With its electric motors, seed bowl, brush belt seed delivery, and ability to plant at speeds of up to 10 miles-per-hour, the John Deere ExactEmergeTM planter is different than any other planter on the market. The ExactEmerge planter was released in 2014, and over the years has proven to be a highly accurate and reliable planter. While dependable, the planter still requires regular inspections and adjustments to keep it performing at its best. To avoid planting problems with your ExactEmerge planter, it is recommended to properly adjust the bowl tension and check it regularly during planting.
An Issue Experienced in 2020
During the 2020 season, several planters experienced an issue where seed was being found on the surface of the soil in planted fields. While isolated, this problem with the ExactEmerge planter was concerning, as seed is one of the most expensive inputs on the farm and its placement is critical for successful germination and ultimately yield. As soon as the issue was detected, our teams leaped into action to determine the cause and find a solution for our growers.
Upon digging into the problem, our teams discovered that the tension of the seed bowl was critical for ensuring good seed handoff to the brush belt seed delivery system. It appeared that the issue was present on machines with insufficient bowl tension. In this scenario, while it may appear that the bowl was properly adjusted, once you start planting and vacuum is applied to the seed meter it causes the bowl to pull away from the housing, resulting in improper handoff to the brush belt.
The Fix for Poor Seed Handoff
Bowl tension is critical to the performance of the ExactEmerge planter. Having the bowl tensioned too low or too high can result in planting issues. According to Ryan Hoffman, account manager at Platte Valley Equipment, the best way to properly adjust tension is by feeling the resistance to turning by-hand. Hoffman recommends disengaging the meter from the electric motor to get an accurate reading. If it doesn’t take any effort to spin the seed bowl or it spins freely, it is adjusted too loose. “If we’ve got very little rolling resistance at this point,” says Hoffman, “we will have even less rolling resistance once we have vacuum on the meter”. On the flip side, if you try to spin the bowl and it’s very difficult to turn, then it’s adjusted too tight.
To adjust the tension, remove the seed bowl from the meter and remove the pin from the bowl retaining hub. The tension can be adjusted by spinning the black handle. “I like to go in 1/8th turn increments”, explains Hoffman, “There are four places that the pin can go in the meter… and there are actually two holes drilled in the shaft.” This provides 16 possible tension settings to fine-tune the seed bowl.
Continued Maintenance
Properly tensioning the seed bowls at the start of planting will ensure the best possible performance. In addition to checking and adjusting them at the start of the season, it’s also recommended that they be cleaned and checked regularly during planting and adjusted as necessary. ExactEmerge planters run in challenging conditions, ranging from dust, high speeds, and high temperatures. All of these can result in wear on the bowls, seals, and other meter components. A good practice is to check new bowls after the first 100 acres, and then every 1500 acres thereafter. Depending on the number of acres you farm, this could involve checking the bowl tension several times during the planting season.
Other items to check if you run into planting issues this season are outlined in a previous post, What to Check if Your Planter Isn't Working Correctly.
Conclusion
The John Deere ExactEmerge planter has proven itself as one of the top high-speed planters on the market. It is differentiated from other planters due to its electric motors, seed bowl, and brush belt seed delivery system. When properly adjusted, the planter performs reliably in challenging conditions and provides excellent seed singulation, plant spacing, and control over seeding rates. To keep the ExactEmerge planter performing at its best, proper seed bowl tension is critical, and should be checked before and during planting.
To learn more about properly adjusting seed bowl tension, watch our latest video on YouTube.
If you have any further questions, please reach out to your local Platte Valley Equipment location:
Clarkson 402-892-3444
Fremont 402-721-9111
Humphrey 402-923-0606
Wahoo 402-443-3123