WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa — Kinze Manufacturing has added a new hydraulic drive option for the 4900 series planter. Hydraulic drive allows farmers to change seed population on-the-go from the cab, making it an excellent precision ag tool for variable-rate seed prescriptions.

Hydraulic drive for the 4900 planter will be released with pricing in May 2016 to be available for spring planting in 2017 as a factory-installed option. For 2016 spring planting, Kinze is offering a dealer-installed hydraulic drive kit for 16 and 24 row 4900 planters.

“From simple solutions to advanced technology, the 4900 planter has a number of options to meet individual farmer’s needs,” said Susanne Veatch, Kinze’s vice president and chief marketing officer. “With this new hydraulic drive option for our 4900 planter, our customers can choose a planter that best fits their farming operation.”

The 4900 is a front-fold planter with 30 inch spacing and is available in 12, 16 and 24 row sizes. The planter offers a variety of drive options, including electric drive, ground contact drive and now hydraulic drive.

It can be outfitted with Kinze’s vacuum seed meter which allows farmers to plant with up to 99%+ accuracy at speeds up to 8 miles per hour as field conditions allow*. The planter is also available with mechanical brush-type or finger pickup seed meters.

The 4900 features hydraulic weight transfer to reduce soil compaction and cast iron row units with 12-inch vertical travel. The planter is ISOBUS compatible and has options for high capacity bulk seed, box hopper and liquid fertilizer.