Double Disc Drill Parts
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Keeton Seed Firmers for Drills
Keetons have long been available for many models of double disc grain drills, and now that we have Mojos for them, you can actually get some serious seed firming out of them! Most grain drills (except JD 50/60/90s, and some SDX drills) completely lack an in-furrow seed-firming mechanism to apply a small but consistent pressure directly onto the seed at the seed’s location in the bottom of the furrow. Instead, these drills use trailing packer or ‘press’ wheels that run on the soil surface to compress all the soil above the seed to try to obtain sufficient seed/soil contact. As with planters, this method is problematic in the more structured soils of no-till cropping, and often causes mediocre to poor emergence if it doesn’t rain right away. Hence, many farmers install Keetons on these drills, which help, but often don’t have enough pressure.
Note: Although Keetons are available for JD 50/60/90 drills, we do not recommend them. This is because the angle of the opener changes so dramatically during field operation (no parallel link) that the Keeton often has little to no pressure on it, even with a Mojo Wire installed. Much better to use the seed-lock firming wheels on these drills, which supply a continuous pressure of about 20 lbs on a similar surface area as a Keeton—so long as a sufficiently narrow firming wheel is installed (well-designed firming wheels include Exapta’s DuraLok, Case’s SDX; also acceptable are Needham V8, and Deere’s narrow seed-lock wheel introduced in 2005—although it still rides on the sidewall too much due to being on a rigid rim, but is vastly superior to what Deere had prior to ’05). Even the Fin, a sliding plastic firmer that uses the Deere firming arm, is much better than a Keeton for the Deere 50/60/90 drills.
Pressure Where It’s Needed
Mojos give drill Keetons enough oomph to push seeds firmly into the bottom of the furrow, exactly where pressure is needed most—to ensure all the seeds get going at the same time, and establish themselves before the seed zone dries out. Seed-to-soil contact is too crucial to leave to chance (rain), or the haphazard effects of packer wheels (pushing on the soil surface, in hopes of something happening at the seed’s depth).
Why the Mojo Wire?
We’ve adapted our highly successful Mojo Wire to fit all current Keeton models for grain drills (i.e., any that are 2-piece, with a replaceable tail snapping into an upper plastic holder/receiver—i.e., the only style sold in recent years). By applying 2x to 5x more pressure onto the Keeton with the Mojo, the Keeton will wear out faster—but at least it’s doing some good at that point! It’s important to do consistent seed firming at the seed’s location—and sometimes this is the difference between achieving a decent stand, or not.
The Mojo Wires are compatible with the liquid feature of these drill Keetons,* although the liquid tubing is routed behind the upper receiver, instead of inside.
Keetons & Mojos will fit most Sunflower, Crustbuster, Great Plains, Marliss and certain other double-disc drills. The new Case-IH Precision 500 / New Holland P2080-series gauge-wheel drills (which lack an OEM firming device) can use a special drill Keeton + Mojo by installing Exapta’s steel bracket for this. (* Note: Keeton’s liquid capability is retained if using Exapta’s closing upgrade; otherwise tail is shortened.)