Grain Guide 2018

When a planter is calibrated, wheel slippage of the planter drive wheels is an important component to take into account. It is important to calibrate the planter in the field to be planted to compensate for wheel slippage. Different soils will cause different wheel slip percentages. 4.1. Calibration of fertiliser Fertiliser dispensing can be calibrated as follows:  Mark out a distance of 10 m in the field.  Catch the fertiliser from one of the fertiliser delivery tubes in a suitable container across the 10 m distance, while the planter moves at a normal working speed.  Weigh the fertiliser caught in the container.  The fertiliser delivery in kg/ha can be calculated as follows: Mass of fertiliser delivered over 10 m in grams Planter’s row spacing in metres  Repeat the process with the other planter rows to ensure that the delivery is the same.  If the delivery has to be changed, the gear combinations between the drive wheels of the fertiliser mechanism should preferably be changed rather than increasing or decreasing the delivery. 34 Steps to calibrate planters 4  Calibration of the planter 40 37 Seed