As many Western farmers consider adding a planter to their equipment fleet, Regina-based Tri Star Farm Services, a short-line retailer, has seen a need to introduce a seed tender to the market that is designed specifically for filling planters and small air seeder carts.
Speed King’s Seed Box Tote mounted on a tandem-axle trailer can carry two or four seed totes and load a planter directly from them. “There is a two-box tote and the next one is a four box, so they carry two or four 2,000 pound tote boxes,” explains Kellen Huber, owner of Tri Star Farm Services. “The two-box retails for about $16,000 with trailer, the four-box for about $22,000.”
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The Speed King tote uses its own small engine for power, and unloads via an eight-inch conveyor belt running through a six-inch tube. Because it has no need for an external power source, it can be pulled behind a pickup. “It will unload an average of about 12 bushels per minute,” he adds. “It has good capacity for unloading into planters. That’s were it really comes into play.”
In its standard configuration the Seed Box Tote is only capable of unloading into smaller air seeder carts, but an unloader extension tube is available to give it extra reach to handle larger versions. “We have to lift it up and put it on a different trailer (for large air carts),” says Huber. “You can put a four-foot extension on there but we just have to get it a little higher up.”
For more information on the Seed Box Tote, visit www.crustbuster.com.” †
