Industry-First Adjustable Closing Wheel Innovation Rides on Parallel Linkage

The pioneer of many planter attachments, including the original row cleaner and spiked closing wheel, just introduced another first in the industry during the National Farm Machinery Show. Martin-Till was showing prototypes of a closing wheel system that features adjustable closing wheels riding on a parallel linkage suspension complete with pneumatic down pressure. All three features are industry firsts.

"A single lever changes the squeeze point of the closing wheels at the bottom of the seed trench. This is possible through the use of a rotatable axle," explains Steve Martin (shown in the image), owner of Martin-Till. "This addresses the need to adjust closing wheel operation to suit different soils types or varying soil moisture or residue conditions."

Furthermore, the parallel linkage suspension provides for consistent closing wheel stance through the entire range of operation, Martin adds. "This results in consistent closing of the trench so you don't get a trench that is left open if the row unit goes over a mound, for example."

A future addition to the closing wheel attachment would be the ability to stagger the position of the closing wheels "which may be warranted if a farmer is mixing closing wheel types (such as one solid rubber or metal wheel paired with a spiked closing wheel)," Martin adds.

Another future addition to the design would be the ability to add a firming wheel behind the closing wheel.

The innovation is still in prototype stage of evaluation with a couple of hundred units being made available to farmers this spring. Martin expects full production of the closing wheel assembly by next fall.

For more information, go to martintill.com.