Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Thought this paper by the USDA was an excellent read for someone considering a new planter....or for any of us for that matter. Maybe other folks have more of this stuff to dump here?
Good införmation on different drills and food plot planters.
- Thread starter Foggy47
- Start date
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Everyone asks how to calibrate. Their are some good videos....but here is good written text on the issue. Make a copy and put it with your drill? One thing I am going to do when I get near home....is to find the right sized tray to place under 3 of my openers. That would speed up calibrating. Why disconnect the tubes and play with bags?
extension.psu.edu
Calibration of Grain/Seed Drills
The seed delivery system in drills is not as precise as that used in planters because they use flutes or sponges to meter seed instead of seed singulation.
extension.psu.edu
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Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Everyone asks how to calibrate. Their are some good videos....but here is good written text on the issue. Make a copy and put it with your drill? One thing I am going to do when I get near home....is to find the right sized tray to place under 3 of my openers. That would speed up calibrating. Why disconnect the tubes and play with bags?
Calibration of Grain/Seed Drills
The seed delivery system in drills is not as precise as that used in planters because they use flutes or sponges to meter seed instead of seed singulation.
The calibrating part seems straight forward to me. I’m more interested in how you all get the seed that wasn’t dispensed while calibrating or planted in a plot out of the drill without wasting it?
Will little shop vacs leave you with useable seed after sucking the leftovers out of a drill?
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Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Yep....that's what I use. Dedicated small vac for this purpose. Must have...IMO.
Bill
Administrator
That's exactly what I do also. Shop Vac. It splits some soybean seeds but not many.
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
Yep - A clean shop vac is the only way to go. Very easy.
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Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
When I mix my seed blends I weight it in 5 gal pails and then dump it in large plastic bins to mix it by hand. It mixes very easily like that Foggy.
If I am doing quite a bit the same day I may only mix up an acre or two at a time - whatever conveniently fits in the bin.
I usually mix it a little with each type of seed as I pour it in the bin and it doesn't take much to get a good mix. This is seed in the large seed box.
Small seed I may only mix in a 5 gal pail but If I am doing several acres I will mix that in a bin as well.
Small seed box with mixed seed...
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
From the "Common problems to avoid" section:
Seems a lot of folks are saying this isn't a problem with a lot of the diverse blends being used. Maybe it has something to do with size of food plots? I.E. if I put a diverse mix in the box for 2 acres, the seed wont be bounced around as much to separate as it would if I had 15 acres worth of seed in the box.
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Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
I have always believed this to be true Wind Gypsy. It just seems to me that the smaller seed would vibrate to the bottom of the box while planting. Grant Woods and others say it hasn’t been an issue for them when planting with a drill that only has one box. I can’t say because both my conventional drill and my no-till drill have had 2 boxes - 1 for large seed and one for small seed. I mix my own blended seed and always use the appropriate box for the seed. This is one reason I don’t buy commercially blended seed.
I know the companies that sell these mixes say it isn’t an issue either but I just like separating large and small seeds. You may think it “overboard” but I even drill my brassica mixes with the radish seed in the large box and the smaller rape and turnip seeds in the small box. Works well for me.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
I dont see a problem with the seeds becoming separated. To me the big problem is that the smaller seeds get too deep in the v trench to germinate properly. ONE of the big reasons you have two seed boxes is to NOT bury small seeds the same way you would plant larger seeds. That is a major point to me.
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
Absolutely Foggy. The two different drop tubes are the best way to ensure the seeds are planted at the appropriate depths. No question about it.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
That is one of the issues I have with the Genesis product. Everything goes into one hopper (unless you buy that new small seed box system ,now available.) Hard to put down lots of cereal rye and a few lbs of rape, turnips and clovers when you do the fall planing with that drill....IMO. Gotta almost do two passes.
The Tar River SAYA products has the small and large seed boxes but then amazingly they dump both seeds in the same trench. What's the logic in that?....and why I came up with the tube arrangement behind the openers on my Tar River.....very similar to what Great Plains / Land Pride has.
I know I am kinda a broken record on this.....but these drills are somewhat new stuff to me (and to several others) and I think we are on to something with these mods.
I wonder where the small seed box dispenses the seeds on the Genesis? Behind the openers? Anyone know??
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
It appears the small seed box drops them outside of the openers right in front of the wheels. https://www.rtpoutdoors.com/genesis?pgid=ksktg827-957d009d-776c-4fb7-81b3-cec098b54549
Not sure if this is a typical price but Higgins outdoors has a gen 5 small seed box adder priced at $2,777.49 + $741.22 installation fee. Yikes!
356
5 year old buck +
I use guttering tin. Cheap, long and easy to pour into a container.Everyone asks how to calibrate. Their are some good videos....but here is good written text on the issue. Make a copy and put it with your drill? One thing I am going to do when I get near home....is to find the right sized tray to place under 3 of my openers. That would speed up calibrating. Why disconnect the tubes and play with bags?
Calibration of Grain/Seed Drills
The seed delivery system in drills is not as precise as that used in planters because they use flutes or sponges to meter seed instead of seed singulation.
