When running both ranks of openers on the 30, 36, 40 & 42′ 1890s, 1860s, and 1850s, it’s easy to run short of frame weight when running in firm no-till soils—and this is especially true if you’re still running the OEM springs on each opener, rather than hydraulic cylinders (see our UniForce system). The openers don’t work well if they’re skating out from lack of downpressure, and cranking up the downpressure without adequate frame weight can make the problem worse by excessively ‘rolling under’ of the openers (furrow actually gets shallower, because the opener is now riding more on the gauge wheel, since it’s located rearward of the blade). Better to prepare now, and have extra ballast ready when you need it—sooner or later, you will.
We’ve long been advocates of placing additional ballast over the rear transport wheels on the JD 1850/60/90 air drills, as this is the best location to offset the leveraging from the rockshaft torque on the openers (the rear wheels always lift first). It’s always been do-it-yourself thing for securing the weights—until now.
We took a farmer concept, and made it more robust with the help of stress-analysis software, and now can offer you a ready-to-go solution. Our brackets are for the wing transport wheels on 3-section drills, where those wheel frames are attached with bolts (see photo).
All hardware included. (Doesn’t include weights, nor shipping.) Holds up to 12 JD suitcase weights per bracket. For 1850/60/90 air drills with carts (not compatible with CCS drills).
Call to order 785-820-8000
JD weights, call for pricing. Free shipping for 10 or more. (We don’t stock these in our warehouse—all orders will incur freight, and go directly to you.)
Replaces: John Deere R127764 Suitcase Weight.
Replaces: John Deere R51680 Suitcase Weight.
Replaces: John Deere R58823 Suitcase Weight.
Content of this page is copyright 2005-2024 Exapta Solutions, Inc. (reprint with written permission only).
Thompson wheel covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,907,833. Liquid delivery feature of Valion seed tube guards is U.S. Patent No. 8,978,564. Ninja seed bounce flap U.S. Patent Pending. UniForce U.S. Patent Pending. All rights reserved on other designs. Exapta is a registered trademark of Exapta Solutions, Inc. Keeton is a registered trademark of Precision Planting. Mojo Wire, Thompson wheel, Valion guard, Ninja flap, UniForce, DuraLok, No-till Seeding Explained, and No-till Seeding School are trademarks of Exapta. Disclaimer: Recommendations & page content are current, accurate, and believed to be broadly applicable as of the time of writing (Dec 2005) and last update (2005 – 2014). Because of diversity of soils, climate, crops, planter & drill models/designs marketed worldwide, combinations of attachments, etc., actual results may vary. No warranty is made as to actual results obtained. Should you encounter exceptions or worthwhile annotations to the statements made on this page, please contact us.
Derek is Kansas native who grew up in a 100% no-till farming operation. From an early age the benefits of no-till were made known to Derek by his father and by attending no-till conferences. From there he furthered his passion for soils while at Kansas State University getting his agronomy degree. He has had the experience of working in various roles and sectors of agriculture from sales and consulting, to management, which have all been within production agriculture. Derek has also worked in specialty ag markets such as turf and ornamentals.
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.
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.
