GREAT PLAINS PL5700, Operator'S Manual

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PL5700 Planter Table of Contents Index Troubleshooting
Great Plains | 411-681M | 04/08/2021 72
Troubleshooting
When starting with a new planter, a new crop, or a
new population, it is important to physically check
what the console is reporting by digging and
observing seeds. This is to verify that the planter is
set up correctly to plant the desired population. Do
not rely only on the population reported by the
console.
Plant a short distance and dig the seeds, or run with
the closing wheels wired up to leave an open seed
trench. Based on seeds found, determine an
average distance between seeds. Compare the
distance between seeds to the seed spacing listed in
the charts for your population.
Also, during start up you may encounter alarms and
readouts on the console that do not make sense. It is
critical to troubleshoot these alarms, not only to
ensure the planter drive is set properly to hit the
target population, but also to fix incorrect entries in
the console to eliminate nuisance alarms. For
console issues, see the console operator manual.
Before going to the troubleshooting charts to remedy
a console or population problem, use the following
chart. Finding what is wrong comes from knowing
what the planter is actually doing in the soil.

Seed Pool Troubleshooting
Foreign Object Risk
After clearing a bridge or blockage, check the
seed pool at the meter for any debris that
might have caused the bridging. Remove the
debris to eliminate the risk of an object lodging
in a seed cell and causing skips.
Once planting is underway with the seed pools set,
bridging may occur at or above the seed inlet and
cause the meter to run empty.
An empty meter causes a Row Failure alarm with a
report of the row number. The outside left-hand row
is row 1.
To correct the bridging issue:
1. Stop and put the tractor in park. Leave the fan
running.
2. Locate the failed row. Remove the rain cover to verify
the meter is empty. Check the gate setting.
3. Temporarily open the gate one or two notches wider.
a. If the problem was bridging at the gate, seed
should flow into the meter immediately.
b. If little or no seed flows into the meter with the
gate open wider, the problem is further up in
the seed flow.
Close the gate completely for about 15
seconds. This prevents meter pressurization
air from opposing seed delivery. Gently tap
on the seed inlet. Re
- open the gate and see if
seed now fills the meter.
4. If no obvious foreign object was the cause of the
bridging, the gate setting may have been too small for
the seed. Ensure all operating rows were at the
correct initial gate setting. If so, reset the gates to the
next higher opening.
1. Is the spacing on the ground
correct?
No
Check the ground drive transmission and range sprocket selections,
or the population and seeds per revolution settings on a hydraulic
drive unit.
Yes
Go to step 2.
2. Is the reported population 1/2 the
actual population, or is the reported
population too high by a factor of
2?
No
Go to step 3.
Yes
An incorrect row spacing value entered in the console can cause this.
Correct the row spacing error.
The system can also be off by a large factor if incorrect range
sprockets are installed. Check seed rate charts against range and
transmission sprockets on the planter.
3. Is the population on the console
close to the target population?
No
Check seed rate charts against transmission sprockets selection.
Yes
If slightly under, see “ Seed Population Too Low ” on page 77. If
slightly over, see “ Seed Population Too High ” on page 79.
!