Seedling planter

A seedling planter comprising

• a vehicle body including a frame, a plurality of wheels supporting the frame above ground, and a soil-opening system configured to form an opening in the ground as the vehicle body travels across the ground,
• a seedling-storage unit coupled to the vehicle body and defining an interior space that is configured to store a plurality of seedlings, wherein the seedling-storage unit includes a seedling retainer configured to engage at least one of the seedlings, a rotation shaft configured to rotate relative to the vehicle body about a shaft-rotation axis, and a tabletop coupled to the rotation shaft and configured to support the plurality of seedlings in the interior space for rotation with the rotation shaft about the shaft-rotation axis, wherein the seedling storage unit further includes a loading system including a gear wheel coupled to the rotation shaft for rotation about the shaft-rotation axis with the rotation shaft, a worm gear interlocked with teeth of the gear wheel, and a winding handle coupled to the worm gear, wherein rotation of the worm gear by the handle drives rotation of the tabletop about the rotation axis to wind the plurality of seedlings around the rotation shaft, and
• a seedling-distribution unit configured to automatically convey the plurality of seedlings from the interior space to the opening in the ground, wherein the plurality of seedlings are wound around the rotation shaft and the seedling-distribution unit is configured to unwind the plurality of seedlings as the seedling planter travels across the ground.