Planter (farm implement)
Like a grain drill a planter is an agricultural farm implement towed behind a tractor, used for sowing crops through a field.[1] It is connected to the tractor with a draw-bar, or a three-point hitch. Planters lay the seed down in precise manner along rows. Seeds are distributed through devices called row units.[1] The row units are spaced evenly along the planter.[1] Planters vary greatly in size, from 1 row to 48, with the biggest in the world being the 48-row John Deere DB120. The space between the row units also vary greatly. The most common row spacing in the United States today is 30 inches.[1]
On smaller and older planters, a marker extends out to the side half the width of the planter and creates a line in the field where the tractor should be centered for the next pass. The marker is usually a single disc harrow disc on a rod on each side of the planter. On larger and more modern planters, GPS navigation and auto-steer systems for the tractor are often used, eliminating the need for the marker. Some precision farming equipment such as Case IH AFS uses GPS/RKS and computer controlled planter to sow seeds to precise position accurate within 2 cm. In irregular shaped field, the precision farming equipment will automatically hold the seed release over area already sewn when the tractor has to run overlapping pattern to avoid obstacles such as trees.
Older planters commonly have a seed bin for each row and a fertilizer bin for two or more rows. In each seed bin plates are installed with a certain number of teeth and tooth spacing according to the type of seed to be sown and the rate at which the seeds are to be sown. The tooth size (actually the size of the space between the teeth) is just big enough to allow one seed in at a time but not big enough for two. Modern planters often have a large bin for seeds that are distributed to each row.