Maintenance Tips for Skip Row Planters

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With all of the action that skip row planters get each planting season, it is expected that issues will come up from time to time, with older planters being particularly vulnerable to any number of various operational malfunctions. Fortunately, your local cotton harvester parts company is here with a guide to some of the most common maintenance issues, large and small, to be on the lookout for, so that you are able to keep your skip row planter in optimal condition:

  • Drill shaft bearings: Special attention must be paid to the drill shaft bearings, as they can quietly cause a whole host of problems. If the drill shaft has become stiff, it will jerk excessively, causing sporadic and uneven seed distribution in the rows. If the shaft is frozen or locked up, the seed meter will likely stop working altogether.
  • Row cleaners: The row cleaner is another area of the planter that can eventually fall prey to the effects of heavy usage. The coulter blade will become dull over time, reducing both the effectiveness and diameter of the part. Alternatively, the tine on tined row cleaners can either become too short or too thin, directly affecting your planter’s ability to efficiently clear the row. When the tine wears short, there is less space between the tips and the hubs, which can lead to difficulty clearing solid objects such as rocks or root bulbs. When the tine becomes thin, it bends easily and won’t form the mesh needed to correctly collect and drag the dirt.
  • Check the connections: While you are making sure that all of the larger components are in good shape, don’t forget to check on some of the smaller items that are just as important to the operation of your machine. For example, there may be either zip ties or electrical tape that keep the wires away from all of the planter’s moving parts. Over time, these connections can either loosen or become brittle, freeing up the wires to potentially get pinched or snapped while the machine is in motion. With the positioning of the wiring disrupted, the sensor’s readings may be off, affecting the planting of an individual row or multiple rows.
  • Suction doors: In addition to sustaining a significant amount of wear as the doors open and close, the rubber seals on a closed vacuum meter door can create grooves in the seed plates. This can lead to problems with both the door and the seed disk.

To avoid downtime that could be damaging to your operations and ultimately your bottom line, you will need to make sure that all of the necessary maintenance is tended to regularly, especially if your planter is more than 10 years old. Fortunately, Certi-Pik, USA has exactly what you need to keep your planter going all season long. We specialize in high-quality replacement parts that have been put through a rigorous quality control process. To browse our extensive inventory of reliable skip row planter parts, make sure you give us a call today.