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No-till Planter Preparation

Corn planting season is fast approaching for much of North America’s Corn Belt, and many planters are now in the shop for overhauls, so a quick review of some essentials seems appropriate:

1) Check opener blades. Once they’ve lost 3/8-inch off their diameter, they’ve lost their bevel and no longer cut residues (or soil) readily. If you continue to run the blades for a long time, eventually they get worn so thin that they are sharp again (razor sharp), but this thinness causes huge problems with blade flex and furrows that are pinched slits so narrow that a corn kernel cannot get to the bottom.

For replacement blades, use the 3.5 mm instead of 3.0. Also, Deere now offers a double-row bearing and hub that reduce flex even…Read More

Chris Horton

Chris Horton brings 25 years of management with him. He grew up on his grandparents farm in Reno County Kansas where they mainly grew wheat and cattle feed. He worked on feed lots as a pen rider and cow-calf operations before moving to Southern California where Chris started a new career in the transportation and transport logistics, eventually managing the western region for a large commercial vehicle leasing company. Chris moved home to Kansas, to manage a local Farmers Coop and then eventually the service dept for a tractor dealership. The opportunity to join the Exapta team came up, and he knew he wanted to be a part of this team.

Bob Pagel

Sales & Service Representative

Prior to joining Exapta, Bob Pagel was an Agricultural Territory Sales Manager for Ritchie Brothers, serving parts of MN, WI and IA. He continues to support his family farm in SE Minnesota.

Jon Zeller

Current Product Engineer

Jonathan Zeller joined Exapta excited to return to working with no-till planting equipment. He supported research of no-till planting and other ag related projects for 7 years with Kansas State University’s Agricultural Engineering Department after getting his engineering degree. He later worked 3 years for Landoll Company, LLC. where he gained experience in a design engineering role. Jonathan grew up on a small family farm in NE Kansas working with row crops, hay and cattle. Jonathan enjoys solving engineering problems and improving or creating products to be robust and easy to install and service.