Custom Packer Transport Built From Old Planter Frame

Custom Packer Transport Built From Old Planter Frame “I like to use a packer behind my drill in one operation to firm the seedbed, but a while back I didn’t have equipment that matched up with my 15-ft. John Deere 750 seed drill,” says Bob DeBrabandere. After considering his options, he decided to repurpose his older 7000 6-row-wide planter frame to create a piece of equipment that would work with his drill for his 155-acre farm. After picking up a 4-row-wide planter, he removed two of its packer units to extend his 6-row planter to 8 rows. “I was looking at the situation and thought that I could attach my packer to the old planter frame and turn it into a hydraulic lift transport,” DeBrabandere says. “So, it became about a 10-ft. packer with two additional 4-ft. pups. Once I narrowed it down, it pulls perfectly behind my 15-ft. drill.” DeBrabandere used fertilizer box mounts, turned backward, and hung chains from them to lift the two pup packers off the ground. In about half a day, he finished the improvised unit using old spare parts and chains he had on hand. He says the trickiest part was keeping the two pups from rubbing against the transport wheels when turning, but he added chains to prevent them from swinging over too far. He was initially worried that the planter frame wouldn’t lift the packers, but they had no trouble handling the load. “It took me longer to figure out the details of my idea than it did to put everything together,” he laughs. “It works great in the field, on my headlands, and for going down the road.” DeBrabandere even modified the unit to expand to a wider position for towing behind his cultivator by changing the hitch point between the main packer and the pups. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob DeBrabandere, 754700 Cty. Rd. 55, RR 8, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada N4S 7W3 (brokenroadfarms@ymail.com).

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