improve the planter because it’s the first thing you see when you walk behind it. However, closing wheels are part...

STP ‘saw-tooth’ opener blades

Jun 25, 2019 | Newsletters, Planter Setup

by Matt Hagny The Exapta crew has gotten quite a few questions from our customers as to Precision Tillage Tech’s STP/Sabre-Tooth opener blades, so we tested them this spring [2019] on a JD 1770 planter with XP row units in central Kansas in 25-year no-till on mellow...

Paying attention pays off!

Apr 15, 2019 | Agronomy, Planter Setup

This no-till cotton field was planted with 2 different planters, 2 operators.  The arrow is the dividing line.  The planters were both equipped with Keetons + Mojos, new opener blades, etc. The one on the RH side had Thompson closing wheels with toe-out wedges, the...

Planter Downforce, Depth Settings, and Levelness

Apr 3, 2019 | Newsletters, Planter Setup

by Matt Hagny If you have new blades on a Deere planter with the depth mechanism set as shown in this photo, the furrow being cut should be 2” deep consistently. If it’s less than that, you don’t have enough downforce on the row unit. (For corn, sunflowers, and...