The dead of winter is a good time to ponder, repair, modify or replace equipment that will be essential when spring arrives. So we’re offering a few thoughts on the subject from visitors to www.no-tillfarmer.com

No-Till Bean Drill

We are looking at purchasing a no-till soy bean drill. We now use a 15-foot Krause 5250, and we’re happy with it but need something bigger. Does anyone have experience with the John Deere 1690 or anything else that someone is really impressed with?

—Dave,

dmensink@earthlink.net

If you are going to use it just for beans, I would give the Case IH 5500 Soybean Special a good look. It has the Case IH Early Riser planter units on 15-inch spacings. We had a 5400 that was a 15-foot version of the 30-foot 5500, and it would plant into any conditions and still get a good stand. There are a lot of John Deere 750 no-till drills in our area, and I wouldn’t have traded our 5400 for one for any amount of money.

—Cliff SEIA, 
cornboy9@hotmail.com

The 750 works perfectly here and no other drill comes close. The Case IH drills are non-existent in our area because of poor placement in tough no-tilling conditions.

—Jeffery

I have yet to see a condition in which the 5400 will not do a near perfect job of seed placement and seed to soil contact.

—Cliff SEIA, 
cornboy9@hotmail.com

I’ve planted with my 750 in just about every type of ground condition you could imagine. It will…