GREAT PLAINS SPARTAN II, Operator'S Manual, Page: 56 / 131

Spartan
II
607 Table of Contents Index Operation
Great Plains | 166-486M | 2020/10/08 49

Loading Hopper Materials
Entrapment and Suffocation Hazard
A hopper that is full or appears full can be
an entrapment hazard. You can sink into the
grain and suffocate in seconds. Grain
bridges and crusts are especially
dangerous. When hazardous fumes or low
oxygen levels are present, you can be
quickly overcome even in an empty hopper
with the hopper lid open. Never enter a
hopper for loading or unloading.
Chemical Hazard
Agricultural chemicals can be hazardous,
including treatments on seeds and
components of fertilizers. Improper use can
seriously injure persons, animals, plants,
soil, and property.
Take the necessary precautions for handling
materials. Review the materials safety data sheet
(MSDS).
With material present, and once used for hazardous
fertilizers or seeds with hazardous treatments, your
hoppers may become
permit-required confined
spaces under applicable statutes, regulations,
insurance rules, or business policy. The venting tube
structure in the hoppers has rungs for escape, and is
not an entry ladder.
Loading materials increases the hitch load. With the
implement lowered, and the circuits in float, a full
material load results in a hitch load of nearly
1900 kg. This results in a jack load of up to
25 kg/cm
2
.
Variable Hitch Load
Even if dry ground supports the jack,
sudden wet weather could result in the jack
becoming stuck in mud.
The implement does not need to be in any particular
configuration for material loading. Raising it,
however, does reduce the hitch load.
Check hopper strap tension before every material
load, and again after material is loaded. See
page 73.
Hopper Configurations

Single-hopper configuration
- All materials are
delivered to the row unit seed tubes, and are
placed in a furrow.

Dual-hopper single-shoot configuration
-
Either hopper may be used for seed and/or dry
fertilizer. All materials are delivered to the row unit
seed tubes, and are placed in a furrow.
If applying the same material from both hoppers,
you can meter from both at the same time, or
from one at a time. For one at a time metering,
disable the unused hopper by removing a final
range gear.
Simultaneous metering avoids weight imbalance
and eliminates stopping before the halfway point
for meter change-over.
If metering simultaneously, set each meter for
one half the rate. Do not use half the single-meter
scale setting, as this is usually not half the rate.

Dual-hopper double-shoot configuration -
The factory default configuration is that the
hoppers and delivery hose routing are set up for
specific uses. See the table below.
!
!
!
Hopper Intended Hopper Use
I
Seed or In-Furrow Dry Fertilizer
II
Dry Fertilizer or Broadcast Seed
Single-hopper
Dual-hopper
single-shoot
Dual-hopper
double-shoot
I
II
II
I
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