[D&M Farms]

I'm currently running a Deere 4840 on a 12 row 3pt 7300 planter. I'm want to switch to a case magnum 7140/7240 for next year. I do a lot of ridge till in the bottom land but also farm quite a bit of hill ground. On our ridge till land we plant all the way to the end of the field, or no turn rows, is a better way to put it. On my hill farms a lot of my driving style doesn't change, I usually nose the tractor pretty close to the fence or tree line then backup and turn or sometimes I lift the planter soon enough to allow for a quick turn. Bottom line is I don't care much for excess turn rows. Would my style of driving be hard on an mfwd tractor like a magnum or should I stick with 2wd?

 

[cptusa]

That's how I plant seed corn- pull up to the fence, back around for the next pass- leaves a 40 foot headland. I plant with a 8940 mfd mag and a 8816 white, 4/1 split means that the outer row is overlapping so only planting 15 rows, it works but I have to bump the brakes a few times to bring her around. Thinking you may be pretty tight on a 12 row, but with 3pt it should work. Why not put in a second set of turn rows?

 

[jesseb99]

Just out of curiosity why don't you want to use turn rows. To address your question I don't think it should be any harder on it than normal use, if you think you need FWA you will should be ok with the way you plant.

 

[D&M Farms]

Just wondering about the tight turns on the front wheel assist.

 

[HoRFarmsJesse]

We have the same planter on an 8130 with ILS. With the frot tires at 60", it steers pretty terribly. I either have to back it around and not be lined up great, or kind of three point turn it, which is what i do. Adds a decent amount of time and annoyance. However, i do find myself using the 4x4 in almost all of my conventional till ground, as it seems to dig the tires down less with all 6 pulling, leaving a more level finish.

I would certainly prefer turning sharper with a 2wd, but think theres too much need for 4x4 on our ground. Tough to say though, as im sure each manufacturer has a slight variation in turning radius, and i believe the ILS makes it worse also.