What are some different ways to prevent downtime during planting season?

Run the same color equipment as the closest parts store with best selection and service. It’s a green one for us. Notice I didn’t say the cheapest!!!!lol

There’s no way to prevent down time. Reduce it, yes. We do extensive maintenance during the winter, and there’s always something unexpected. We hook up and run the planter through the field with fert an seed on the first dry day we can to be sure there no surprises. We try to keep common parts on hand, and we are able to make our own hydraulic hoses. That has helped quite a bit.