Furrow closing assembly and method

A furrow closing assembly for use with agricultural planters, comprising:

• a press wheel arm assembly having a front end adapted to be pivotally attached to a pair of pivot pins on a planter row unit subframe for pivotal movement about a transverse axis of rotation;
• a press wheel rotatably attached to a rear end of said press wheel arm assembly and arranged to roll over a soil surface behind said planter row unit subframe;
• a closing wheel arm assembly having a front end adapted to be pivotally attached to said pair of pivot pins;
• and
• at least one closing wheel rotatably attached to said closing wheel arm assembly, said closing wheel being arranged to move soil into a furrow in front of said press wheel.

A planter row unit for an agricultural seeder, comprising:

• a row unit subframe having a front portion, a rear portion and a pair of pivot pins protruding laterally outwardly from opposite sides of said rear portion;
• a furrow opener mounted to the front portion of said subframe for creating a furrow in which seeds can be deposited;
• and
• a furrow closing assembly pivotally mounted to said pivot pins to pivot about a generally horizontal axis relative to subframe, said furrow closing assembly comprising:
• at least one closing wheel rotatably attached to a closing wheel arm assembly and adapted to move soil into the furrow created by said furrow opener;
• a press wheel rotatably attached to a press wheel arm assembly and adapted to roll over a soil surface behind said closing wheel;
• and
• said press wheel arm assembly and said closing wheel arm assembly being pivotal relative to each other to allow relative vertical movement between said closing wheel and said press wheel during operation.

A planter row unit for an agricultural seeder, comprising:

• a row unit subframe;
• a furrow opener mounted to said subframe for creating a furrow in which seeds can be deposited;
• a furrow closing assembly pivotally mounted to said subframe, said furrow closing assembly comprising:
• at least one closing wheel rotatably attached to a closing wheel arm assembly and adapted to move soil into the furrow created by said furrow opener;
• a press wheel rotatably attached to a press wheel arm assembly and adapted to roll over a soil surface behind said closing wheel;
• said press wheel arm assembly and said closing wheel arm assembly being moveable relative to each other to allow relative vertical movement between said closing wheel and said press wheel during operation;
• a first down-force system arranged between said subframe and a point on said furrow closing assembly for biasing said furrow closing assembly in a downward direction;
• a second down-force system arranged between said press wheel arm assembly and said closing wheel arm assembly for transferring down force between said press wheel and said closing wheel;
• and
• a means for adjusting at least one of said first and second down-force systems remotely to change an amount of down force imparted thereby.