Thank you. Good luck with yours if you buy one.

@@HyckoryStyckWorks thank you.

They are very good planters

Great info about messicks. I just picked up a 309 myself. What plate number are you using for sunflowers?

You can back up IF you have the ratchet system on the drive axle like mine has, otherwise definitely not. The depth of seed planting is determined by how deep the drill blades cut. If you have depth skid plates (which mine does not have) then you can set them to the depth you want and just let it ride on them. But if you are like me and do not have the depth skid plates then the only way to set depth is with your position control and draft on your tractor, which takes some trial and error at first. I don't think it matters what part of the planter sits down first though. I will say that I find mine plants best when I adjust my top link so that the flat bottoms of my seed blades are parallel with the ground. Thus a consequence of that is my wheels always set down first. Notice, however, that the wheels ride on a spring loaded axle bracket, so even though they set down first, the planted section will still set down correctly.

did you ever make any plates??? how about the strippers and the knockers... EVERYBODY would love to have a couple sets .. I know I sure could use a set for each side of my 309... let me know if you did and will you sell some of them... thanks, Danny

@@oldan1954 My test run was good and the plates appear to be decent quality (for plastic at least). I dont have a way to test their durability since I dont have a 309 but we could work something out if you'd like.

@@oldan1954 As far as the other 2 parts, I would need to get a hold of either a 3D model of them or hand measure the actual parts and make the 3D files myself before I can start printing them.

I really appreciate you commenting on this because I had no idea about where to find the fertilizer swipers. That's really good info. I have been thinking about having a new agitator made from stainless myself before mine gets in bad shape. Just have to find a machine shop around me that can do it. You can bet though that the first time I see a set of disc openers at a reasonable price I'm going to buy them. Do you happen to know the Messick's part number for the rotary valves?

@@HyckoryStyckWorks Hey just saw you had replied. The part number for the rotary valve is 129401 they are $40.82 each....they still have 11 in stock. Now that guy in North Carolina probably had the double disc openers but they are not cheap lol. I had to buy 1 complete unit from him but don't remember what I paid for it. If you can't find a machine shop get back to me here and I could probably get my guy to make you one and ship it to you. I'll try not to wait so long to check back lol. He has a computerized plasma cutting table for cutting out stuff. Just let if I can be any help. I'd say I would sell you my double disc openers but I better hold on to them. I finally got a 3 point hitch tiller and with the way it leaves the soil the runner with the skis on it worked pretty good. I planted corn in my dove field a few weeks back and was pleased with the set up

@@HyckoryStyckWorks I used a plain stainless steel shaft to put those valves on and instead of buying the u shaped pin that Messicks sold I drilled 2 holes per valve and put stainless roll pins in to catch the valve so it would turn. I did buy the washers that go on either side of the valve the part number for them is 128889. They are $9.42 each and they have 22 in stock.

@@davidvollmer2359 Thank you very much for all that info. I'll be grabbing some of those valves soon. I completely agree with you about the tiller, I have one and the slide openers work great behind it. I've also found they work good in a no till application.

I haven't gotten the knockers printed yet, but still planning to do it. You could definitely print plates if you have someone good with Autocad to draw them.

@@HyckoryStyckWorks If you ever do the 3d printed knockers, I will be happy to buy a couple.

@@HyckoryStyckWorks I have NOS knockers available if you'd like some

@@matthewjacobs2699 I have nos knockers available

I do plan to have some made, but I haven't been able to yet. When I do eventually have some made I may make them available for sale.

Well really the way it works is you match the plates to the kind of seed you want to plant. If you can tell me what plate numbers you have I can look up what seed they're for.

Hyckory Styck Works the ones that are out of the planter I can’t read the numbers. The ones in the planter I haven’t got out because it’s full Of corn lol

I'll try to post some of the numbers tomorrow when I go outside and get my book.

I'll have to post the photo of the plate numers on my main page.

Well apparently I can't do that because I don't have 10,000 subscribers. That's kind of dumb. Here's a link to the pdf of the manual. www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.ntractorclub.com/manuals/implements/planters/Ford%2520Series%2520309%2520Rear%2520Mounted%2520Drill%2520Pllanter%2520-%2520Operator%27s%2520Manual.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjIw7Wa8ubrAhXuYd8KHf1MC_MQFjAMegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw2pF1qorL6HQTJEEAH5yyun

I think they would be great in loose soil, or for a tractor that doesn't have draft control.

I use 109786-A2. They drop 2 seeds at once if it's black oil seeds, but they work pretty good.

@@HyckoryStyckWorks is the number listed on the plates? How can you tell which number plates they are. Thanks for the info

Yes, the number should be on the bottom side of the plates, in the center. It's not printed, it's cast in as raised lettering, so there's a chance it can be worn off if the plates are heavily worn.

@@HyckoryStyckWorks oh ok yeah I found that. I noticed some begin with 7300 but are not in the manual.

Yeah not all of the plates are listed in the manual. I suspect the manual was written at the inception of the planter and never updated when new plates were developed.

You can still buy a few plates brand new but they are like $120 a set

@@danielzielinski6410 I'm going to try printing one I only have one broken one

His name was Charles and he had an ebay store. But he was up in his 80's and it was several years ago, so im not sure if hes still kicking around.

Looks like his ebay store is still there. It's cjoker123

I still love the thing. It is an excellent planter, I just have to take extra care of it since parts are so scarce.

@HyckoryStyckWorks they still make quite a few parts but the hardest parts are those fertilizer shoes. Pretty much anything plastic or rubber you can still buy new including a few sets of plates. I got lucky and found a NOS set of those fertilizer shoes amd discs for $150 a side which i thought was a great deal. Im about 70% done sandblasting and painting my 309 and going to do some videos of the assembly and rebuild those fertilizer dics bearings which hopefully wont take as long as taking apart lol.

​@Hyckory Styck Works have you ever rebuilt the fertilizer shaft with rubber rotary valves? I just did mine and posted a short video on KZfaq. You can still buy the rotary valves

That depends on what spacing you want between your seeds. Each different gear combo will yield a different spacing. KZfaq is fighting with me on the link, but I've got a link in the video description to the planter manual that has the gear ratio info. You'll just have to copy the link and paste it into a browser.

@@HyckoryStyckWorks I used the link above and got the manual. Not counting the fertilizer gears I'm see 4 sprockets. The manual says drive axle 13, seed axle 9. That's only 2 sprockets. This is where I'm confused. So I set mine, 13 to 13, 9 to 9.

Ok, so the drive axle is the axle with the wheels. The seed axle is the axle with the seed hoppers. The fertilizer sprockets don't count. Notice that on both the drive axle and the seed axle there are sprockets that have 3 different sprockets made together, those are the multi sprockets and are the ones the manual is referring to. When the manual says, for example, 13 on the drive axle and 9 on the seed axle, it is talking about the teeth on the multi sprocket on the wheel axle, and the multi sprocket on the hopper axle, respectively. You'll only be adjusting the chain that runs from the drive axle to the seed hopper axle. Notice that the other chain runs from the drive axle to the axle that is beneath the fertilizer hopper. So when the manual says 13 on drive axle and 9 on seed axle, you will put the chain that runs from the drive axle to the seed axle as follows: On the multi sprocket that is on the drive axle, put the chain on the 13 tooth sprocket. On the multi sprocket that is on the seed axle, put the chain on the 9 tooth sprocket. You will possibly have to slide one or both sprockets on their respective axles in order to get the chain lined up straight once you change the settings. It's important that the chain be straight or it will walk off the sprockets. Hope that clears it up. If not, I can make another quick video demonstrating it.

@@HyckoryStyckWorks that makes sense but on my planter I've got 2 multi sprockets on the seed axle. One has the 13, 8, 7. The other has 12, 9, 6 teeth. Then on the back wheel axle I have another 13, 8, 7 sprocket. Then toward the front I have another 12, 9, 6 sprocket. Wish I could show a picture of it.

@@chadrick_hastings Oh, apparently your planter has, or at one time had, some extra attachments on it. I think there were some extra hopper systems that could be added for certain things, but I've never ran across them. Those teeth counts are all odd and don't match anything in the book either. I wonder if you planter was originally for some specialized seed, maybe cotton or something.

Where are you located

@@danielzielinski6410 you will be disappointed. I saved the parts that make it a corn planter but the hitch and frame have been repurposed. Already

@@danielzielinski6410 I'm in upstate NY.

@@danielzielinski6410 I'm outside of Utica, 20 min north.

@@danielzielinski6410 $50 and you can have all the shafts, gears, chains planters and hopper parts oh and the wheels. Everything did move and spin but I never used it