Each year, Bruce Waibel sees scores of planters come through Solid Rock Ag Solutions, his business in northwest Indiana that takes care of “all things planter.” He says planters used in no-till operations typically show more wear compared to those run on clean-till fields

“Overall, we just see accelerated wear on nearly anything that moves on a no-till planter,” he says. 

Solid Rock Ag Solutions is located on the Waibel family farm near Remington, Ind. It employs a staff of 11 in a 20,000-square-foot warehouse and shop, and since 2004, it has evolved as a service and sales center for what Waibel terms “all things planter.”

“The business got a low-key start at first when we became a Precision Planting dealer, and it’s grown every year,” Waibel says. “Today we’re serving an area with a radius of about 1.5-3 hours around us. Historically, our primary focus has been on planting, but we’re increasingly getting involved in the spraying, application and harvesting areas.”

Waibel says Solid Rock Ag Solutions has one of the largest parts inventories of any planter specialist in the country, noting they want inventory on hand when it’s needed to serve the core planter business.

With 2023’s corn harvest largely in the bin, No-Till Farmer asked Waibel for tips and insights on planter maintenance as growers move from the field to the shop for the winter. He offered the following comments to help you get your planter ready for spring: 

Wear Point Fundamentals 

Row Cleaners/No-Till Coulters: Many no-tillers…