Farm Implement & Tillage
Equipment Financing.

iLease Capital finances farm implements and tillage equipment, the planters, seed drills and air seeders, tillage tools, and application equipment that do the fieldwork, new and used, and you can talk a specific machine through with a specialist at (866) 545-3273. Implements sit in a slightly different place from the tractor that moves them. A planter or a tillage tool is often bought on its own, to replace a worn unit or add capacity, and the financing question is rarely just new versus used. The implement type, the working width, the precision technology on board, the condition if used, and whether it actually fits the tractor all shape how the transaction should be structured.

This is the reference companion to our agricultural equipment financing hub, which covers the full range of farm equipment including self-propelled machines. This guide focuses on the implement side: the drawn and mounted tools a tractor pulls or carries. iLease Capital is a broker working with funding partners, so the structures described here are offered at the discretion of the funding partner and subject to approval, not guaranteed programs.

Standalone Implements vs. Tractor-Plus-Implement Packages

The first thing to settle is what you are actually buying. Many implement purchases are standalone. A farm that already owns the tractor is replacing a tired planter, stepping up to a wider field cultivator, or adding a drill for cover crops, and the financing request can cover the implement alone, with compatibility checked against the existing tractor. This does not imply that the existing tractor must serve as collateral. Other purchases come as a package, a tractor and the implements it will pull bought together as one working setup.

Both are ordinary transactions and neither is inherently better, the right structure follows the purchase. For a standalone implement, the request centers on the implement itself, its make, model, width, and condition, with the existing tractor noted so the funding partner can see the implement will be used. For a combined purchase, presenting the tractor and each implement together on one schedule lets the transaction be evaluated as the complete setup it is. The practical point is to describe the deal as it really is rather than forcing an implement-only purchase into a whole-fleet frame or splitting a genuine package into disconnected pieces.

Planters and Precision Planting Equipment

Row-crop planters meter and singulate seed through individual row units spread across a toolbar, and they come in two mounting styles that matter to a buyer. A mounted planter hangs on the tractor’s three-point hitch and tends to be smaller, while a drawn, or pull-type, planter attaches to the drawbar and scales up to the large drawn machines that plant many rows at once. A planter is described by its row count and row spacing, such as a sixteen-row thirty-inch or a twenty-four-row machine, and that configuration sets the working width, which is one input to tractor selection alongside weight, power, hydraulics, soil conditions, and manufacturer requirements.

Current lines include John Deere’s mounted and drawn planters, some fitted with high-speed ExactEmerge row units, the Kinze front-fold and pull-type planters, the Case IH Early Riser series, and Great Plains planters, among others. A modern planter can carry significant value in its precision technology, individual-row metering, row-by-row population and section control, down-force systems, and in-cab monitors, so the exact configuration matters as much as the frame. When financing a planter, identify the row count, spacing, mounting style, and the precision package, because that is what the farm is actually buying and what a funding partner is evaluating.

Seeders, Grain Drills, and Air Seeders

Where planters singulate seed for row crops, seeders and drills place small grains, soybeans, and cover crops in closely spaced rows, and exact plant-to-plant spacing matters less. A grain drill meters seed into disc or hoe openers across its width. A no-till drill is built to cut through surface residue and place seed without prior tillage. An air seeder uses an air stream to deliver seed, and often fertilizer, from a tank or air cart, depending on the configuration, to the openers, which lets a single pass cover a very wide swath. The buyer and funding-partner questions are the working width, the opener type, disc or hoe, the cart or tank capacity on an air system, and the metering and section-control technology, since those drive both the acreage the unit can cover and its value.

Tillage Equipment

Tillage tools are drawn or mounted implements that prepare the soil, and they divide roughly into primary and secondary tillage. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service guidance describes common tillage tools, and the common categories are worth knowing because they carry different horsepower draws and different roles. A disc harrow uses angled gangs of concave discs for primary or secondary work. A field cultivator does secondary tillage, preparing a seedbed and incorporating residue. A chisel plow loosens soil without inverting it, leaving residue on the surface. A ripper or subsoiler fractures deep compaction layers while disturbing the topsoil as little as possible. Vertical tillage sizes and mixes heavy residue at higher speed with minimal soil inversion, and strip-till works only a narrow band ahead of planting, often placing fertilizer, while leaving the ground between rows undisturbed.

Those categories sit along a spectrum from conventional tillage through reduced-till to no-till systems, and a farm’s choice of tool follows its soil, residue, and agronomic plan rather than brand alone. Tillage equipment is built by John Deere, Case IH, Great Plains, Salford, Landoll, and others. For financing, the facts that matter are the tillage class, the working width, and the number of discs or shanks, because those affect tractor power requirements alongside soil, working depth, speed, and manufacturer specifications and give the funding partner a clear picture of the implement. Identify the exact model and width on the quote rather than describing it only as a tillage tool.

Sprayers and Application Equipment

Application equipment splits into two very different classes, and the distinction helps identify the asset being financed. Trailed, or pull-type, sprayers and smaller three-point mounted sprayers are implements. A tractor moves and powers them, they carry a tank and a boom but no drivetrain of their own, and the financing request should identify the implement and its configuration rather than treating it as a self-propelled machine. Dry fertilizer spreaders, the pull-type spinner and air-boom applicators, fall into the same implement category.

A self-propelled sprayer is a different animal, a standalone machine with its own engine, cab, and high crop clearance, and it is typically a larger transaction evaluated on its own hours and condition rather than against a tractor. This guide covers the implement side of application equipment. For self-propelled sprayers and other self-powered field machines, see our agricultural equipment financing hub, which handles those machines directly.

Making Sure the Implement Fits the Tractor

Check compatibility against the manufacturer specifications before purchase. For mounted equipment, confirm hitch category, geometry, lift capacity, and tractor stability requirements. For drawn equipment, confirm drawbar and towing requirements. Where PTO power is required, match the rated speed and driveline specification; a higher available speed is not a substitute for the correct rating. Have the dealer confirm the proposed combination rather than relying on pin fit alone.

Confirm available tractor power and the hydraulic flow, pressure, and connections required by the implement. Working width alone does not establish the tractor requirement. For electronic controls, check the supported functions of the exact tractor, terminal, and implement combination in manufacturer documentation and the AEF ISOBUS database. Cross-brand compatibility depends on the functions supported by those products, not simply an ISOBUS label.

New vs. Used Implements

Implements are durable and there is an active used market across the major brands, so used planters, drills, and tillage tools change hands constantly and are commonly financeable. An older or used implement is not automatically harder to finance, but documentation carries more weight as a machine ages. For a used purchase the funding partner will want the exact model and year, the seller, the purchase price, the condition, and the acres or hours where those are tracked, along with the status of any precision or electronic components, since a planter or air seeder may carry significant value in meters and controls that need to be present and functional. A documented, operable implement from a reputable dealer presents a clearer collateral story than an untested unit with no service history. This guide makes no claim that any brand, model, or configuration guarantees a particular resale value.

Itemize the Quote

Modern implements are rarely plain steel. A planter’s price can be weighted heavily toward its row-unit electronics, metering, section control, and monitors, an air seeder toward its cart metering and controls, and a sprayer toward its rate controller and boom technology. When you request financing, ask the dealer for a quote that separates the base implement from the precision and technology components, and note which items are new and which are carried over from existing equipment or bought used. An itemized quote lets the funding partner evaluate the transaction accurately instead of pricing a technology-heavy machine as if it were a bare frame, and it keeps the picture honest if part of the package is used.

Seasonal Payment Considerations

Planting, tillage, and application equipment may be used in operations whose revenue concentrates around harvest rather than arriving evenly through the year, so a payment schedule that matches that cycle can be worth asking about. Skip, step, and deferred structures can concentrate payments in the months after income arrives, but they are offered at the discretion of the funding partner and subject to approval, equipment type, and documented seasonal revenue, not a fixed program. If a seasonal schedule matters to you, say so before the deal is papered, since the schedule is written into the contract. Our seasonal and usage-based equipment financing guide explains how those structures work, and the seasonal payment program page is where to go to structure a specific deal.

Getting an Implement Deal Structured

Tell us the implement, whether it is new or used, and the tractor it will run behind, and we will see which funding partners fit the purchase, then show you the structure. Financing is subject to the equipment and applicant review, with application-only financing available on qualifying smaller transactions, which suits many single-implement purchases. For the broader farm picture and self-propelled machines, start at our agricultural equipment financing hub.

Frequently asked questions