The thing is.....I doubt you will find many real farmers that are interested in 5 and 6 foot drills. WAAAAY too small for anyone that is farming for a profit. I don't understand their logic.....if there is any. OTOH....ten years ago.....any NO-TILL drill had to have cutting coulters to be a legitimate no-till product. That idea has changed over the last several years.
Was reflecting on this a bit ^......and would like to summarize how I see the food plot game is changing for some of us that recently climbed into the no-till world.
I gotta say.....that when I first heard of a no-till drill I considered that stuff to be all too heavy and require big power tractors. Never considered it for a smaller scale operator such as myself. Then again.....I thought I had to till my land in order to grow things.....as that is the way I had seen things done at farms in the past. Also I had just finished logging my land and opening up more food plots....and destumping some land (I ground over 3000 stumps out of my food plots with a PTO stump grinder). I was not "ready" for a drill I suppose.
I just never knew about these other methods that have come about in recent years. Also, I often ignored the "throw and mow" threads and the no-till threads as I did not think they could apply to me. I had poor luck with broadcasting and not covering seeds. Still had not learned about keeping mulch "armor" on the soil and living roots, etc. At the old saying goes: "you just don't know what you don't know". A little history......
For me all the stars did not align for my operation until I had a major problems with pigweed in my corn and soybean crops. Decided that row crops were gonna ruin my enjoyment and battling weeds all summer is a major PITA. Along came the new Tar River Saya Drill.....at the height of my frustration with weeds, a drought, and a general all-summer crop failure all hitting at once.....and I made a decision to give no-till / regenerative-ag a go. Doing allot of speed reading and watching video (while my wife recovered from surgery) put me on a far better path than before. Then too a few friends from the interwebs helped steer me in the right direction. Still....there is an ongoing learning curve with all this stuff. It's a challenge - yet fun. I got along with the SAYA for a year and a half....but later recognized some of the better features with the GP unit and made a 'trade up" to the GP 3P500. The Saya fulfilled my need....and I am not so sure that their conventional 3 point drill would not work quite well for a smaller operation too. (See the Back 40 YouTube videos for a decent review on this product and his experiences - thanks Mark).
I had seen several others that had taken some conventional grain drills and converted them to a 3-Point drill and some of them were "getting by" with minimum til with reasonable expenses for such things. Heard of others that were using small pull-type conventional drills and some reported doing minimum or no till. Still....this has been slowly evolving and I never knew about the Great Plains or Land Pride Minium Tillage 3P500 or 3P600 which have been available for a good many years. Sure we heard about some of their flagship No-till models....but those seemed price prohibitive. No mention anywhere I could find on the 3P 500 or 600. Nada. Zip. Zero.
The company that put no-till drills on the map for guys like us was the RTP Genesis line.....and the various TV personalities that they market thru like Grant Woods, the Drury's and many more. They at least opened our eyes to other methods. Grant Woods explaining the Buffalo system is fundamental to this movement. NOW.....some legitimacy had happened to this market place.....AND few were needing slicing coulters.....like no-till REQUIRED in the PAST. Then the "lightweight" Genesis models began being
preferred and the 30 and 35 HP tractor models became viable. Enter Tar River with a low cost asian built unit THAT WORKED......and suddenly many more players take hold in this no-till world. (A few other models have also been used over time....with some various levels of success and satisfaction - Kasco for one....and I know there are others too.)
Then too recently the "tillage and spillage tools" (Woods, Land Pride, etc) have been sold more heavily and they likely make sense for many.....and may bridge the affordability and usability gap for many.
Still it seems strange that the Kubota owned Great Plains / Land Pride 3 Point mini-till drills were not promoted better durning prior years. I think the 3P600 with a small seed box is one of the best alternatives out there for food plot guys.......especially if you have light or sandy ground. I think GP/LP was focussed on selling these products to vineyards and orchards and never really recognized the food plot users (??).....and instead pushed toward heavier units? Dunno their logic? .....or was I simply not aware or paying attention?
Despite them promoting other tools for this market.....for me.....these 3P drills make allot of sense for the small time operator with a typical 30 HP tractor with adequate lift capacity. I've been able to penetrate all my plots and virgin sod here at my land without ever a struggle. I'm told you can hang wieght on these little drills via a weight bracket they offer.....but I have never seen one and have not had the need for more weight on my unit. In a day's time I can drill ten acres of food plots with my five foot unit....if I have my seed ready to go. I drill at 3 to 3.5 mph depending on the terrain a bit. I've rolled over a few stumps and a rock or two....but will try to lift the drill around obstacles to provide longevity. Pulling these drills is a non event on light, fairly level land. .....Which is the kind of land that many of us have. It's mostly about the lift capacity for anyone looking for a drill like this. I know guys with some heavier soil types....and they seem to get along well with this drill too....tho I have no first hand experience.
For the money, I think these 3P drills are the best bang for my buck......and would choose it over the Genesis on light soils. Your results could vary....consult a local user or dealer for more specifics. My experience with the Tar River showed me I needed to have a small seed box. I know you can put one on the Genesis too....but there goes the price. Not sure what other I could gain from the Genesis or new G model....over these 3P models? As I write this....I believe you can buy a new 3P600 for about $15,000 with a small seed box (Tractor House).....and if you can find a used one you can save a little. Not cheap.....but they will last several decades if you are a reasonable operator.....and if you want "out" there are lots of folks ready to own a good value. Good machine prices don't seem to go down.
THERE....now their exists a "user testimonial" that I tried to find for this product line for TWO YEARS! ....prior to buying one. Maybe somebody will make a YouTube video.....lol.
