A Summary of 2024 Air Seeder Know-How
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service
“Will it last longer?” “Is this really better?” “How do I know when this is shot?” “How many more acres will this last?” At Exapta we have been listening to your questions, and our Engineering and Inspection teams are working hard to provide data to answer your questions. This furthers our mission to solve problems, rather than just sell you parts.
We are at the beginning of another year; another growing season lies ahead. Let’s share the information gathered this past year to make 2025 successful. You all have shared your successes and the improvements we need to make to keep products available that solve your problems in the field. The Exapta R&D team has tested products over tens of thousands of acres in multiple states. We pinpoint how long parts should last and why you should be replacing them at a certain point.
The lesson continues to hit home: no-till planting should be kept simple. The four steps of achieving successful emergence—cutting through residue, placing the seed at the correct depth, firming the seed into the bottom, and closing the furrow by crumbling the sidewall, leaving the soil loose—continue to hold true. As we continue to inspect air seeders, we see that lack of maintenance to these parts can lead to failure in the field. While this isn’t new information, we continue to find a correlation between measurements within spec and farms satisfied with crop emergence.
We all know why we need to keep sharp opener blades but there are different measurements for when to replace them. We have always said at 17 3/8” the bevel is worn off and the blade starts to get too dull. You can run them down to 16” according to the manual but it involves the work of moving the seed boot down one hole. Over the years we’ve tested many different brands of opener blades, and none seem to last 50% more than OEM blades. The difference we’ve found with blades is that they should match the acres you cover in a season and remain sharp until planting is finished. If conditions are dry and hard a blade’s life can be cut in half. It’s helpful to change blades often to force you to inspect the rest of the row-unit.
There are three pivots with bushings on the row unit to check for excess play. The most important is the main pin, which keeps the row unit at the proper angle for the single disc to create a furrow. These pivots can last approximately 6,000 acres with a 15’ box drill or 18,000 acres with a 40’ air seeder. Check that the retaining bolt is tight if you find wiggle in the row unit first. Replacing pins halfway through those acres before bushings wear or rotating the pin 180 degrees often helps to get the full life out of the pins. The firming arm bushings are the least important as the wheel will center itself in the furrow. Issues with the firming arm being too loose are the wheel can catch between the boot and the blade when raising row units at the end of the row. The arm can get stuck in the air preventing the wheel from staying down in the furrow. The closing wheel arm needs to be kept within half an inch of side play, or the wheel can run in the furrow or be too far away, preventing closing the furrow. We continue to find that the lighter and thinner Thompson wheel wears the closing pivot out significantly slower than the heavier OEM spoked wheel. If you’ve replaced closing pivots before and already have seen some side play in the arm, consider upgrading closing wheels to go longer before replacing the closing pivots again.
The JD extended-wear seed boots take so long to wear the bottom edge, that the mounting hole on the boot gets egg-shaped. There has long been an issue with oblong holes in the shank, but Pro Stitch kits hold the bolt against the top of the hole, and on Pro series seed boots the flag pin keeps the pin from turning. Neither of these fixes oblong seed boot holes. The best option is to install bushings in both the shank and seed boot holes or buy seed boots with holes already large enough for bushings, so no drilling is required. On Pro series openers replace the flag pin every time you change blades or at least check the pin for wear.
We get many questions about the best way to run liquids in-furrow on drill row units. Each style has trade-offs, but the least problematic seems to be using the Fin, a sliding firmer that keeps the liquid in the furrow instead of splashing on other parts of the row-unit. Box drills and air seeders would be best to use dry fertilizer, which is cheaper and much less problematic to apply in-furrow.
It’s hard to work on these drills but using long-lasting wear parts can keep rebuild intervals longer. The average among farms seems to be 30,000 acres on a 40′ air seeder (this is equal to 11,000 acres on a 15′ box drill) where significant rebuilding of the row-unit happens. If you want to stay ahead of excess play and get the seeds in the furrow at the correct depth, rebuild sooner than this. Exapta will continue to test and improve so you can decide if it’s worth the investment.