Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
Curious @Potter co notill - why do you say calibrating your drill was a waste of time? What seed or mix were you calibrating for? Were you not able to figure out how to do it?
A Few no till questions.......
- Thread starter TreeDaddy
- Start date
Curious @Potter co notill - why do you say calibrating your drill was a waste of time? What seed or mix were you calibrating for? Were you not able to figure out how to do it?
Potter co notill
5 year old buck +
Yes I followed the directions in the manual not very hard. I was calibrating for radish and ptt and in the end I came up with what I was doing before calibrating as I just wanted to see what it came out to be. I just don’t think it’s needed for food plots. I’m planting 1-2acre plots if I use a little more or less seed doesn’t matter to me. I just adjust it for the next yr as I primarily plant the same seeds every year because I found what works for me.
Beans, radish-PTT-clover, and oats
Where I plant beans the following spring gets planted in oats, then late summer radish,PTT and med red clover.
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
OK - So you are just planting the same 3 seeds/mixes year after year. In that case there is no need to calibrate. I get that.
But....what if I were to ask you for the correct settings (Drive gear, Seed Cup and Seed Rate lever) needed to plant RR Sugar Beet seed on 22 inch rows at only 2#/acre. Your drill looks very similar to mine. I have a LP 606NT.
If you can give me the correct settings without calibrating, maybe you can tell me how you did it so I don't have to waste my time calibrating.
Thanks
@omicron1792 - I would invite you to answer the question as well since you apparently don't calibrate either. Thanks
Potter co notill
5 year old buck +
I would look in the book and find a seed similar in size and go from there. Having only ever saw Non RR suger beats I would go with buckwheat as something similar.
Try drive 2, seed cup 1 rate between 10-15 should get u close
roymunson
5 year old buck +
I have WTNUT's "old" 606NT. If I were planting for yield and farming i'd probably be stricter. But I'm planting to kill deer so if I miss a little on my rates, I'm ok with that.
Keep good notes. Once you find a rate that works, write it down. It makes life easier next year.
Would be cool to have a thread on here sharing rates and comparable seeds for some of the "deer" plants. I know GP doesn't give much in the way of PTT, but you you can plant it at about the same rate as some of the other suggested seeding rates that ARE in the handbook.
Mixed blends that use radishes, cereal grains, and some brassicas can make things interesting
Keep good notes. Once you find a rate that works, write it down. It makes life easier next year.
Would be cool to have a thread on here sharing rates and comparable seeds for some of the "deer" plants. I know GP doesn't give much in the way of PTT, but you you can plant it at about the same rate as some of the other suggested seeding rates that ARE in the handbook.
Mixed blends that use radishes, cereal grains, and some brassicas can make things interesting
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
"keep good notes" is worth repeating
Wild Thing has shared his rates/recipes and drill settings earlier in the thread
bill
roymunson
5 year old buck +
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
OK - Well that was fairly good Potter Co NoTill, but I am afraid you would have been disappointed in the results. In this case, you would have been better off to have taken the time to calibrate rather than guesstimate. You would have actually saved time...and more importantly - money with that expensive RR sugar beet seed. Your settings would have planted way too much seed and you would have run out long before you planted your 1 acre plot. At $200-$250 for only 2# of seed, I would rather calibrate before planting so I know exactly what settings to use before I leave the barn.
Here is a tip which you may be able to use in the future should you ever decide to plant very small amounts of seed. When you get down to only planting single digit #/acre (i.e. 2# - 4#/acre sugar beets or 6#/acre radish) you can forget all about using Drive Gear 2 as it will plant way too heavy even with the Seed Cup doors closed and using the smallest Seed Rate Handle settings.
The settings I used for the 2#/acre small sugar beet seed were:
Drive Gear - 1
Seed Cup - 1
Seed Rate - 9
I agree that if you are planting a monoculture of large seeds such as grains or beans, you can pretty much just look at the guidelines in the seed charts and get pretty close. Even if those settings are 10% off, it doesn't make a big difference when you are planting at 60-100# or more per acre. It is when you want to plant small amounts of small seeds, in particular, that calibrating your drill really makes sense. It also helps me when planting cover crop mixes at lower rates.
Also, for the guys who are only planting beans, cereal grains and the same brassica mix every year, year after year....once they get their setting where they want them there really isn't any need to continue calibrating. Maybe I will get to that point some day, but I am usually planting different seeds and seed mixes every year so I have to be more cognizant of what rates I am planting at.
Kudos to you for sharing your thoughts on the issue. None of the others here who I asked to give me their recommendations even tried. Hats off to you.
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TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
Drilled 6 acres this past weekend( a mix of oats rye,winter peas,clover,radish , and rape)
I need to plant 3 more in rye,CC,arrowleaf
Should I throw everything in large box or separate ( rye in large and clover in small)?
I dont think you can use the large box and small box at the same time
In other words, dont you have to cover the plot once with the large seed and then go back and cover the plot again for the small seed?
Having fun with the journey in spite of the learning curve
bill
I need to plant 3 more in rye,CC,arrowleaf
Should I throw everything in large box or separate ( rye in large and clover in small)?
I dont think you can use the large box and small box at the same time
In other words, dont you have to cover the plot once with the large seed and then go back and cover the plot again for the small seed?
Having fun with the journey in spite of the learning curve
bill
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
A drill with a large and small seed box can and should drill both at one time with one pass
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I thought you said you have a 3p606nt - if so you could do em both at same time in different boxes.
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
Yep - Large seed in the large seed box…small seed in the small seed box. Drill both at the same time with one pass.
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
I do
I may be overthinking this
Just confused on planting depth when using both boxes at the same time
bill
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
The small box should drop seeds just behind openers so they aren’t all in the bottom of the furrow like seed from the big seed box.
I think most set depth based on the big seed box but you could probably trend a hair shallower if you’re worried about it.
I think most set depth based on the big seed box but you could probably trend a hair shallower if you’re worried about it.
Bill
Administrator
That and most of the seed from the small box kinda gets scattered a bit. Some hits the trench, many hit next to it and the press wheel pushes it into the dirt, (In theory)
My problem has always been the small seed is so hard to find amongst the thatch and dirt. Red coated clover being the one I can sometimes find.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
You're correct, the press wheels control the opener depth for the row.
You'll want input from the long term drill users on their setting strategy but based on what I've read here, setting the press wheels so openers are on the shallow end of optimal big seed depth if also using small seed box seemed like a good starting point. Your trench will be deeper than you want for small seeds but the small seed tube scatters them around and many don't end up too deep.
In my poorly drained and stiff soils, it seems to have worked well to just set the press wheels to the desired depth for the big seeds and the clover/chicory/brassicas from the small box getting sprinkled behind the openers didn't get buried too deep and germinated nicely. That said, in my soils the press wheels don't always seem to seal up the trench completely. It squeezes the trench together but you can frequently still see a slit so the small seeds aren't having to push through an inch+ of soil.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
What brand and model of drill do you have? Many drills drop the rear box behind the openers.....and some (like my Tar River ) drop the small box at the back of the seed trench as Bill described above. I modified my drill to drop seeds in either location. I'm uncertain if I get a better result one way or the other......but the Great Plains design drops the small seedbox behind the openers.....and they seem to be the most widely regarded in the drill biz.