Within a couple of months, you’ll see a replacement coming from John Deere for the highly popular 750 no-till drill as well as a new no-till air drill. Both rigs feature a new single disc opener to deliver excellent seed placement and emergence.

New Opener Is The Key

Among the most noteworthy features on the new 1560 no-till drill, which replaces the 750 drill, and the 1860 no-till air drill, a replacement for the 1850 drill, is a new opener. It features almost twice as many depth settings as its predecessor and provides all-till capability and easy no-tools adjustment.

The new opener has 13 depth settings that can be set in 1/4-inch increments compared with seven 7/16-inch increments on the 750 opener. There will also be 2 inches of vertical float before “active” hydraulic down pressure and opener spring force are applied.

Deere officials say this will allow the opener to follow rolling terrain much better and run in mellow soil conditions without having to apply excessive down force. Since the gauge wheel is mounted next to each opener, seeding depth is measured exactly where seed enters the soil.

Depending on the model, opener down-pressure can be adjusted from a minimum of 165 up to 400 pounds with a 7 1/2-inch row spacing or up to 450 pounds with a 10-inch row spacing. The result should be more accurate depth control in any seedbed condition for no-tillers.

There’s a choice of steel or smooth-sided gauge wheels to match no-till soil…