Seed spacing and singulation is crucial to yield; it’s an item all farmers know. The main purpose of SureDrive is to provide consistent meter control for the purpose of optimal singulation and seed spacing.
But it’s more than that. Less maintenance, simplified electrical and mechanical components on the planter and an easy install are additional pluses of the SureDrive electric planter drive.
There are many other benefits that come from such direct and precise control of the seed meter:
- Built-in section control where the seed meter stops at previously planted areas, field boundaries, etc.
- Turn compensation where the meter speed automatically varies across the width of the planter for consistent seed placement around turns and curves.
- Maintenance-free sealed construction means that the SureDrive mounts directly to the seed hopper and eliminates chains, bearings, clutches and more for a clean installation and trouble-free solution.
- Instant meter response for variable-rate planting. No more gaps leaving the headlands and quickly adjust to proper planting populations. You can even vary your population by grouping – perfect for seed corn producers!
Some have achieved 99% singulation just by installing SureDrive!
I have finger pickup meters, and they ran on the test stand right before I planted the crop. They have not been run on the test stand since, so the increase in singulation of my planter is purely from eliminating the drive mechanisms and converting to SureDrive. A 2% to 3% increase in singulation was very common, and 98% to 99% singulation covered most of the seed I planted this past spring. – Adam Gittins, Iowa farmer
How SureDrive works
SureDrive is a 12v electric planter drive that attaches directly to the seed meter and mounts on the hopper box. SureDrive is robust enough to drive any seed meter found on planters today and it’s rugged all-metal, fully sealed design is entirely maintenance free.
How tough is SureDrive? During development, one main objective was to purposely overbuild the unit to withstand the most challenging environments. We ran a production model SureDrive for an equivalent of 15 years-worth of planting seasons for our typical farmer. This continuous operation was in 2-hour repeating cycles ranging from 20% to 100% load, with 75 minutes of the cycle at 100%. There were no issues found whatsoever. SureDrive is overbuilt to be reliable for you, season after season.
The Row Control Module (RCM) is installed on every row and communicates to and from the sensors on the row unit. This includes the seed tube sensor, gauge wheel sensor, auxiliary 2-pin connection for row shutoffs, SureDrive and vacuum sensor. Each RCM also communicates with the Planter Control Module (PCM), a master module that communicates between all the RCMs and Display
The InCommand® 1200 display offers complete planter monitoring and control functions, eliminating the need for an additional planting display in the cab. It provides row-by-row mapping with historical pass to pass information for population, singulation, skips, doubles and more. Quickly and easily change population rates on-the-fly and/or plant via prescription.
The InCommand can also be linked to an iPad and AgFiniti®, so you can take your planting maps with you when you leave the cab. Plus, the InCommand can be used for spraying, autosteer, yield monitoring, tiling and more!