AC Grain Drill, 13 hole single disk

A manual can be very handy to find adjustments and lubrication points. I have a JD drill and I found the charts only got me close to the planting rates I wanted so I worked up a calibration technique. I typed it up on New AG Talk last Friday. Now I'll copy and paste.

20 years ago, JD sold the manual for a whopping $2.85. I joked with the parts counter guy that such a price would break the farm budget and he said I didn't have to take it. Today I think JD still sells a reproduction of the manual, but probably for more like $25. Still you need more than just the planting chart to make good use of the drill. Epay might be a place to find such a manual, and there are collectors and sellers of manuals at all the farm shows and swap meets that might have one. Surely they are also on line and a google search for JD FB Drill Manual should turn some up. Play attention to the drill unit spacing as that affects the planting rate.

Then the charts are just starting points, the drill still needs to be fine tuned. I've done it this way:

I jacked up one end of the drill so I could spin the ground tire.

I mounted some grain over the feeder hole in the hopper, and I engaged that side of the drill (mine is a ground actuated drive, not hydraulic to lower the drill units and put them in gear).

I marked the tire with chalk and put a paper sack under the seed tube.

Then I turned the wheel ten turns.

After measuring the tire circumference, I could weigh or count the seed dropped and compute the seed per acre. I had a chemist's analytical balance available so I didn't need half a bucket of seed. If your weighing apparatus isn't as sensitive you'll need to do more turns of the wheel and have enough seed in the hopper.

I divided the weighed (or counted seed, I planted corn with it one year) by the length of ten times the tire circumference in feet to get seed per foot. Then I divided 43560 by the row spacing (7 inches in my case) to the number of row feet per acre and multiplied the weight per foot by that number to get pounds per acre. If you need more turns to get to a weight you can measure (a postal scale does probably quarter ounce precision) you divide by more feet the wheel has covered.

Once adjusted to the rate you wish, it will do a fairly good job of getting there providing the seed isn't like brome or switchgrass with long awns that keep it from falling to the measuring unit.

Gerald J.

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JoeO(CMO) Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Orange Level Joined: 11 Sep 2009 Location: Cent Missouri Points: 2694	Post Options Post Reply Quote JoeO(CMO) Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: AC Grain Drill, 13 hole single disk Posted: 03 Apr 2011 at 2:25pm
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Gerald J. Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Orange Level Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Location: Hamilton Co, IA Points: 5636	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gerald J. Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Apr 2011 at 5:15pm
	A manual can be very handy to find adjustments and lubrication points. I have a JD drill and I found the charts only got me close to the planting rates I wanted so I worked up a calibration technique. I typed it up on New AG Talk last Friday. Now I'll copy and paste. 20 years ago, JD sold the manual for a whopping $2.85. I joked with the parts counter guy that such a price would break the farm budget and he said I didn't have to take it. Today I think JD still sells a reproduction of the manual, but probably for more like $25. Still you need more than just the planting chart to make good use of the drill. Epay might be a place to find such a manual, and there are collectors and sellers of manuals at all the farm shows and swap meets that might have one. Surely they are also on line and a google search for JD FB Drill Manual should turn some up. Play attention to the drill unit spacing as that affects the planting rate. Then the charts are just starting points, the drill still needs to be fine tuned. I've done it this way: I jacked up one end of the drill so I could spin the ground tire. I mounted some grain over the feeder hole in the hopper, and I engaged that side of the drill (mine is a ground actuated drive, not hydraulic to lower the drill units and put them in gear). I marked the tire with chalk and put a paper sack under the seed tube. Then I turned the wheel ten turns. After measuring the tire circumference, I could weigh or count the seed dropped and compute the seed per acre. I had a chemist's analytical balance available so I didn't need half a bucket of seed. If your weighing apparatus isn't as sensitive you'll need to do more turns of the wheel and have enough seed in the hopper. I divided the weighed (or counted seed, I planted corn with it one year) by the length of ten times the tire circumference in feet to get seed per foot. Then I divided 43560 by the row spacing (7 inches in my case) to the number of row feet per acre and multiplied the weight per foot by that number to get pounds per acre. If you need more turns to get to a weight you can measure (a postal scale does probably quarter ounce precision) you divide by more feet the wheel has covered. Once adjusted to the rate you wish, it will do a fairly good job of getting there providing the seed isn't like brome or switchgrass with long awns that keep it from falling to the measuring unit. Gerald J.