Checchi & Magli TRIUM Operating instructions

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Set-up & Operating Instructions
TRIUM or UniTRIUM Model
World Leader in Transplanting Technology
Here is a list of key points to do when setting up a new Trium or UniTrium
machine. The purpose of this manual is to explain how to properly adjust
your machine. We will detail these key points, but to get started, here is
an outline below.
The key is to have someone trained
on your farm that becomes the
C&M EXPERT! Please read and study
this manual to understand how to
maximize your success.
v3 March 2020
Allen International, Inc. is the marketing arm of Checchi & Magli (C&M) and can not be held responsible if the equipment is not properly or safely used.
OUTLINE & Key-Point CHECKLIST:
There are 12 key items for optimal machine performance--
☐1) Well prepared/tilled ground.
☐2) Well prepared seedling/plug/clone.
☐3) Be sure you have the correct shoe size for your plugs/clones.
☐4) “IN THE ROW” SPACING - Make sure the “plant-to-plant” sprocket setting is correct
☐5) Ensure the machine is set/adjusted properly to begin.
☐5-A) 3-POINT LINKAGE - The 3 point linkage must be either vertical OR leaning slightly
toward the transplanter (NOT leaning toward the tractor).
☐5-B) DRIVE WHEELS - Lower or raise the drive wheels to the point where the parallelogram
(on each row - located close to the tool bar) is fairly level.
☐5-C) DOWN-PRESSURE SPRING FOR PACKING WHEELS
- tightening helps apply pressure to packing wheels
{
close shoe furrow
critical*☐6) TIMING - A very important adjustment on the machine
☐7) PACKING WHEELS - Adjust the packing wheels
☐8) PLANT DEPTH - Adjust the depth gauge - which lowers or raises the packing wheels.
☐9) FRONT PRESS WHEELS - Adjust the front press wheels to where they touch ground
and provide some compaction.
☐10) WATER - be sure the water is hooked up to the valves on our machines and set correctly.
☐11) PLASTIC GUILLOTINE - this helps the plant fall straight down and not fall over
(oil this bearing daily during daily planting season)
☐12) OPERATOR WEIGHT ADJUSTMENT SPRING -adjust if one row is making a deeper furrow
than the others.
C&M North America • [e-mail] • 208-520-8222
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Common HEMP Settings
(in “normal”conditions, at ground, regular soil)
ADJUSTMENT SETTING
Timing see pict ==>
Depth Control 5-6
Packing Wheels (forward & back) 1.75
Packing Wheels (in & out) 3.5-2.5
(notches showing)
Drive Wheels (approximately) 4.5
Press Wheels (approximately) 3
Allen International, Inc. is the marketing arm of Checchi & Magli (C&M) and can not be held responsible if the equipment is not properly or safely used.
1) Well prepared/tilled ground
Farmers know that soil prep is critical for transplanting. Proper soil prep is critical for our transplanters to work
properly. We need a consistent, cultivated depth of 4”-6”for the plant to be transplanted properly and thrive.
The only exception to this is when you use our Trium or UniTrium with the C&M “no-till package”.
This soil has been recently tilled and prepared. The ground must be well prepared.
This is how our machine is designed to perform.
Adjustability is key!
Non-prepared ground will work with our
NO-TILL optional attachment.
If you have a 50-72 count hemp tray
this is very likely your“timing” setting
based on a speed of around 1.2mph.
(See “TIMING” #6, page 7)

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2) Well prepared seedlings/plugs/clones
It is imperative that by the time you go into the eld you have a healthy mature plug to put into our machines.
Critical to the Trium is that the complete plug pulls out of the tray and that the seedlings are fairly consistent in size.
In this way they fall down our Trium throat into our shoe with consistent timing.
One more thing regarding the seedlings/plugs would be to determine if
you want to use our cup reducer or cup extenders.
Each machine should have these behind the seats.
•If tall plants then we recommend the cup extenders.
•If small, short plugs/plants then consider using the cup reducers.
cup reducers
cup extenders
When the plug/seedling is not
mature and well rooted, we see
the seedling fall apart - or only
part of the plug comes out of the
tray. When the remaining plug
then slides around in our car-
ousel, more soil can tend to fall
o or break apart the plug. The
result is when the partial plug
falls down into the shoe it will
fall dierently and will not plant
like the other plugs. We must
have mature, tight and consis-
tent plugs - that easily pull out
of the trays. We have found the
best range of plant size is from
approx 8” to 16” (top to bottom.)
GOOD GOOD BAD
Plugs must be grown in TRAYS!
(Not SOLO cups!)
for Trium/UniTrium
PLUG/CLONE
Maximum
width
2” on top
Maximum
width
1 3/4” on bottom
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Shoe Size bottom size mm bottom size in Shoe Kit Part #
1 (narrow) 8mm 1/3” code 500832
2 (standard) 14mm 1/2” code 500833
3 (middle) 24mm 1” code 500834
4 (medium) 33mm 1 1/3” code 500835
5 (large) 43mm 1 2/3” code 500836
As we have now been to many farms setting up Trium
machines, we have found that tray counts are all
over the map as to the actual size of plugs - for this
reason we posted on our website and here important
information regarding the shoe-to-plug marriage.
For example, we are nding many plugs/trays are
smaller and so a 50 or 72 count plug might be smaller.
In fact, we saw some 50 count trays that have plug
sizes at the bottom of the plug of 1 1/3” – which is per-
fect for our # 4 shoes. We have now seen several 72
count trays with 1” base plug width which is a perfect
t for our # 3 shoe. We heard this same thing last
year – so many growers said "we need the # 5 shoes"
only to nd out their trays/plugs were smaller and
they only needed a #4 shoe.
So we wanted to ask you to double check the size
of your plugs before you decide on your shoe size.
Unless the dealer species dierently, number 2 and
3 shoes come standard with our Triums. (2 shoes are
supplied as standard with our hemp machine.) In
many cases a number 3 shoe will be the right t!!
We have many dealers asking for more and more #4
and #5 shoes and so we plead with you before you
order any shoes to be sure that is what you really
need.
The pictures here show a bad and good t. With an
ideal t – either the plug falls to the very bottom with
a tight t OR is grabbed by the 2 sides even close to
the very bottom – that still is a great match! The main
thing is we do not want a loose plug - free to land
on an angle in the shoe. AGAIN, we DO NOT want a
loose plug in the shoe-- It will not work! You will see
a dierence in the Trium performance when the plug
drops down into the shoe and is grabbed by the sides
to be immediately kicked out.
Here is a 72 count tray, that is round, yet tapered. It will t
in a #3 shoe just ne because of its shape.
3) Be sure you have the correct shoe size for your plugs/clones.
This is a key step that should be decided long before you go into the eld.
Here is a plug in a #3 size shoe. It is
loose and will not work properly.
Here is a plug in a #2 size shoe.
The ideal t is a little higher in the
shoe, approximately up to 1/2”from
the bottom. It grabs the plug and
prepares it to be kicked out by the
kicker, perfectly straight.

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4) IN THE ROW SPACING -
Make sure the "plant-to-plant"
setting is correct (refer to the
chart on each drive wheel). Dou-
ble check that each drive wheel
is set properly.
For wide plant-to-plant spacing
needed in planting hemp, growers
are using every other cup.
This chart below shows closer plant-to-plant spacing for vegetables.
You will need a “15” sprocket under the carousel for these settings.
This new kicker mechanism is designed to work with a
rotating joint and requires NO maintenance. Unlike the
2019 kicker, this new design has no bearing or springs.
Note about design innovations for the KICKER
This kicker needs to have oil applied to the bearing
everyday when in use-- this is the only maintainance
required for the 2019 kicker.
2020 KICKER 2019 KICKER
An 8-row Trium unit has 4 drive wheels with rapid shift gearbox, and a 4-row
has 2 drive wheels, just as an example. Up to 40” plant-to-plant spacing can
utilize all 10 cups. Each UniTrium row unit has its own drive wheel.
For example, for 5’plant-to-plant
spacing they set sprockets for 30
inches, (see chart) and then hit
every other cup by putting in
cup covers.
UniTRIUM chart
“15”sprocket
under carousel

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5 B) DRIVE WHEELS -
The 2nd adjustment to help us close the furrow created by the
shoe is to lower or raise the drive wheels so that our packing
wheels are able to make rm contact with the soil.
A good baromenter to look to when raising and lowering
the drive wheels is the parallelogram.
Lower or raise the drive wheels to the point where the paral-
lelogram (on each row - located close to the tool bar) is fairly
level. Looking from the side view of our transplanter, it should
be level horizontally. This way each row unit can oat up and
down and thus ensure a constant planting depth we desire.
Its imperative that the drive wheels are in contact with the
ground/soil - they must track because they drive the whole unit
(through the hex shaft). The drive wheels must follow the
tractor wheels (be in-line with). Raising or lowering the drive
wheels helps us level the parallelogram-- ideally the side view
of the machine should be level.
5 A) 3-POINT LINKAGE -
The 3-point linkage must be either vertical (straight up) OR lean-
ing slightly toward the transplanter (NOT leaning toward the trac-
tor). With the transplanter leaning slightly away from the tractor
we allow for better down pressure on the packing wheels.
There are dierent adjustments to help us close the furrow
created by the shoe-- This is the 1st of 3 ways to do this in our
checklist. Our goal is not ony to close the furrow created by the
shoe but also to pack the plant rmly into the ground straight up.
The following 3 critical adjustments all contribute
to helping us close the furrow created by the shoe
by applying down pressure to our packing wheels.
5 C) DOWNPRESSURE SPRING FOR PACKING WHEELS--
The 3rd adjustment to help close the furrow created by the shoe is:
Slightly tighten the wing nut on the fat spring below the seat. In
normal soil conditions, usually a few turns will be enough. The tight-
er the spring, the greater the down pressure on the packing wheels.
If you tighten too tight you might create a large, deep furrow which
is not recommended.
Here you see a slight ridge is
created in the center of the row
between the plants-- this shows
the furrow created by the shoe is
closed properly by the packing
wheels.
5) Ensure the machine is set/adjusted properly.
Here are some key points to consider (in order of importance) when putting our Trium or UniTrium models into the eld:

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If you have a 50-72 count hemp tray
this is very likely your“timing” setting
based on a speed of around 1.2mph.
6) TIMING - critical*
Perhaps the most important adjustment on the machine is the
timing - located on top/center of the carousel. BEFORE adjusting the
timing, be sure that those sitting on the machine are comfortable
with planting at your desired tractor speed. The speed has been
ranging from approx 1-2 mph-- most common 1.2 mph. Going too
fast means for those sitting on the machine they end up skipping (or
missing) too many plants. The main thing is to set the timing AFTER
you have decided on a comfortable speed for those seated on the
machine placing plants in the cups.
You gain access to our timing adjustment by removing the black
cap at the center of our carousel, loosening the two nuts, and then
tweaking or rotating the carousel slightly toward the plus or mi-
nus--engraved on top by the two nuts. Then tighten the nuts again.
When we talk of timing, our goal is to have the plant arrive at the
bottom of the shoe and the moment it arrives it gets kicked out. If
the plant arrives too late and the kicker is already forward (ahead)
then the timing needs to be turned slightly toward the plus sign on
top. If on the other hand, the plants are arriving too soon and the
plants have to wait before being kicked out then you need to adjust
the timing toward the minus sign on top. We have found that if the
timing is o we like to adjust two rows towards the “+”, and two rows
towards the “-”, to see which way gets us closer. Then we tweak it a
little more until we have the “sweet spot” and we then adjust all the
rows the same.
If you have plants laying on top of the ground then its timing. If all
the plants are leaning a certain way then its timing. Please remem-
ber that its often just a slight - very slight - adjustment on top/center
(with the two nuts) which results in a big change on the outside of
the carousel.
Once you have set your timing note the speed. From then on, it is best to go from 0 to the desired speed on the
tractor quickly so that the machine is in timing with the set speed. For example, if you set the machine’s timing when
going at 1.2mph, then each time you start try to go quickly to 1.2mph. You can speed up slightly, to 1.3mph with the
timing set a 1mph without causing issues with the timing.
10 cup carousel
OBJECTIVE: All plugs/plants should be planted straight up! If not, it’s likely the timing setting.
If for any reason you can not achieve this objective then please call your dealer or text Grant at 208-520-8222.
If all of your plants are not being placed in the ground, laying on top of the ground,
or not packed straight up, then the likely adjustment is TIMING.
TIP--Place plants ONLY in cups near you.
If the row operator gets behind they might be tempt-
ed to put a plant in the furthest away cup to try to
catch up. This will not plant properly. The furthest
away carousel position is the OPEN hole to fall
into the throat. If the plug/plant doesn’t have time
to go to the bottom of the cup, it will not be ready
to go down the throat with the proper timing and
will not stand up properly, or may be damaged.

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7) PACKING WHEELS - Key Adjustments
Adjust the packing wheels - this rst adjust-
ment (A) is for positioning them closer and
further away from the plant coming out of the
shoe.
A common position is where the center of the
big washer is around 1 & 3/4 mark. If it’s sandy
soil you should move them back (away from
shoe) to around 1.
If it’s clay soil, you can move it slightly forward
(toward the shoe) to around 2. Most soils work
well with the 1 & 1/2 to 1 & 3/4 setting.
The other adjustment (B) on the packing
wheels is the notches on the side of the wheels
to bring the wheels closer together, or further
apart. A common setting for normal conditions
is 3.5 holes each side. For sandy soil or bigger
plants try 2.5 holes showing each side.
8) PLANT DEPTH -
Adjust the depth gauge - which
lowers or raises the packing
wheels. A common depth to
start, for hemp, is around 5 to 6,
depending on the size of your
plugs. You can adjust slightly
according to how the machine
is planting.
*NOTE: Plants laying on top of
the soil (even one out of every
several plants, is not a function
of depth, but rather timing--
See Timing Adjustment (item 6,
page 7.)
9) FRONT PRESS WHEELS -
Adjust the front press wheels
to where they touch and
provide some compaction.
A common setting is around
3 - but this can vary slightly.
depth gauge
A
B

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10) WATER -
If your machine has the water valves, be sure the water is
hooked up to the valves on our machines. In addition to
watering your plants, another advantage of the watering
system is that it keeps your shoes cleaned out so it doesn’t
get clogged up with soil. (Otherwise see “Troubleshoot-
ing”on page 11).
The wing nut in
this picture is for
adjusting
quantity of
water per drop.
picture of water quantity adjustment
The factory adjusts the water timing--
properly set when the kicker is completely
back in the shoe the moment it begins to
move forward the water is release from the
valve and comes down in the shoe and accom-
panies the plant as it is kicked out. In this way,
the plant gets the water in needs.
However, if the water is consistently not hit-
ting with the plant, then a slight adjustment
is needed with the 2 bearings pictured here--
slightly adjust up or down.
11) PLASTIC GUILLOTINE -
This is a clear plastic piece which helps each plant fall straight
down the throat into the shoe without falling over in the pro-
cess. Its motion is up and down every time a plant falls down.
For tall plants (12” plus) you only need to lower it slightly, if at
all. For short plants (4”-10”) it helps if you lower the guillotine
most of the way down--Do this by loosening the wing nut
and sliding it down. This does not go into the soil but it does
oer help to the plant as it falls down to help it stand straight
up right before it is kicked out.
NOTE: When you change the shoe size,
you change the guillotine size and the
kicker size as well, which is included in
the new shoe kit.

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12) OPERATOR WEIGHT
ADJUSTMENT SPRING--
In the end, all of these adjustments work in your favor - and once you set them you should not have to reset them again
and again. They will always work the same as long as everything stays relatively the same - speed, soil, plants, etc.
If your ground is hard and you want to apply more down
pressure, on the row unit (for tighter packing) then you
can simply reverse this spring in which now applies more
down pressure. (This option is rarely utilized.)
To adjust this, tighten the spring wing nut behind the
seat near the tool bar to relieve some of the operator
weight on the eected row.
This setting is less critical, however if you notice that
one row is digging a deeper trench it could be due to a
heavier operator weight on that row.
The best ways to apply and adjust down pressure on the
packing wheels is to refer to page 4 and do all 3 critical
adjustments to the packing wheels (4-A, 4-B, 4-C.) If
after doing those adjustments you still need more down
pressure you can try this option below.
TRAY STORAGE -
Make sure the tray storage is being utilized
- most of the machines have the double
or triple horizontal racks and so they
have an impressive rack storage capacity.
If you have a 4 or 6-sided rotary tray holder, do you use soft trays or
hard trays? If you use soft or ex trays, you will need to change the top
part of the tray holders out for the top piece shown in the picture below
which is for soft trays. (adjustable height)
6-Sided Soft Tray Holder Attachment
Standard Hard Tray Holder

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TROUBLESHOOTING--
If all the timing positions are set exactly the same and
it’s working great - and then after a while one row
begins to act up (no longer planting correctly)
then it’s usually one of two things -
1) A plant is stuck in the throat of that row unit and
thus aecting the fall of all the plants down that throat
(solution = remove the stuck plant)
OR
2) Soil has accumulated behind the kicker and is
aecting the kicker of that row unit. This is the reason
for which the shoes must be cleaned out (if they are
NOT using water - if they are using water then the
water will clean out the shoe every time a plant comes
down). If you are not using water, you can imagine as
each plant drops down the throat into the shoe it can
lose a little soil and over time that can accumulate in
the back of the shoe and aect the performance of the
kicker. So when the farm stops to reload the trays on
the racks, one person should be assigned to clean out
the shoes. We have seen damage caused to the kicker
by not cleaning out the shoes.
3) If all the plants are not going in the ground straight
up, or some are not going into the ground at all, that
is a TIMING issue. (See page 7)
Clean-out rod to clean out soil/debris from throat and shoes.
4) If the furrow made by the shoe is not closing-- (see page 6, Items 5A, 5B and 5C)
Keep Your Transplanter Performing!
Especially during your intense transplanting time it is import-
ant to grease/oil it every 50 hours. (2019 model)
Also, spray oil on the kicker bearing EVERY DAY during
transplanting! It is constantly moving and close to the dirt
dust as you transplant-- it is critical to oil it once daily during
transplanting. Check the springs during this daily oiling
process.
If you are not applying water with our “water trip”feature,
then you need to be sure that every time you reload trays,
lift the machine and clean out each shoe behind the kicker
with the “clean out rod” to remove extra soil which may have
MAINTAINENCE
Clean-out rod
NEW TRIUMS, the 2020 model, no longer have a kicker bearing, however all previous models do. (See page 5.)

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press wheels
carousel with
cup extenders
cup extenders
& reducers
carousel with
cup extenders
depth
gauge
depth
gauge
packing wheels
coulter disc
down pressure
spring for
packing wheels
drive wheels support wheels
operator weight
adjustment spring
horizontal
tray racks
tool bar
TRIUM or Unitrium-- Part Names & Locations
Allen International, Inc. is the marketing arm of Checchi & Magli (C&M) and can not be held responsible if the equipment is not properly or safely used.