"I tried drilling beans but there were problems. Seed placement was not as precise, and we had mold problems due to the increased density," says Walbert Meinke, Webster, Minn., who solved the problem by building his own splitter planter from scratch that lets him plant beans in 19-in. rows.

The result? Last year he had his best bean yields ever at an average of 67 bu. per acre on fields planted to narrow rows. A comparison plot with beans in 38-in. rows averaged just 42 bu. per acre.

"Before I built this planter, I also tried making two trips through the field with the planter, planting between rows on the second trip. This is a whole lot easier," says Meinke.

He bought a second 4-row planter and mounted it on a home-built pivoting hitch behind his trailing 4-row 38-in. Deere Max-Emerge. He positioned three row units so they're exactly between the four front units. A lift assembly mounts on each end of the pull-behind toolbar, making it easy to lift the trailing planter for transport.

The drive system on the rear planter was not modified. It's ground-driven the way it was originally.

Meinke uses an 8-row planter monitor to keep track of all 7 rows. When planting corn, he simply removes the rear splitter toolbar.

Meinke says the toughest part of adding the splitter toolbar was figuring out the brackets that mount on the front toolbar. They're angled upward with a pivot point that turns freely when the rear planter is raised.