John Deere Introduces 60-foot 1895 No-Till Air Drill

John Deere introduced the new 60-foot 1895 No-Till Air Drill at an event in Valley City, North Dakota, this week. Product managers and engineers alike tout the productivity and accuracy of the seeder.

The newest addition to the 1895 line is 40% wider than other machines in the line. “This wider no-till air drill is a perfect fit if you’re looking to cover more acres faster with greater precision and improved monitoring of seed and fertilizer placement,” says Emily Klemmer, seeding product manager for John Deere.

The 60-foot model is a separate fertilizer placement (SFP) unit, tackling fertilizer and seeding in a single pass. “That means you’re laying that fertilizer in that front row. You’re going to have your two seed rows behind that. That’s 10-inch spacing for seed, and 20-inch spacing on your SFP ranks,” explains Klemmer.

Productivity

Focusing on the productivity capabilities of the seeder Klemmer says, “We didn’t just give you a larger drill, we gave you a better drill.”

Operated at 6 mph, Deere claims you can cover 44 acres an hour, or 436 acres a day with the new 60-foot 1895.

Compared with the 43-foot model John Deere offers, the new seeder can cover a quarter-section in nine fewer passes. In other words, by spending the same amount of time in the tractor cab, you will be able to cover 100 or more additional acres per day by upgrading to the 60-foot seeder.

Klemmer also highlighted the capacity of the frame. In total, the seeder weighs between 60,000 and 63,000 pounds and is equipped with 108 openers over three sections. That is 36 fertilizer openers and 72 seed openers.

“That weight is going to keep those openers in the ground and obviously that equates to good things happening; namely, even emergence. And that is going to be a direct correspondence with what you see at the end of the year from a yield standpoint,” says Klemmer.

To handle the massive weight, the 60-foot seeder also has improved tires. The standard 33-inch tires on the new seeder offer about 30 psi to the ground, explains Klemmer. That is 40 psi less than the 43-foot drill, which translates to less surface compaction.

Casters and walking beams also come standard for mainframe and wing tires of the newest 1895. This feature allows the tires to work independently of each other to follow uneven ground more closely.

“If these tires were on a fixed axle, when that tire goes through a ditch or over some uneven terrain, one tire would be off the ground eventually. Basically, what that’s going to do is transfer all of the weight to that single tire. Again, when we talk in terms of compaction, that’s not exactly what we want,” Klemmer continues. “So, having this independent tire control is really important.”

Accuracy

The new 60-foot 1895 boasts several features for improved seeding accuracy.

Downforce pressure can be controlled from the comfort of the tractor cab using Deere’s TruSet technology. The closed-loop downforce pressure control system is exclusive to John Deere. “Closed loop is really just a fancy way of saying real-time downforce feedback,” says Klemmer.

Feedback and appropriate alerts are available at your fingertips on your in-cab display. TruSet is compatible with Gen 4 4600 CommandCenter monitors.

“This feature provides uniform and precise seed and fertilizer placement across the working width of the toolbar, under variable soil and field conditions, for more uniform plant emergence and crop maturity,” explains a company statement.

You can choose to dial in the exact downforce pressure you’d like on your own, or you can use any of the six customizable seed presets and six presets for fertilizer. “You can set up to 400 pounds of downforce,” Klemmer notes.

John Deere’s exclusive RelativeFlow Blockage Monitoring Systems is another accuracy-boosting feature of the new 60-foot 1895. Sensors on both the primary tower and the secondary hoses monitor seed and fertilizer output.

You can see real-time information on the monitor in the cab to help you detect flow issues before problematic blockages occur. A color-coded schematic helps you see exactly which of the 108 openers is blocked, resulting in less downtime.

“The relative flow is allowing us to find out even if there’s a variation between the rows from one end to the other,” says engineer Tyler Groves pointing to opposite ends of the 60-foot seeder. A consistent emergence or crop is not likely if seeding isn’t consistent to start off.

New ProSeries Openers

New ProSeries Openers are being introduced with the 60-foot 1895 seeder. In the future, they will be expanded to other models.

“The key takeaway here is reduced maintenance of the ProSeries Opener as well as the improved accuracy of this opener over our 90 Series Opener,” explains Groves.

A narrowed seed boot on the ProSeries openers reduces soil disturbance and encourages more precise seed placement.

“The seed placement in the ground really is the most critical thing you can do. That starts with the seedboot. After we pushed that seed through the cart, through the hoses and entering the ground, we use the seat boot,” Groves says. “As this new boot travels through the soil, it does not enlarge the seed furrow beyond what the disk has already done.”

Another added benefit of the narrower boot is less wear.

“At the back of the seedboot, we have a seed tab. The current tab [on the 90 Series Openers] is squared. This one is not. It matches the seed trench so you can keep a lid on that seed trench until the press wheel is able to come and push the seed into the soil.”

The ProSeries Openers are also equipped with a more narrow and flexible press wheel. “That allows us to get all the way to the bottom of seed trench and get excellent seed-to-soil contact with the seed, compressing it into that seed trench,” Groves explains.

The improved flexibility of the press wheel allows you to seed in curved conditions and still keep the wheel down in the ground. The new design is also more durable, solid, and it retains its shape.

Many farmers who have used their drills for a long time have experienced the rubber peeling off of the current wheel. The new one does not peel off like that.

Another row of bearings has been added to the press wheel for improved durability.

The ProSeries Openers include a notched closing wheel option designed for better seed and fertilizer sealing in a variety of soil types. “We’ve yet to find a condition that it doesn’t perform well,” says Groves.

“This excels in really hard conditions in which you’re pulling up clumps of dirt. This is a little bit better at breaking those back down,” Groves says. “Also, in very high residue areas. Farmers today are producing more and more residue as their crops are yielding more and more. And in order to get the dirt pushed back over the seed trench after it’s opened up, the notches allow the wheel to reach down through that residue a little bit better and close it.”

The closing wheel spring of the ProSeries Openers has also been improved.

The elimination of two grease points on each opener has received positive farmer feedback. Older models of the 1895 required this service every 50 hours. This innovation will save you hours of maintenance work every season.

Bushings for the pivot joints of both the closing wheel and the press wheel have been upgraded from powdered metal to Teflon. “By using these new bushings, you’re able to get better and longer life out of these pivot joints,” Groves explains.

The new bushings require a clean environment for smooth operation, so caps have been added to the top of the pivot joints to further extend the parts’ life.

Like other openers, there are 13 depth-adjustment settings. “You can go anywhere from ¼ inch to 3½ inches in ¼-inch increments,” says Groves.

A new component found on the SFP openers has received tremendous farmer feedback. A ceiling wing has been added to the top of the opener scraper. “By adding a ceiling wing onto the top of it, you’re able to break up the soil just below the surface of the ground. That allows you to put down anhydrous ammonia and retain more of that anhydrous in the ground,” Groves explains.

Availability

Opener retrofit kits are available so older models of the 1895 seeder line can be upgraded to the ProSeries Openers. Pricing and availability will begin in June 2018 through dealers. They’ll be stocked through parts beginning in September 2018.

The new seeders are manufactured in Valley City, North Dakota. Learn more at johndeere.com or by contacting your local dealer.