70 in stock across 17 Indiana and Ohio dealerships, from $1,870 to $494,700.
Ask for a meter test stand report. A test shows singulation, skips, and doubles at multiple speeds for every row. Good vacuum meters on corn should test in the high 99 percent singulation range. If no report exists, have the meters tested before you plant, because worn seed discs, brushes, baffles, and singulators cost yield silently. Meter service is relatively inexpensive compared to the value of a good stand, and it is the single highest return item on a used planter.
The planter is the one machine on an Indiana or Ohio grain farm where a small mistake costs you all year, because every seed placed poorly is yield you can never get back. Buying used planters and drills is common and sensible, but only if you evaluate the meters, the row unit wear, and the down force system rather than the paint.
Indiana and Ohio typically give you a two to three week window when corn can go in the ground at the right time, and it is rarely continuous. A 12 row 30 inch planter covers roughly 25 to 35 acres an hour at realistic field speeds with turns and fills, so a ten hour day is 250 to 350 acres. Do the arithmetic against your acres and your likely number of fit days before deciding whether 12 rows is enough or you need 16 or 24.
Wider planters cost more than the sticker suggests. They need more horsepower, more transport clearance, bigger seed tenders, and more attention to frame leveling across uneven ground. Many operations in the 800 to 1,500 acre range find a 16 row central fill planter is the sweet spot, giving real capacity without turning every road move into a project. Match row spacing to your rotation and your harvest equipment, since running 20 inch beans and 30 inch corn means a head decision too.
Ask for a meter test report. Any reputable seller can run the meters on a test stand and produce a printout showing singulation, skips, and doubles at several speeds. Good vacuum meters should test in the high 99 percent singulation range on corn. If the seller cannot or will not test them, budget to have it done before you plant, because worn seed discs, brushes, baffles, and singulators quietly cost several bushels an acre and never announce themselves.
Look at the meter type and whether parts are still supported. Finger pickup meters, vacuum meters, and modern electric drive meters all have different maintenance profiles and different replacement costs. Electric drive meters remove chains and allow true row by row shutoff and variable rate, which is a real advantage on point rows and irregular fields. Retrofitting electric drive to an older planter is possible and popular, but price it before you buy, because it is a substantial investment on a wide planter.
Start with the parallel arm bushings. Grab each row unit and try to move it side to side and up and down. Any noticeable slop means worn bushings or pins, and a row unit that wanders will not hold depth or spacing. On a 16 row planter, rebuilding all the parallel arms is a real project, so count it. Next, check the double disk openers. Measure blade diameter against new spec, confirm the blades contact each other across the correct contact length, and check the bearings for roughness.
Then work back through the unit. Gauge wheel arms and bushings, gauge wheel tire condition and how tightly they run against the openers, seed tube or seed delivery system condition and any wear at the tip, closing wheel arm play and closing wheel condition, and the depth adjustment mechanism. Look at the seed firmer if equipped. On the frame, check the toolbar for cracks, the wing hinges and transport locks, the drive line or hydraulic drives, and the vacuum fan and its hoses for leaks and collapsed sections.
Down force determines whether you hit target depth in variable soils, and there are three generations to sort through. Spring down force is cheap and simple but is one setting for the whole field. Pneumatic airbag systems let you adjust on the go from the cab. Active hydraulic systems with load sensing adjust each row many times a second and can also lift when there is too much force, which prevents sidewall compaction in wet spots. On variable Indiana and Ohio soils, the ability to adjust matters.
Closing the trench well is just as important as opening it. Check closing wheel arms for play, and look at what wheels are on the machine, since rubber, cast, spiked, and combination setups all behave differently in wet clay versus mellow loam. Sidewall compaction and open trenches are the two classic causes of uneven emergence, and uneven emergence in corn is a measurable yield penalty. Dig behind the planter during a test run and look at seed depth, seed to soil contact, and trench closure before you accept the machine.
Section control and row by row shutoff pay for themselves quickly on irregular fields by eliminating double planted overlaps, and the seed savings are easy to calculate against your seed cost. Variable rate seeding by management zone lets you push population on your best ground and back off on droughty knobs. Confirm which of these the machine actually has, whether the display and activations transfer, and whether the system is a factory setup or an aftermarket retrofit, because support paths differ.
Prescriptions and zones have to come from somewhere. TRULAND offers Agronomy Service Packages including Data Services at $1 per acre, where they create management zones or sample grids and upload them to John Deere Operations Center, with soil test results and prescriptions uploaded as well. Total Farm Support Plans at $1,500 for spring or fall include pre-season Operations Center review and data clean-up, data transfer to equipment, and in-field technology startup, which is worth considering before your first season with a new to you planter.
Planters do not burn much fuel but they do consume parts. Plan on a wear parts cycle for opener blades, gauge wheel bushings, closing wheels, seed discs and brushes, and parallel arm bushings measured in thousands of acres. Rebuilding row units on a schedule is far cheaper than losing stand quality, and it is work that can be done over winter. Chains, bearings, and vacuum hoses round out the list. A dealer inspection program exists separately for planters up to 12 row and planters greater than 12 row.
Shop in the fall and winter. Used planters come available after harvest and through the winter, which gives you months to test meters, rebuild row units, and set the machine up on a hard surface before the ground fits. Buying a planter in April means planting with whatever condition it arrived in. With 70 used planting and seeding units listed across the group and 18 stores in Indiana and Ohio, comparing row counts and configurations across the whole inventory beats settling for what is on one lot.
External sources are provided for reference. For anything specific to your machine or your operation, call the store nearest you.
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Ask for a meter test stand report. A test shows singulation, skips, and doubles at multiple speeds for every row. Good vacuum meters on corn should test in the high 99 percent singulation range. If no report exists, have the meters tested before you plant, because worn seed discs, brushes, baffles, and singulators cost yield silently. Meter service is relatively inexpensive compared to the value of a good stand, and it is the single highest return item on a used planter.
Check parallel arm bushings on every row for slop, since worn arms will not hold depth or spacing. Measure double disk opener blades against new spec and check the contact area and bearings. Inspect gauge wheel arms and bushings, gauge wheel to opener fit, seed tubes or delivery systems, closing wheel arm play, and depth adjustment. On the frame, look for toolbar cracks, worn wing hinges, and vacuum fan and hose condition. Then get the meters tested and dig behind the planter on a test run.
On fields with real soil variability, which describes a lot of Indiana and Ohio ground, it usually is. Pushing population on productive soils and backing off on droughty or shallow areas typically returns more than the cost of prescriptions and hardware. On uniform fields the return is smaller. Section control and row by row shutoff, which stop double planting on point rows and irregular boundaries, often pay back faster than variable rate and are worth having regardless.
A 16 row 30 inch planter is the common fit for 1,000 acres of corn and soybeans, giving roughly 35 to 45 acres an hour and real margin in a short window. A 12 row can cover it if your window cooperates and you are willing to run long days. Count your likely fit days honestly, since Indiana and Ohio springs rarely give you a clean two weeks. Also check that your tractor, seed tender, and road situation match the wider machine.
Spring down force is simple and cheap but is a single setting for the whole field. Pneumatic airbag systems let you adjust from the cab as conditions change. Active hydraulic systems with load sensing adjust each row continuously and can also relieve force in wet areas, which prevents sidewall compaction. On the variable soils common across the eastern Corn Belt, the ability to adjust on the go is worth real money in stand uniformity, which is where corn yield is won or lost.
Planters give better singulation, more consistent depth, and better emergence, and they let you use the same machine for corn. Drills cover ground fast, cost less, and work well for narrow row beans, wheat, and cover crops. Many Indiana and Ohio operations run a planter for corn and beans and keep a drill for wheat and cover crop seeding. If you plant beans in 15 inch rows and want the emergence advantage, a split row planter or a narrow row planter is the middle ground.
Fall and winter. Trades arrive after harvest, selection is widest from November through February, and pricing is more flexible than in spring. Just as important, buying early gives you the months you need to run meters on a test stand, rebuild row units, replace opener blades, and set the machine level on a hard surface. Buying in April means planting with whatever condition the machine showed up in, and there is no time to fix it.
Wear is measured in acres, not years, and it depends on your soils. A practical approach is to inspect every row unit annually and plan a full rebuild cycle every several thousand acres per row for bushings, opener blades, gauge wheels, and closing components. Abrasive soils shorten that. The work is well suited to winter shop time. Deferring it is expensive in a way that never shows on an invoice, because it appears as uneven emergence and lower yield instead.
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