Agriculture Technology Podcast · RDO Equipment Co.

Ep. 205 - Precision Upgrade Kits Review

·36 min·2 clips

A farmer upgraded a 1795 planter to ME5E row units, got a new serial number, and received warranty coverage.

Tony Kramer opens with the bigger picture. He frames Precision Upgrade Kits as a practical way to modernize equipment for the long haul, then brings in Clint Chaffer to explain how the program fits into real farm decisions and how the earlier planter, sprayer, and combine episodes connect to the same larger conversation. Clint introduces himself. He says he works in the marketing group for Precision Upgrades, has been with Deere for about a year, and comes from a farming background south of the Quad Cities where corn and soybeans were the norm. The talk stays grounded. Rather than treat the kits as abstract technology, Tony and Clint keep coming back to what a grower actually gets when a machine is refreshed instead of replaced. Electric drive matters. They use a real planter example to show how moving from hydraulic drive to electric drive and 5E meters can refresh an older planter. Downforce is part of the story too. The upgrade conversation includes IRHD, so the planter refresh is not just about metering and drive but also about adding hydraulic downforce in the same purchase. Current monitors matter. Clint explains that keeping the system in the same Deere ecosystem, with a Precision Ag Essentials kit and a G5 monitor already in place, is a major part of the value. Warranty comes up. The customer example they discuss gets a new serial number and is recognized as a new planter, which shifts the ownership math because warranty coverage comes with the upgrade. Resale is part of the calculus. Tony and Clint connect the Deere-on-Deere approach to long-term value, since the refreshed planter can be easier to understand and defend when it is time to move it down the road. The ordering window is different. Clint notes that Precision Upgrade Kits do not follow the same narrow seasonal order window as brand-new equipment, and that early-order discounts land on a different calendar. You can still order. That longer open window is one of the most practical takeaways, because a grower can keep the upgrade conversation alive after the usual new-equipment ordering season has passed.

As heard by us

A clear look at refreshing a planter while keeping the Deere setup intact.

Precision Upgrade Kits reads as a plainspoken look at how a planter can be refreshed without starting over. Clint Chaffer and Tony Kramer keep the focus on choices operators actually face: moving from drive to electric drive, adding IRHD for hydraulic downforce, keeping the…

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Why you'd press play

You want a planter refresh that keeps the same ecosystem instead of starting over.

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