Tar River SAYA-505 No Till Drill

Anyone in the central pa area (Lancaster, Lebanon, or berks) with one of these. Looking at selling 2 row no till and trillion seeder and get a Saya 507. Appreciate all the posts and pictures.
 
Anyone in the central pa area (Lancaster, Lebanon, or berks) with one of these. Looking at selling 2 row no till and trillion seeder and get a Saya 507. Appreciate all the posts and pictures.
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There's two places near you, Zimmerman's and Jo's.
 
We got two threads going on the SAYA drills. We have a 505 thread and a 507 thread. I forgot about this.....and have posted what I think is an improvement at the 507 thread. What I did was to fashion an assembly that will drop the seeds from the rear box BEHIND the double disc openers.....which is how Great Plains small seed box is configured. Most people are happy with the GP drills ....so this is an inexpensive means to use their method.......or alternately use the current method of dropping these small seeds in the slot provided by the openers. Your choice.

I have not yet put seed down with this suggestion......but I will in a week or two. From my perspective.....I think this will be a great solution to burying those little seeds too deep. Last fall I seeded some small seeds all in the same trench with the front seed box. I did not get great germination from these small seeds as I feel they are buried too deep.

A point I will make is.....why would you have two seed boxes if you were going to put all the seed in the same (deep) trench??? Makes no sense to me. I think I have a good and affordable solution.

EDIT: The below is from an Article by Penn State that is posted in another thread.....and it confirms what I am trying to say here.

Drill Adjustment to Ensure Consistent Plant Establishment​

Depth should be checked several times, especially when beginning the planting operation until proper depth is achieved, and then periodically during seeding. When operating in no-till conditions, depth adjustments may need to be made as amounts of residues from previous crops change across the field. Be careful not to plant small-seeded species--particularly small-seeded legumes--too deep, especially during the spring, in cold soils. Seeding depth should be roughly 3.5 times seed diameter. Use no more down pressure on the drill and closing wheels than necessary to provide consistent seed-to-soil contact. Too much down pressure, especially in wet soils, provides a very poor environment for emerging seedlings. Pay particular attention to the drive wheel, if it is not also a transport wheel, to ensure that it continuously rides on the soil surface to ensure consistent seed metering.

Drill Performance​

Many drills with a small seed box have tubes that drop the seed behind the double disk openers, just before the press wheel. In some cases this may mean a significant portion of seed is not in close contact with the soil. Some farmers have found it beneficial to run a cultipacker through the field after drilling to increase seed-to-soil contact. Drill wear also needs to be taken into consideration when calibrating the drill. When changing the opening setting on older drills, not all openings may be affected in the same manner. If this becomes extreme, the drill may be in need of maintenance.
Prepared by Sjoerd W. Duiker, Ronald J. Hoover, and Joel C. Myers.
 
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Search tractorhouse.com
There's two places near you, Zimmerman's and Jo's.
Thanks JonJ. I talked to Zimmerman's the other day. That is where I first saw them a couple years ago. I wanted to know if any end users were in that area I could talk to. I called Joe's and left message. No call back yet.
 
For those with a 505, how many rotations of the drive wheel is equal to 1/10th an acre? Thank you!
 
Okay, dealer called this morning, 507 due in tomorrow, $6300. Put down deposit, picking up this weekend. I understand it's not a 505, but will follow all threads on no-tills. Can't wait to reduce time, trips and diesel consumption.
 
Planted my Brasica Plus Release seeds into the Summer Release (and clover from last year) today. The rye from last fall is pretty well diminished after roller crimping it and otherwise terminating it previously. I had a really nice stand of a few types of clover and beans and other crops to plant into. I used the small seed box and set the openers to just skim into the dirt about 1/4" and deposted the seeds between the openers. I did spend some time with levels and measuring to be certain I was set up right. Had 1 1/4" of rain yesterday and the time seemed perfect to get my brasica plus underway. (PTT / DER / GHR/ Collards/ annual clovers and more). I now have over 30 acres of use with my Saya 505 and I'm very pleased with the performance of this product.....espeially given the cost as compared to other models. I did consider "trading up" to other brands.....but I am not sure what I would accomplish in doing so......other than a bit of easier set up. It does take a bit of tinkering to set the Tar River Saya right.....but after a time you gain some feel with use and experience. Here are some pics from today. planting the powerline.jpegIMG_0462.JPG

NOTE: ^ I did move the rubber drop hoses to the OEM location asI had allot of crop growth to plant into.....and wanted those seeds dropping between the openers. Only used the legume seed box (small seed box).
IMG_0464.JPGIMG_0465.JPGIMG_0466.JPGIMG_0474.JPGIMG_0475.JPGIMG_0477.JPGIMG_0479.JPGIMG_0481.JPG
EDIT: OH.....I planted over 6 acres today of the brasica mix.....and another two acres of a different brassica and peas mix. Got allot done. No fertilizers this year....few weeds.....little chemical.....hoping for the best. Loving this drill gig. Smile.
 
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Can you plant a mix that contains different seed sizes using these drills? Or is the better approach to make multiple passes with a single size of seed in each pass?
 
I toss everything into the big box & go. I've been satisfied with the results.
 
Can you plant a mix that contains different seed sizes using these drills? Or is the better approach to make multiple passes with a single size of seed in each pass?
Ive done both. Normally, I try to keep larger seeds in the front box and smaller ones in the rear box. I have metered down to 9 lbs in the small box. In almost every case I have a blend of seeds......but they are similar in sizes when possible.
 
Just pulled the trigger on a 505. While the John Deere 3020 will pull about any drill under 12’ the market, its hard to maneuver the ones I have rented into areas I am wanting to plant, so I opted for the Saya 505, which will work with the John Deere compact 3E series tractor. The first outing will be a Soy/Milo mix, followed by some cereal rye on some areas of erosion concern.
 
For those who have smaller compact tractors, I an attest to the fact that the John Deere 3025E with 1356# lifting capacity handles the drill fine. It has plenty of horsepower. Lifting is clearly at the lower limit, especially once some weight is added. Here is a link to a post on some planting I did with the drill.
 
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For those who have smaller compact tractors, I an attest to the fact that the John Deere 3025E with 1356# lifting capacity handles the drill fine. It has plenty of horsepower. Lifting is clearly at the lower limit, especially once some weight is added. Here is a link to a post on some planting I did with the drill.
Dont see a link
 
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