Valion Seed Tube Guards
All About Valion Seed Tube Guards
No Pinched Furrows
The Valion doesn’t form the furrow by pushing soil—it doesn’t drag below the blades, which would be very undesirable. Instead, the Valion keeps the lower edge of the blades at the optimum distance from each other so that the blades create a furrow of useful width, consistently, for uniform timing of emergence, resulting in higher yields.
Excellent Wear Life
Side-by-side comparison of Valions vs Kinze 3000s OEM seed tube guards on a Kinze 3140 16-row planter, covering 500 acres. This is from an Exapta customer in Hooper, NE.
Extreme Durability
Valion™ seed tube guards from Exapta will eliminate seed tube wear and greatly reduce blade flex to create a properly shaped furrow and improved planting depth control. These guards are perfect for no-till or high-wear conditions, or anyone who is simply tired of replacing seed tube guards so often. While intended to limit blade flex, standard OEM seed tube guards can wear substantially in just a few hours of use (esp. older John Deere & Kinze). Our chrome Valions will outlast OEM guards by 2 to 4X, so that furrows are properly shaped and seeds placed at the correct depth continuously down the row, and all the way thru the planting season. (Valion Ultras—with tungsten carbide inlays—are discontinued for XP & ME5s, but still available for pre-XP and Kinze 2000s, while supplies last; these are a permanent fix, but not suited to rocky conditions.)
Liquid Capability
Liquid Capability Valions are also a slick way to apply liquids into the seed furrow (N/A on Kinze 3000 Valions). Here’s how to make this setup as trouble-free as possible, and more affordable and durable than competitor systems: Exapta’s Stainless Steel Liquid Tube Holders.
- No drilling—installs with existing bolt holes
- Secures plastic 1/4″ line for liquids
- Keeps the small plastic line out of the blades
- Prevents damage from stalks or tree limbs
- Stainless steel for low corrosion
- Thick-wall pipe
21″ Heat-resistant tubing puts connector alongside shank on Kinze 2000
Connector alongside shank on Deere XP planter unit.
Connector above shank.
Note: We prefer applying liquids via Keetons. We view Keetons (or in-furrow ‘seed-lock’ wheels) as crucial for consistent stand establishment in no-till, and keeping those devices clean can be more of a challenge when liquids are applied ahead of them – although this is entirely dependent on liquid rate, stickiness of the liquid, and soil properties. However, many people get along just fine year after year applying liquids ahead of Keetons.
Note: Blade thickness affects the wear of any seed tube guard. Thicker blades slow the wear tremendously, because the rigidity of the blade increases as the cube of the thickness. So, it’s a huge difference between 3 vs 3.5mm blades, and again between 3.5mm vs 4mm. We strongly encourage going from 3 to 3.5mm if you haven’t already done so. And yet we’re not so thrilled with 4mm blades (standard on Monosem’s ‘French’ row unit) on double-disc planters. The 4mm blades don’t cut soil and residue as well as the 3.5s (this is especially true on Monosems, where the 4mm blades have a shallower bevel; if you want to convert those planters to using 3.5mm blades with Deere hubs, call us for a special bolt to make this conversion work).
Valion Seed Tube Guards Videos
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