Straight planting rows
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Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30590
Printed Date: 06 Mar 2025 at 4:02pm
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Topic: Straight planting rows
Posted By: Ryan Renko
Subject: Straight planting rows
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 7:20pm
| Everyone used to drive around and comment on which local farmer planted the straightest rows around here. Now with this GPS guided steering it just aint the same!!! Ryan |
Replies:
Posted By: Bill Long
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 7:52pm
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That good? Do you have pictures? Remember I'm used to check wires. Damn technology Good Luck! Bill Long
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Posted By: JW in MO
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 8:36pm
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We had a neighbor that planted with an old half worn out H, he looked like he was trying to conduct an orchastra with both hands on the wheel and his head bobbing around looking all over, but he always had the straightest rows in the country. Dad on the other hand worked hard at it but always claimed he could get more seeds in a row than neighbor Hank could in the same field. ------------- Maximum use of available resources! |
Posted By: Brian Jasper co. Ia
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 8:41pm
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Who cares if the rows are a little crooked. Only gonna use 'em once... ------------- "Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian." Henry Ford |
Posted By: CTuckerNWIL
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 8:42pm
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The guy I used to work for would "get the row straightener out" right after planting. We filled it with water and some other stuff and he sprinkled the rows. Claimed as the sun dried it, the rows got stretched straight.
------------- http://www.ae-ta.com" rel="nofollow - http://www.ae-ta.com Lena 1935 WC12xxx, Willie 1951 CA6xx Dad bought new, 1954WD45 PS, 1960 D17 NF |
Posted By: CTuckerNWIL
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 8:46pm
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The Straight Row mentality may have come from the check row system of planting.??? If you did a good job of checking the rows, you could cultivate 4 ways, as you planted, cross of the way planted and at 45 degree both ways. ------------- http://www.ae-ta.com" rel="nofollow - http://www.ae-ta.com Lena 1935 WC12xxx, Willie 1951 CA6xx Dad bought new, 1954WD45 PS, 1960 D17 NF |
Posted By: Don(MO)
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 8:50pm
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I forgot to take pics planting corn this year , so last years will have to do. I can't find a GPS for the old planter so I just look down the row, it works OK for me. lol
Don
 ------------- 3 WD45's with power steering,G,D15 fork lift,D19, W-Speed Patrol, "A" Gleaner with a 330 corn head,"66" combine,roto-baler, and lots of Snap Coupler implements to make them work for their keep. |
Posted By: Jack(Ky)
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 8:52pm
| I planted some this afternoon and I am glad it is back in the boonies where the "straight row police" won't see it. I bought this old 4 row AC 50 or 60 series planter that was gonna get the torch used on it and I got it back to perculatin' and it seems to be doing alright. I am only putting out about 5 or 6 acres to use for feed.JP |
Posted By: JoeO(CMO)
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 9:08pm
]
You could tell how straight the rows were planted by looking at the ear, the truth will always show up somewhere, makes good conversation when you sit down for a meal with corn on the cob served! ------------- |
JW in MO wrote:Posted By: GBACBFan
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 9:15pm
A check row planted cornfield is a beautiful thing.
 ------------- "The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." - Mark Twain |
Posted By: Ryan Renko
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 9:23pm
| Great photo!! |
Posted By: Bill Long
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 10:05pm
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I heard on the History Channel where they were talking about ag technology that using the GPS for planting can increase efficiency of land use by 10% Good Luck! Bill Long
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Posted By: m16ty
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 10:26pm
Don, those are some straight rows but I can't help but notice how you turn at the end. I always just cut the wheel and just stomp on the wheel brake. I can turn around in my own track and not have to "swing out" to make the turn. |
Posted By: se iowa picker
Date Posted: 11 May 2011 at 10:49pm
| one of these years I want to try some check row planting just so people can stop and stare. There was a couple towns up that planted his sweet corn in check pattern out in his garden. It was pretty cool to drive by and see. |
Posted By: Don(MO)
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 5:34am
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M16ty, I put that little loop on the end so I will know where the two row set is at when I run the cultivator through it. Don ------------- 3 WD45's with power steering,G,D15 fork lift,D19, W-Speed Patrol, "A" Gleaner with a 330 corn head,"66" combine,roto-baler, and lots of Snap Coupler implements to make them work for their keep. |
Posted By: Eldon (WA)
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 12:07pm
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Now if you are really good you can plant with a two row and cultivate with a 4 row! ------------- ALLIS EXPRESS! This year: |
Posted By: ky wonder
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 4:03pm
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i dont like straight rows, you cant get as much corn in a straight row as you can a crooked one :) ------------- i like old tractors of all colors |
Posted By: HagerAC
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 4:07pm
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We plant with a 6 row and combine with a 4 row on our F2 and we have no GPS system.
------------- 30+ A-Cs ranging from a 1928 20-35, to a 1984 8070FWA, Gleaner R52 |
Posted By: Don(MO)
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 6:20pm
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Well I plant with a two row planter and pick with a three row head on the old "A" lol ------------- 3 WD45's with power steering,G,D15 fork lift,D19, W-Speed Patrol, "A" Gleaner with a 330 corn head,"66" combine,roto-baler, and lots of Snap Coupler implements to make them work for their keep. |
Posted By: JoeO(CMO)
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 6:32pm
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My goodness Don. you do it all! lol ------------- |
Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 7:31pm
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I don't care if your rows are staright, crooked or checkered. I appreciate that you're still FARMING !!! ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: Ryan Renko
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 7:35pm
| It was always the talk in the local tavern about who planted the straightest. Kinda like braggin rights!! Ryan |
Posted By: junkman
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 7:58pm
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I still see some around here that don't have GPS's with pvc posts on opposite ends of the fields for laying out that first critical row. |
Posted By: Ryan Renko
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 8:11pm
| We are very late in planting here in southern Illinois due to the rain. I drove by a pretty small field, maybe 40 acres, and the farmers were folding up 2 kinze planters that were about 24 row each in that one field!! Desperate times to get that late corn in around here. Ryan |
Posted By: abbaschild95
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 8:15pm
How in the world did they do that in such a large field??? ------------- Great-granfather's WC---- hopefully many more to come! |
Posted By: Tedin NE-OH
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 8:17pm
| I'll bet he thought he would never get done with such a large field. |
Posted By: Ryan Renko
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 8:22pm
| That farmer needed roundup ready corn!! God bless them!! |
Posted By: CTuckerNWIL
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 8:27pm
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When I was a kid, we were done cultivating the 3rd time through cause the corn was too tall for the tractor axles. Then we had to walk it and pull velvet weeds so we could earn a dollar to spend at the fair. Those were the toughest dollars I ever earned with corn leaves cuttin your arms and sweat drippin in your eyes, it seemed like it took a week for 3 of us boys to do 5 acres. ------------- http://www.ae-ta.com" rel="nofollow - http://www.ae-ta.com Lena 1935 WC12xxx, Willie 1951 CA6xx Dad bought new, 1954WD45 PS, 1960 D17 NF |
Posted By: junkman
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 8:40pm
| My neighbor back during the depression years stated that her and here siblings would go to the corn field equipped only with hoe's. now that would be a job most of us are glad is over. |
Posted By: Dave(inMA)
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 9:15pm
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There's a field planted to Christmas trees up the road - planted like that picture. I always marvel at it. ------------- WC, CA, D14, WD45 |
Posted By: jhid
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 11:01pm
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It's sad that the art of driving straight is dieing Its been a while since I've seen straight rows planted without using a gps ------------- red and green are nice for christmas, but orange is all year round http://www.canadianantiquetractor.com/tractorforum/ |
Posted By: Eldon (WA)
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 11:04pm
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I'd challenge anyone to make a straight row in my rocky fields with a 2 row corn planter! ------------- ALLIS EXPRESS! This year: |
Posted By: Eldon (WA)
Date Posted: 12 May 2011 at 11:05pm
Guess I'm still in the depression era....spend many evenings out in my sweet corn patch cleaning out what the cultivator misses.... ------------- ALLIS EXPRESS! This year: |
Posted By: SHAMELESS
Date Posted: 13 May 2011 at 12:59am
| kinda silly to put straight rows in a crooked field! lol...i use the marker on my 8-row, but don't use any markers on my 6 row! |
Posted By: Dale H. ECIL
Date Posted: 13 May 2011 at 10:11pm
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My Dad was never known for his straight rows, his reason was he said he was watching a bird on the fence at the other end of the field and the bird must have kept moving. He also said you can get more corn in a crooked row.
------------- Allis Chalmers Museum, Paris, Il.http:// www.allischalmersmuseum.com 217-275-3428 |
Posted By: AC WD45
Date Posted: 13 May 2011 at 10:32pm
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My 17yr old girlfriend can make straighter rows with her dad's 65 JD 4020D narrow front and 6 row than the neighbor can make with his 2009 9430 JD Greenstar'd 4x4 and 42 row. He always comes over and BS'es her about how he's going to sue cause she makes his 50+ years experience and $500,000 set up look bad, and then BS'es me because she's two weeks older than me LOL. Nice fella though, would do anything to help out without expecting anything in return. ------------- German Shepherd dad 1957 Allis Chalmers WD45 #WD234847 1951 Allis Chalmers WD #WD88193 |
Posted By: Jack(Ky)
Date Posted: 13 May 2011 at 11:44pm
| AC, don't let her get away even if she does drive an"offbrand" tractor.JP |
Posted By: ky wonder
Date Posted: 14 May 2011 at 4:09am
i have hard cover resources that where recomending this practice even as late as the mid 1950's ------------- i like old tractors of all colors |
Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 14 May 2011 at 9:31am
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Driving straight had absolutely nothing to do with it- Yep- a check-row planting system consisted of guide-wires stretched across the field. The wire not only made a straight line, it had beads affixed at regular intervals, where the planter 'hit' the beads, the planter dropped a seed. Took guys at each end of the field setting stakes, measuring distances, and stretching the wire. Remember that the whole idea here, was to allow cross-cultivation- you ran down the rows one way, then across the other rows the other way. Running a mounted cultivator, you had three different angles which to cultivate through and rip out pesky weeds from your fields... and when done right, it'd leave one really pretty lookin' field. The unfortunate reality to check-row planting (and cross-cultivation) was that the space between knots meant that there was substantially less seed going down in the field, hence, fewer plants, and with fewer plants, more light reaching the ground, hence, more area available for weeds to get sunlight and thrive. Next... running cultivators, though effective at tearing out weeds, means the soil is always broken, and highly subject to erosion... it also means burning more fuel in a given field. Finally, it took lots of time (in comparison) to set up that wire and get it straight... and if you're working a field that's far from flat... well... you're gonna have fun with that wire. So higher yields, basic horticulture, conservationism, and economics have made check-row obsolete... but it is quite a sight to see, and farmers still comment, perhaps even brag on how 'straight' rows are. Today's planting methods don't require 'straight' rows... they just need to be put down in a way that fills the field and can be harvested by modern machinery. There's a small point of conservation that DID show in check-row planting... today's techniques put an incredible amount of plants in the field... our back field runs 220bu/acre corn yield on an average year... if it was check-row planted, it'd be lucky to be 75bu/acre, simply because it'd have only a fraction of plants per acre. The quantity of plants per acre being lower, a check-row field would promote better soil recovery, with the only exception being that mechanical cultivation exposes the soil to erosion losses. |
Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 14 May 2011 at 9:39am
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The evolution of agricultural practice and technology can be incredibly fascinating. While my mother spent her after-school hours running a mounted cultivator on a WC, My grandfather never check-row planted, on account that his riverbottom fields would go from flooded to planted in an extremely short timeframe, and the hillsides simply wouldn't make a wire sit straight enough. He WAS known for planting to a high enough density that once the corn was too tall to drive through, weeds didn't get enough light to grow and choke out the corn. He was also known for making Mom and her sisters run the cultivator through the weedy areas on a pretty rigorout schedule... I heard stories about Mom wanting to go on dates and school functions, and blasting back up the lane to the house with hardware and cultivator parts literally falling off the toolbar... (but she swears that's not true) ;-) Even then, the 'performance' of check-row was obviously questionable... not using the technique, Grandpa still managed to bag yield-performance awards year after year. He was a Funks-G dealer for much of it... and had two closets full of trophies... when he passed away, the trophies were handed out to every grandchild... and I have mine on display here!!! |
Posted By: AC WD45
Date Posted: 14 May 2011 at 10:32am
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The 4020 4440 are the only Deere's they have. They also have the first D17 I've ever driven and the only D21 I've driven/second one I've seen in person I plowed 155 acres with it so far this year,and I will probably add close to another 200 to that not includeing discing before winter wheat (we have to disc before we no-till because we have clay that gets as hard as cement) before everythings done. with a dual on the left side, you couldn't pick a better tractor to handle a 7 bottom plow. It's been in their family since it was new. ------------- German Shepherd dad 1957 Allis Chalmers WD45 #WD234847 1951 Allis Chalmers WD #WD88193 |
Posted By: R.W
Date Posted: 14 May 2011 at 11:10am
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I got a book with a picture of an unstyled wc cultivating check-rows. Tryed to put the picture up before but it got really fuzzy when I scaned it to the puter so it was kinda point less. ------------- In Search Of: 1958 Allis Chalmers D17 Diesel serial #9643D |
Posted By: weiner43
Date Posted: 14 May 2011 at 3:36pm
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That sure does bring back memories. Even the horse looked like the one I followed behind for at least a million miles! ------------- God bless our troops and the United States of America. Pick your rut well, you may be in it a long time. |
Posted By: captaindana
Date Posted: 14 May 2011 at 7:22pm
| Don I turn exactly like you. I [hardly] ever touch the brakes! |