Firminator
- Thread starter WeedyJ
- Start date
Dukslayr
5 year old buck +
Looking forward to hearing how you like it. What are you going “from” to the Firminator?
roosterstraw
5 year old buck +
Do you happen to know the price of the ATV model?
No, but I'll ask
ATV, Tartar disc, Cultipacker, broadcast spreader (Tartar pull behind). Hoping to head as close to no till as possible. Gonna take a few years to build soil. On another note, finally hooked a pump to recently laid pipe. Held my breath and cranked it. 800 feet of 4 inch pipe with a 50 ft vertical to get to the plot area. Came gushing out around 150GPM. Slowly getting the place ready to thrive.
Dukslayr
5 year old buck +
I would think the firminator should be a nice upgrade for you. Let us know how you like it when you get it in the dirt.
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
I can't wait to see how you like it. I looked at them earlier this year, with no option of a second seed box I went with the Woods.
I wrestled between the two and that was a definite plus for the Woods. I liked the scrapers on the cultipacker and discs due to my sometimes muddy soil, the hydraulic top link, and ability to use it just as a heavy disc. I think the heavy disc part will help me some with road maintenance.
roosterstraw
5 year old buck +
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
I think you will love the Firminator, like you I had the scrapers installed on my disc and cultipacker before it was delivered. There is nothing more frustrating than digging mud out of a disc while you are using a piece of equipment! I used mine 2 days last week when it was pretty wet but I was mostly planting into existing clover so no mud issues yet.
I'm located in East Central Ga, near Lexington. What are you planting into your clover?
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
We probably aren't terribly far apart, I'm in West Central Ga in Meriwether County. I planted an 8 way mix in strips of sunn hemp, sunflowers, WGF, pearl millet, soybeans, cow peas, buck wheat and Major Swede.
I dont know about the firminator, but the woods seeder is absolutely great on smoothing out woods roads and trails compared to a disk. The disk turns the dirt, the spiked roller breaks up the clods of dirt, and the cultipacker smooths it all out. Just disengage the gears so nothing in the seed boxes are turning. I would bet the firminator does a good job on trails and roads, also. The only problem I have ever had with my woods seeder is mud build up. Not so much on the disk blades (chains or cables easy fix for that, anyway), but on the spiked roller. Mud balls up on that thing, and then is scraped off right under the seed tubes - stopping flow of seed to the ground. The mud scrapers will be a help on the cultipacker, but I dont know how to fix that on the spiked roller.
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
I shortened the length of the seed tubes on my primary box after one day of use because of dirt clogging, no problems since.
Dukslayr
5 year old buck +
I think they (Woods) sell scrapers for the discs, spiked roller and the cultipacker.
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
I got the scrapers for the discs and cultipacker, didn’t see one for the spiked roller but it’s possible.
Brief and preliminary review:
Received the Firminator later in the day. Absolute solid build. 1900 lbs. Took a little of bit of time to hook up to my 3 pt hitch because this is exactly the second time in my life I have touched a 3 pt hitch! Next time will be quick. Unfortunately, the hydraulic top link did not get shipped, so I had to manually adjust it. After doing that once, I think they should just make the hydraulic link standard and add the price to it. I don't think 250 dollars will change somebody's mind about a 10K purchase, but that one thing makes the difference between being so slick and quick versus a PITA to work! Due to time constraints, I only got to disc with it. I disced a recently cut "logging road" which has never been worked. The center ripper bar seemed to hold the disc back a little on this unworked ground, but a second pass and this road was ripped up! The few times I picked up a stick that got stuck, I simply reversed and popped it loose. Then I took it to a food plot that has been fallow and full of early succession stuff for a year, but has been minimally disced and planted over the years. I was tight on time so I left the disc in the most aggressive position (Don't fuss, I will be much more gentle with the other plots). This thing sunk down and cut deep in one pass. What an upgrade over fighting that ATV for years! Granted I am using a 100hp tractor instead of an 800 cc Polaris. With the moisture in that plot combined with the history of plantings, there is no doubt I could use this as a single pass planter here. I have some newer plots that I am curious to try this out in, and I suspect I will not be able to single pass them the first time. More to come. Plan on planting in a week.
Received the Firminator later in the day. Absolute solid build. 1900 lbs. Took a little of bit of time to hook up to my 3 pt hitch because this is exactly the second time in my life I have touched a 3 pt hitch! Next time will be quick. Unfortunately, the hydraulic top link did not get shipped, so I had to manually adjust it. After doing that once, I think they should just make the hydraulic link standard and add the price to it. I don't think 250 dollars will change somebody's mind about a 10K purchase, but that one thing makes the difference between being so slick and quick versus a PITA to work! Due to time constraints, I only got to disc with it. I disced a recently cut "logging road" which has never been worked. The center ripper bar seemed to hold the disc back a little on this unworked ground, but a second pass and this road was ripped up! The few times I picked up a stick that got stuck, I simply reversed and popped it loose. Then I took it to a food plot that has been fallow and full of early succession stuff for a year, but has been minimally disced and planted over the years. I was tight on time so I left the disc in the most aggressive position (Don't fuss, I will be much more gentle with the other plots). This thing sunk down and cut deep in one pass. What an upgrade over fighting that ATV for years! Granted I am using a 100hp tractor instead of an 800 cc Polaris. With the moisture in that plot combined with the history of plantings, there is no doubt I could use this as a single pass planter here. I have some newer plots that I am curious to try this out in, and I suspect I will not be able to single pass them the first time. More to come. Plan on planting in a week.
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
I’m glad your first use was a success, good luck and keep us updated.
So I finally got to use it this weekend. My property has rolling topography and lots of stumps, as it was once paper company land. Since I have heretofore only worked it with an ATV disc, the irregularities of the land surface and stump presence have not been an issue before. Nor has there been a problem maneuvering in the fields. Now that I am using a large tractor, things like sidehills, stumps, irregular terrain, and smaller plots(1 acre or less, some with odd shapes) are things to be reckoned with. My son helped me and we were learning the Firminator AND the Massey together. We also chose to disc the fields first in hopes of helping to level them some, as well as breaking up some old logging areas. One thing that sold me on the Firminator was the ability to angle it and use the full weight on the discs. As a disc it was awesome every time, not needing a second pass anywhere. We went over A LOT of sticks and roots, as I had removed some trees and stumps earlier this year. No problem with any of them. The scrapers popped them out if they weren't cut. If anything got stuck, we just reversed a few feet and it popped out.
Once we cut with the disc, we reset the Firminator to plant. This involves adjusting the top link, and a hydraulic would have saved us a bunch of time. On a couple of fields we used the disc at a less aggressive angle while we seeded and packed. On a couple of fields we raised the discs up all the way so the full weight was on the cultipacker. Time will tell if there is a difference in the growth.
One big complaint I heard about the Firminator was that it left seed on top of the ground. I don't see how. That cultipacker is huge and heavy. I was looking at the ground and worried no seed was coming out. Anything I could see was securely mashed into the soil. I finally found a small low spot where the packer did not get, and there were plenty of seeds about 1-2 inches apart laying there, so I know it was dropping seed. Engaging and disengaging the seeder is a breeze, as is setting the seeding rate. The seed box holds probably 200-250 lbs of seed.
As far as a time saver, our snails pace was more about our inexperience, dodging stumps, watching side lean, and figuring out the best way to efficiently maneuver in the plots. The last plot of the day, a 3/4 acre right triangle shape, flat, and stump free plot was disced, then planted and packed in about 30 minutes. Once we get to be better tractor operators, we are gonna save a bunch of time over the ATV/Multiple implement approach. Having a hydraulic top link will let me stay in the cab all day while prepping, planting , and packing. I will have to get out for a bathroom break because there's just not much space for an in cab toilet.
So while the same could be accomplished with separate implements, I am glad I got it, and with proper care, expect it will be with me for a long time. Gonna head back over in 3 days to try the "no till "approach with it and plant some strips of my summer blend into the clover.
Once we cut with the disc, we reset the Firminator to plant. This involves adjusting the top link, and a hydraulic would have saved us a bunch of time. On a couple of fields we used the disc at a less aggressive angle while we seeded and packed. On a couple of fields we raised the discs up all the way so the full weight was on the cultipacker. Time will tell if there is a difference in the growth.
One big complaint I heard about the Firminator was that it left seed on top of the ground. I don't see how. That cultipacker is huge and heavy. I was looking at the ground and worried no seed was coming out. Anything I could see was securely mashed into the soil. I finally found a small low spot where the packer did not get, and there were plenty of seeds about 1-2 inches apart laying there, so I know it was dropping seed. Engaging and disengaging the seeder is a breeze, as is setting the seeding rate. The seed box holds probably 200-250 lbs of seed.
As far as a time saver, our snails pace was more about our inexperience, dodging stumps, watching side lean, and figuring out the best way to efficiently maneuver in the plots. The last plot of the day, a 3/4 acre right triangle shape, flat, and stump free plot was disced, then planted and packed in about 30 minutes. Once we get to be better tractor operators, we are gonna save a bunch of time over the ATV/Multiple implement approach. Having a hydraulic top link will let me stay in the cab all day while prepping, planting , and packing. I will have to get out for a bathroom break because there's just not much space for an in cab toilet.
So while the same could be accomplished with separate implements, I am glad I got it, and with proper care, expect it will be with me for a long time. Gonna head back over in 3 days to try the "no till "approach with it and plant some strips of my summer blend into the clover.
davidhelmly
5 year old buck +
I’m glad your first experience with it was a good one, I’m betting that you will like it more every time you use it!
