INDUSTRIES WE SERVE
Seed Tubes for Planter, Drill, and Air Seeder OEMs
At a glance:
CERTIFICATION
ISO 9001:2015 certified
FOUNDED ERA
Founded 1959
CAPABILITIES USED
Tube bending, end forming, welding/brazing, tube assemblies & kits
VOLUMES
Low-volume custom assemblies through repeatable runs
LOCATION
South Bend, Indiana
WHAT CURTIS DOES FOR SEED TUBES AND SEEDING EQUIPMENT
Curtis Products bends and forms tubing for agricultural equipment OEMs. Whether you're building planters, grain drills, or air seeders, seed tubes and seed-delivery components are formed-tube applications — a length of tubing bent to a geometry that carries seed cleanly from a metering system or hopper down to the opener, without kinks that would jam the flow. That geometry starts with our tube bending and end forming capabilities, built for OEMs that need the part to hold shape and tolerance on a machine that runs across a field for years.
We aren't a retail parts counter — this is OEM work. If you're an OEM engineering team with a print, or a sample part and a rough idea of what the tube needs to do, that's the starting point.
PROCESS & CAPABILITIES
Every seed tube or seeding-equipment tubing job starts with a print, or a sample part if a print doesn't exist yet. We bend steel, stainless steel, copper, and aluminum tubing from 1/8 inch to 3 inch OD, using manual fixture bending, power fixture bending, or CNC rotary bending, matched to the tolerance, radius, and volume the part calls for. From there, end forming — flaring, flanging, swaging, sizing, expanding, and coining — shapes the tube so it seats against a hopper, manifold, or opener assembly.
Where a seeding equipment assembly needs more than a formed tube, our welding and brazing group joins mid-to-large diameter steel, stainless steel, and aluminized steel tube using manual and robotic MIG welding plus torch, hand, and induction brazing, every process built to meet or exceed AWS requirements. Aluminized steel is a material well suited to parts that see field exposure and fertilizer contact, and it's one of the metals our welding group can work in. Finished tube assemblies and kits can combine bending, forming, welding, and finishing into one completed part, delivered to your line — optionally loaded on custom-built racks.
WHY OEMS PICK A SHOP THAT'S BEEN DOING THIS SINCE THE 1950S
Curtis Products has built formed tubing assemblies since the fall of 1959, when Curtis Heckaman won a contract to supply short-run, formed tubing after no other manufacturer could meet the customer's quality and delivery requirements. The company is now in its third generation of family management, ISO 9001:2015 certified, and runs a quality process built around prevention — receiving, in-process, and final inspections that document compliance before a part ships.
For an agricultural equipment OEM, that discipline shows up as on-time delivery, design expertise, and competitive pricing on a tube that has to survive vibration, dust, and years of field use without cracking a weld or clogging a bend. Launch planning tools like Team Feasibility Commitment, Design Review, and Mistake Proofing get applied before a new part reaches full production, inside 254,000 square feet of dedicated plant space in South Bend, Indiana. Curtis serves OEMs across the Chicagoland, South Bend, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati areas and beyond.
AN AGRICULTURAL TUBING MANUFACTURER BUILT FOR OEMS, NOT FARM-DIRECT PARTS
To be clear about who this page is for: Curtis is an agricultural tubing manufacturer that supplies equipment OEMs, not a source of direct-to-farmer replacement parts. Whether you're building planters, grain drills, or air seeders, we bend and fabricate the seed tubes, frame tubing, and manifold components your design calls for, engineered to your print rather than pulled from a generic catalog. If that's the work you need, send a print or a sample through our quote request page. For the fabrication side beyond bending, see our tube fabrication services; if your design also routes hydraulic fluid, see custom hydraulic lines.
FAQs
Do you sell seed tubes directly to farmers, or supply equipment OEMs?
We supply agricultural equipment OEMs — the manufacturers building planters, grain drills, and air seeders — not individual farmers or dealers. If you design seeding equipment and need formed seed tubes or tube assemblies, send a print through our quote request page.
What are grain drill seed tubes, and can Curtis form them?
Grain drill seed tubes carry seed from the metering system down to the opener. That's a formed-tube application — bending and end forming to a specific geometry — and it falls within the tube bending and end forming capabilities we run for OEM equipment builders.
Do you form seed tubes for planters as well as air seeder tubes?
Yes. Whether your design calls for seed tubes for planters, grain drill seed tubes, or air seeder tubes, we bend and end-form the tube to your print, then weld, braze, or finish the assembly if it needs it.
What materials do you use for agricultural seed tube assemblies?
We bend steel, stainless steel, copper, and aluminum tubing, and weld steel, stainless steel, and aluminized steel assemblies. Aluminized steel resists the corrosion that field and fertilizer exposure can cause; confirm material and wall thickness with Curtis engineers during quoting.
What tube sizes can you bend for seeding equipment?
We bend tubing from 1/8 inch to 3 inch OD for seeding and planting equipment. Bend radius, wall thickness, and tolerance are set part by part during quoting.
Can you handle low-volume or custom runs for planter and seeder assemblies?
Yes. We handle low-volume custom assemblies with hands-on design support, from a single prototype through repeatable runs, and our rapid prototyping team can build a working prototype from your specs.
How do I request a quote as an agricultural tubing manufacturer partner?
Send a print or a sample part through our quote request page. Curtis engineers respond with design feedback and pricing based on material, tolerance, and volume.