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Depth-adjustment shaft seizing on JD 60/90 drills?
by Matt Hagny These are notorious for dust getting inside, not taking grease, and then seizing up entirely. While the update that Deere did with making a flat spot on one side of the shaft to allow grease to flow along it did help, there are still too many that seize...
read moreLoss of Nutrients from Cropland
by Matt Hagny, freelance agronomic consultant since ’94 Farmers always have drought worries close to top of mind. No-till with abundant mulch certainly blunts the effect of a drought. However, the extra moisture storage with no-till (via increased infiltration,...
read moreRe-route fan return on JD 1910 carts
by Matt Hagny These carts generate lots of unnecessary heat from the fan circuit because the JD setup is silly. Our recent newsletter on our Smallaire Heat Exchangers for JD air drills describes JD battling the heat buildup by converting drills to run Power Beyond for...
read moreOil Overheating on Air Drill?
by Matt Hagny Quite a few people have trouble with oil overheating on their air drills (and even if it’s not overheating to the extent of shutting down the tractor, high temps break down hydraulic oil faster, and shorten the life of pumps, seals, etc — you...
read moreCheck Your Mojos
by Matt Hagny When used in benign conditions, our Mojo Wires have a long life expectancy. However, when flexed to the max, they may start to take on this greater curvature (of max-flexed position) and lose their tension when back in normal operating position. When...
read moreUniform Early Growth
by Matt Hagny You’ve probably often heard of the importance of uniform timing of emergence, which has been well-proven to be much more important to yield than uniform spacing of plants in the row. This is true for all crops, but especially for corn, sunflowers,...
read moreFertilizers in the Seed Row (“Pop-up”)
by Matt Hagny For those who don’t know my history, I’ve been an agronomist (independent crop consultant) for nearly a quarter-century now, working almost exclusively with no-till systems during that time. So, first and foremost, I’m an agronomist. I...
read moreGauge Wheels in No-till
by Matt Hagny A nuanced topic. First, let’s look at gauge wheels on planters, then drills. (Your drill isn’t a true gauge-wheel design? Maybe it’s time to upgrade). For the last 40+ yrs, virtually all planters have had gauge wheels alongside the...
read moreThe problem with JD 50/60/90-series drills
by Matt Hagny Many of you know that I view these drills as being superior to many others on the market because of: 1) depth gauging alongside the blade, 2) an in-furrow seed-lock wheel. Yet there are plenty of shortcomings with these drills, and Exapta has been busy...
read moreSeeds Must Absorb Moisture (Help Them)
by Matt Hagny I’ve spent my working life as an agronomist (independent crop consultant), trying to improve no-till cropping systems and methods. I didn’t set out to manufacture or sell planting equipment—I arrived here out of necessity, in that one of the...
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