Most times esprit de corps is a good thing, but I just used a JD 8200 grain drill one of our members loaned me to put in my beans, the drill is nearly new, neither of us had used it, normally we would use a Haybuster 107 no-till drill. The 8200 did a wonderful job except for one mistake I made, I opened the wrong end on the bags of seed and planted them all upside down, since Jim Kline brought this to my attention, I have assigned him the duty of digging each seed back up and turning them right side up! Lets see, 1200 lbs x 2800 seeds per lb = 3,360,000 seeds, I hope Jim enjoys the experience. I can't say anything bad about that JD drill, well except one tire leaks, I'll have to fix that, but the tire is Goodyear, any tire can get a leak, and the bottom of the seed hopper is flat which is a little bit of a job cleaning out the last few seed, I prefer the slanted bottom Superior had on their seed bin, but beggars can't be choosers, and my Oliver Superior has been froze up for years, It just won't work at all. I guess I'll sell Ron's JD 8200 for him, and we will go back to using the Haybuster, the JD is 14' wide well maybe 14'2&quot;, and is difficult to move on our 10' roads, the Haybuster is a couple of feet narrower, which makes a big difference in traveling. In reality I can't complain about the job the JD did, it put the seed at the right depth, rows 6&quot; apart, the Haybuster or my Superior has 7&quot; spacing, either works for me, the JD has closing wheels, so no need for a cultipacker afterwards, and it would work well no matter how fast I could stay on the tractor. It would probably be a good machine for someone who needs to plant 300 to 400 acres. I don't think Bob Tallman would agree, he is the one who made me think JD only made junk, but now, I'm thinking that in some cases, it might be better to assess the machine rather than blindly follow the brand. I would sometime like to find the parts to make my White air planter do beans in narrow rows, though, it is a good machine also, just 36&quot; rows are a little wide for beans, and the seed drop monitor can be tempermental, probably due to operator maintenance defects. Both are American made, which is a big plus for me. As far as this flooding problem goes, I hope the good Lord has mercy on these hard working farmers, that is the best I can pray for!!!
Take care!!!
Andy