Planters Vs Grain Drills

[foggy]

Occasionally I get to dreaming about a drill vs a typical corn/bean row planter. I'm creating this thread to have some discussion about the merits of these types of planting.

I currently have a JD 71 Flex Planter and used it this year to plant soybeans in 30" rows. In some areas I planted additional brand in between the rows to get the population higher. Nice thing about soybeans is that they a legume and need little nitrogen to grow......and I can control the weeds with Round-up applications (I did two applications).

Then I can broadcast a mix for fall planting in July or August. This year I planted rye, oats, PTT, DER, GHR.

Not sure how you could accomplish this with a drill?? without ruining your beans??

 

[foggy]

Here is a good result of Soybeans with the brasica mix seeded into the standing beans.




Here is the JD 71 planter I used to plant the beans. Here I was setting it up for depth and I planted between the rows too. (15" rows) I plant at about 4 mph.

 

[foggy]

[

The beans have set some pods and the beans inside have grown allot in the ast eels with the good rainfall


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[foggy]

Some areas (like that shown in the pic above) just did not germinated my over seeded brasica and rye / oats. Not sure why....but I got a poor stand. I may try to cultivate between the rows next year to disturb the soil a little bit.....and hope to improve germination. (?)

So....I'm puzzled......How could you use a grain drill in a similar fashion?

 

[Freeborn]

Occasionally I get to dreaming about a drill vs a typical corn/bean row planter. I'm creating this thread to have some discussion about the merits of these types of planting.

I currently have a JD 71 Flex Planter and used it this year to plant soybeans in 30" rows. In some areas I planted additional brand in between the rows to get the population higher. Nice thing about soybeans is that they a legume and need little nitrogen to grow......and I can control the weeds with Round-up applications (I did two applications).

Then I can broadcast a mix for fall planting in July or August. This year I planted rye, oats, PTT, DER, GHR.

Not sure how you could accomplish this with a drill?? without ruining your beans??

Tom, drills have drop tubes that you could easily block so you would only drop seed with whatever tube you want. My drill has a drop/disk every 7 inches so all you need to do is block the tunes you don't want to use.

Most of the older drills are mechanical and pull type so maneuvering them in the woods is difficult. In Ag areas like Riggs and mine they work well.

In the long run I will be buying a no-till drill. Most likely a Great Plains 3 point. I want it for prairie Grass/forbs planting as well as food plots.

 

[foggy]

Tom, drills have drop tubes that you could easily block so you would only drop seed with whatever tube you want. My drill has a drop/disk every 7 inches so all you need to do is block the tunes you don't want to use.

Most of the older drills are mechanical and pull type so maneuvering them in the woods is difficult. In Ag areas like Riggs and mine they work well.

In the long run I will be buying a no-till drill. Most likely a Great Plains 3 point. I want it for prairie Grass/forbs planting as well as food plots.

OK, I understand you could block some drop tubes. But in the example above (seeding into standing beans)... would you not destroy the standing beans? Or do you remove some of those disks?

I could see fashioning a 3 point to the drill to make it easier to get around.....but seeding into the standing beans has me confused.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

You plant the beans every other space like Freeborn said and later broadcast by hand into standing beans. If you could've made it to my place I would have showed you how they look. I also have a plot of corn/beans planted at the same time. The possibilities for planting with a drill are endless. Only thing is you need to have extra seed or else you will be stopping to make sure there is enough seed still feeding. I prefer when beans are planted closer together for tonnage and with the drill you can have 12-14 inch rows. Still leaves enough space for turnips later on.


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[Freeborn]

Drills have many advantages but drilling into existing soybeans or corn is not one of them. Here are a few off the top of my head.

1. Perfect spacing and seed amount for grains like rye, wheat and oats
2. Quick setup, use and coverage. You can take a wide swat and plant an acre quickly.
3. Flexibility, mix rye with clover (or other seed) in separate boxes and get the mix you wanted planted quickly and at the depth you want.
4. Can be used for soybeans and corn but I understand corn can be a Little challenging.
5. Germination rates are much better than broadcasting.

That's my short list but I would also add anybody who has a interest in mechanical stuff will like a grain drill. There are lots of cogs and gears that are fastenating to work with.

 

[foggy]

^ See, that's the problem I have with a drill. It won't do me any good for seeding into standing soybeans (or corn). My current 71 planter gets me 15" rows and plenty of population for beans. I don't plant any small grains or brasica except into my beans.....and if I do I can easily broadcast and cult pack them I can see having a drill for larger acreage or for small grains etc.

It may be interesting machinery.....I just don't see a drill currently fitting into my plans. I'd like to convert a wide one to narrow and put a 3 point hitch on.....just for giggles......but my golf game needs work. ;)

 

[j-bird]

I have an old school plate planter and it is great for corn and beans. It's set on 30" rows - I will split rows for beans. I have also planted an awesome fall plot with soybeans and AWP before. In a fall planting I will run the planter and then broadcast the small seeds like brassica, clovers and cereal grains and simply pack them (the ground is already tilled) and everything seems to do just fine. I cant justify a drill - too expensive to use only once or twice a year. My planter I got a deal on ($50 for the planter and a large bucket of plates). If time is a factor or you have lots of acres in plots I can see using a drill, but the piss-ant plots I do and my budget - there is no drill in my future.

 

[biglakeba$$]

There are lots of cogs and gears that are fastenating to work with

That is one of my biggest concerns with a drill..... I am not mechanically inclined to dig in and fix that stuff in general.
My Flex 71 is so simple and basic, I could actually fix anything on it that broke(I think).

However, if I could find a drill for the right price and the right size, I would take the leap. I broadcasted winter rye 3 weeks ago, and I am staring at most of it on the surface ungerminated..... Thats frustrating.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

There's nothing wrong with a planter by any means. I have a 4 row and it works fine most days and the added benefit of fertilizer boxes is hard to beat. In my opinion the drill is so much more versatile for my needs so I have favored using it. Foggys post about seeding into standing corn or beans above confuses me as I don't know of any planter capable of doing that other than broadcasting by hand. I hope you guys get the opportunity to use a drill some day, they're pretty handy. Rye, oats, sorghum, peas, sunflowers, clover, turnips, soybeans, corn etc. a lot of uses!

 

[biglakeba$$]

I absolutely agree that they are versatile from what I have read. As I stated, if I could get one for "the right price", which also means "a steal" I would do it.

I just dont want a money pit on my hands trying to get something to work, or trying to get something repaired that quite honestly wouldnt get repaired if it broke too bad.

Freeborn described it exactly to why I am hesitant to get one...

"That's my short list but I would also add anybody who has a interest in mechanical stuff will like a grain drill. There are lots of cogs and gears that are fastenating to work with."

I have an interest. I just dont have the know-how if something goes too far out of whack.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

I don't think they have any more moving parts than my 4 row. Actually there is probably a lot less. I would enjoy helping out any of you guys if you ran into trouble with older machinery whether it be a tractor or something else. I've had a good source of help for that stuff with my father in law so it would only be right to help someone else if they need it. I was nervous as hell when I bought my first tractor so I had to rely on others to show me how to maintain it. Eventually I started doing it all on my own.

 

[biglakeba$$]

What kind of 4 row planter do you have?

 

[Riggsgwp->]

494a John Deere similar to this

 

[biglakeba$$]

Ok, I see where the moving parts are similar to a drill.

The Flex 71 planter I have is way less moving parts. I had a JD 490, and the transmission went out on it. What a major pain to replace. That had lots of moving parts. The fewer for me the better. ;)