Great Plains Manufacturing, Incorporated

James I Van Blaricon

Eric Johnson

J Michael McClure

Dan J Obenland

A seed firming wheel assembly is supported in close-coupled relationship with the rear portion of the paired discs of an opener to gently press deposited seeds down into the bottom of a V-shaped trench formed by the discs. The mounting arm of the assembly is configured in a manner to minimize the accumulation of mud and trash residue, while the wheel itself may take the form of a solid, circular block of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene with slick sides to reduce soil adherence or a spoked, molded plastic wheel having open spaces between the spokes to permit soil pass-through.

Grain drill unit having seed firming wheel

The front folding machine has a main fore-and-aft carrier frame provided with transport wheels that may be hydraulically actuated to raise and lower the frame simultaneously with the actuation of gauge wheels on a pair of transverse drill units connected to the rear of the carrier frame, thereby causing the trash cutters and openers which are carried by the drill units to raise out of the ground while the gauge wheels and transport wheels remain in ground engagement. Before folding the drill units forwardly into transport positions extending parallel to the path of travel, the drill units are raised by hydraulically operated tool bars into elevated positions in which the gauge wheels of the units are entirely off the ground and the residue cutters are high enough to clear the transport wheels of the carrier frame as the drill units are folded into the transport position. The tool bars which provide elevation for folding purposes are also provided with flotation pivots by which the drill units are connected to the tool bars so that the individual units can rock laterally about separate fore-and-aft pivots when the machine is unfolded and the gauge wheels encounter changes in terrain during field operations. Flotation limit means associated with the drill units prevent excessive rocking movement during terrain changes and also assist in the control of the drill units during raising and lowering between field and transport positions.

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Salina, KS, United States of America

James I Van Blaricon