Tractor size for no till drill

[Ouachita]

I am looking at a Great Plains 606 no till drill with end wheels . Great Plains lists the horse power requirements as 40hp. My tractor is an older Kubota L3600 with 38hp and no rear hydraulics. Is it wise to add rear hydraulics to my
Existing tractor? Is it possible to adapt the FEL hydraulics to run the drill? I hate to be looking at putting out the money for a new tractor right now considering the cost of the no till drill. Any opinions or prior experiences would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Bill]

I see no reason why you couldn't add hydraulic connectors to your FEL lines and use them for the drill.
My local NAPA makes lines up much cheaper than John Deere. Still crazy pricey but better than the big green guys.

If it were me I'd splice the lines that tilt the FEL bucket. That way you can still raise and lower the bucket when your raising and lowering the drill.

 

[JFK52]

I have a Kubota L345 DT 4x4 with FEL and I had the local service garage install a set of rear hydraulic lines on my tractor. It has it's own lever for operating and the lines were installed into the hydraulic fluid reservoir. It was done right after I bought the tractor used 24 years ago, so I have no idea what it cost.
Do you need a single set of two lines for just up and down or do you need two sets of four lines for more elaborate applications?

 

[Ouachita]

JFK52,
It just requires a single set of 2 lines to raise and lower. Have you operated a no till drill with your L345? The drill that I am looking at weighs 2700# plus the weight of the small seeds box and warm season grass box. It is a 6' wide planting width. Thanks

 

[JFK52]

Ouachita,
I have NOT operated a no till drill with my Kubota. I have a farmer friend who rents one of my fields to grow alfalfa in it. As part of the rental lease, he plants my 13-15 acres of RR corn and soy beans every year with his no till equipment for the cost of the seed and an hourly rate for his services. He uses a much bigger tractor for planting hundreds of acres every year. I believe his no till equipment is slightly wider, maybe 8 feet. It does a great job of planting on my land.

I think you are right at the maximum weight for an implement on the back of your tractor. You might have to counter balance the weight of the planter with the of use suitcase weights. Or just fill the FEL with a load of rocks or other weight. I would definitely ask your Kubota dealer about pulling the no till drill. Another source of information that I consult for all things Kubota is the orangetractortalks.com forum. A lot of good guys on there willing to share their knowledge of every model Kubota tractor in existence.

 

[Bill]

JFK52,
It just requires a single set of 2 lines to raise and lower. Have you operated a no till drill with your L345? The drill that I am looking at weighs 2700# plus the weight of the small seeds box and warm season grass box. It is a 6' wide planting width. Thanks

Don't know why you want the warm season grass box but I'd advise against it. No need for the expense. I have it and have never used it. Switch grass is just as easy to broadcast and doesn't run through the native seed box anyway. The native seed box is for Seed like bluestem that is fuzzy. Unless there is a reason you want Indian grass and bluestem the box is a bust.

I also don't recommend Indian grass or bluestem for deer cover. I have a 6 acre deer desert of it. To thick and then it falls over in late November.

Just throwing it out there. You may reasons I don't know about.

 

[Ouachita]

JFK52,
Thanks for the advice. I have plenty of rocks on my place for the FEL. This model of no till is an end wheel model, I don't have to lift it with the 3 point hitch. I probably do need the front end weights to pull it since it is so heavy and will be biting into the soil especially on uphill runs.
Bill,
The no till I am looking at already has the WSG box on it. Thanks

 

[swat1018]

Yea, I'm with Bill. I run mine with a 68HP Deere, but mine's the 3pt model. I think you are a little light on the tractor and HP, so if you can do away with the native seed box, I would. It's something the average guy may have a need for every five years. Is your land fairly flat? That would help. As far as the hydraulics, I use the same remotes that roll my bucket with no issues. I hope it's definitely 4x4. The main problem is that the drill weighs more than your tractor, with all the boxes, it's likely to get thrown around.

 

[Ouachita]

Swat,
The drill I am looking at has the WSG already attached. I don't know how hard it would be to remove. The tractor is the 4WD model with 38.5 hp and about 2955# without the FEL as best as I can find. My farm has some slope to it, going from plot to plot. Thanks