Tar River SAYA-505 No Till Drill

[Foggy47]

Im going to assume that your rolling basket is going to act more as a roller/packer than a tiller. If the basket was spinning faster than the speed of your tractor I could see potential for a real problem (like a tiller) but they arent designed that way. You may get some tangling but I dont think it will be bad, even in the thick rye. I may be wrong. I hope not as they shouldve designed it for cover cropping and with innerseeding in mind.

Yep. One can hope. I really do not know.

 

[ACCMan]

I just picked up a 505 the other day. I quickly found the manual to be virtually worthless. My dealer set the coulter alignment so I dont have to do that. I found tons of bolts loose. I removed the chain covers and found one cover rubbing so made necessary adjustments and lubed chains as they were bone dry. After completing this step the basket turns MUCH better. The flutes that go in the seed cups were seriously misadjusted so I took care of that also. I think I'm going to have to invest in a bunch of metric nylon lock nuts.

 

[Foggy47]

I just picked up a 505 the other day. I quickly found the manual to be virtually worthless. My dealer set the coulter alignment so I dont have to do that. I found tons of bolts loose. I removed the chain covers and found one cover rubbing so made necessary adjustments and lubed chains as they were bone dry. After completing this step the basket turns MUCH better. The flutes that go in the seed cups were seriously misadjusted so I took care of that also. I think I'm going to have to invest in a bunch of metric nylon lock nuts.

I spent quite a bit of time adjusting those little bolts that calibrate the seed cup sizes. Kinda a putsy job.....but it pays to get them done correctly IMO. Too bad they didn't use collars there instead of those cheesy clamps. I suppose it's a one and done.......but that took me some time.

 

[ACCMan]

Yes, a collar with set screws on that square shaft would have worked much better. Have you planted with yours yet?

 

[Foggy47]

Yes, a collar with set screws on that square shaft would have worked much better. Have you planted with yours yet?

Yep....last fall I planted 10 acres with the Saya 505. I posted some pics and told my experience in the Saya 507 thread.. (my Bad)

 

[Nightvision]

I just picked up a 505 the other day. I quickly found the manual to be virtually worthless. My dealer set the coulter alignment so I dont have to do that. I found tons of bolts loose. I removed the chain covers and found one cover rubbing so made necessary adjustments and lubed chains as they were bone dry. After completing this step the basket turns MUCH better. The flutes that go in the seed cups were seriously misadjusted so I took care of that also. I think I'm going to have to invest in a bunch of metric nylon lock nuts.

A buddy of mine had to do that. He said if you don’t, there will be stuff loose everything you try and use it.

 

[Foggy47]

A buddy of mine had to do that. He said if you don’t, there will be stuff loose everything you try and use it.

I spent two days re-aligning the coulters with the openers and adjusting the seed cups to be the same, calibrating the drill, and checking most of the fasteners. Had one grease zero was stripped out and I retapped and replaced it. The assembly was quite poor on my machine....not sure it that is true of all machines....but I expect it is The row alignments were horrible. . Glad I spent the time with it and know it's workings better after the time spent. Seemed to work very well as a result.

 

[ACCMan]

My drill has an assembly problem. If someone would be so kind, I need a picture. From the rear, need a pic of the opener disk mounting to the square bar that runs across the back of the drill. Please text to 843 870 4606

 

[john volkman]

My drill has an assembly problem. If someone would be so kind, I need a picture. From the rear, need a pic of the opener disk mounting to the square bar that runs across the back of the drill. Please text to 843 870 4606

let us know what you find, i pick mine up next week . sounds like i need to set aside some time to go thru everything.

 

[Foggy47]

My drill has an assembly problem. If someone would be so kind, I need a picture. From the rear, need a pic of the opener disk mounting to the square bar that runs across the back of the drill. Please text to 843 870 4606

I wish I could help. I won't be anywhere near my drill for another 45 days. IIRC the mount is a couple of U-bolts which attach to the frame....no?


EDIT: One thing to look at is the spacing of those front coulters and how they align with the double disk openers a few inches behind. On my drill they were scattered all over the place and ranged from a spacing of 5" to 10" between the openers. I started from scratch and measured and aligned the front coulters evenly across that front tube.....then fashioned a 7.5" "spacer board" to align each opener with the coulters. Not sure if this is common with others.....but the assembly on mine was not good. Also several loose fasteners. The manual did describe how to adjust the seed cups....and mine all needed adjustment too. Kinda time consuming....but worth it.

 

[Foggy47]

There is a Tar River Saya owners group on Facebook which may prove to be helpful.

Tar River Saya 507/505 No Till Drill Community

 

[ACCMan]

Yesterday I did a rough calibration for fescue and was going to drill my yard. When first lowering the drill I noticed the openers were not touching the ground and I could not lower them with the handwheels. Also some of the hoses for the back box were pinched under structure. I returned the drill to the shop as I was sure I had an assembly problem. I removed the front weight plates and the rear plate used for a step. This just opens the area so you can see and access everything. When you remove the rear plate you can step over the basket and use it for a seat when tightening all of the loose hardware.

The disc openers down pressure spring assembly attaches to a rotating square rod as does the handweel assemblies for raising/lowering the disc openers. I started trying to rationalize the correct way to install the brackets that hold the assembly to the square rod. It turns out that because of universal bracket arms there were tons of combinations, but only one would truly work. I could not find a suitable pic of the assy, this was when I reached out to the forum. This AM Kev sent pics which showed me the definitive and correct way to mount the brackets to the bar.

After looking at the way it was factory installed, the disc openers and handwheel assemblies were actually fighting each other causing binding, not allowing the openers to raise/lower. So, I removed all of the opener brackets, then set the handwheels at midpoint of their travel, and re-installed the opener brackets CORRECTLY using Kev's pic. Now the openers raise/lower as they should.

Now that the drill raise/lowers correctly, and I had the rear of the openers disconnected I decided I would check coulter and opener alignment. Wow, some were decent and some were over an inch off. I began alignment by setting the coulter spacing across the toolbar and found most bolts just above finger tight. Then I aligned the openers using a 4' lever jammed against the last vertical inch of the coulter, extending to the opener. The front of most opener brackets had to be tweeked and some were majorly off. The bolts for the opener bracket were also not what I call tight. once the front was loose, then the down pressure spring brackets were loose I aligned the openers/coulters and re-tightened bolts. Now the proof is in the pudding on how good my alignment actually is when this rain stops, we dry out a little and I can pull the drill to check alignment.

I noticed that some of my hoses just didn't look right. I found out they were mixed up, some rear on front and vice versa. I also found the little red nozzle that comes out of the seed cup will rotate 360 degrees. By rotating you can make the hose come off the seed cup with natural flow which should help prevent clogs and prevent stress on the hoses.

Tomorrow I hope to finish up and wait for the ground to dry out a little so I can verify my coulter/opener alignment and then play a little. Thanks again to Kev for the pics, and to everyone else on this forum for sharing the good and the bad.

 

[Foggy47]

Yesterday I did a rough calibration for fescue and was going to drill my yard. When first lowering the drill I noticed the openers were not touching the ground and I could not lower them with the handwheels. Also some of the hoses for the back box were pinched under structure. I returned the drill to the shop as I was sure I had an assembly problem. I removed the front weight plates and the rear plate used for a step. This just opens the area so you can see and access everything. When you remove the rear plate you can step over the basket and use it for a seat when tightening all of the loose hardware.

The disc openers down pressure spring assembly attaches to a rotating square rod as does the handweel assemblies for raising/lowering the disc openers. I started trying to rationalize the correct way to install the brackets that hold the assembly to the square rod. It turns out that because of universal bracket arms there were tons of combinations, but only one would truly work. I could not find a suitable pic of the assy, this was when I reached out to the forum. This AM Kev sent pics which showed me the definitive and correct way to mount the brackets to the bar.

After looking at the way it was factory installed, the disc openers and handwheel assemblies were actually fighting each other causing binding, not allowing the openers to raise/lower. So, I removed all of the opener brackets, then set the handwheels at midpoint of their travel, and re-installed the opener brackets CORRECTLY using Kev's pic. Now the openers raise/lower as they should.

Now that the drill raise/lowers correctly, and I had the rear of the openers disconnected I decided I would check coulter and opener alignment. Wow, some were decent and some were over an inch off. I began alignment by setting the coulter spacing across the toolbar and found most bolts just above finger tight. Then I aligned the openers using a 4' lever jammed against the last vertical inch of the coulter, extending to the opener. The front of most opener brackets had to be tweeked and some were majorly off. The bolts for the opener bracket were also not what I call tight. once the front was loose, then the down pressure spring brackets were loose I aligned the openers/coulters and re-tightened bolts. Now the proof is in the pudding on how good my alignment actually is when this rain stops, we dry out a little and I can pull the drill to check alignment.

I noticed that some of my hoses just didn't look right. I found out they were mixed up, some rear on front and vice versa. I also found the little red nozzle that comes out of the seed cup will rotate 360 degrees. By rotating you can make the hose come off the seed cup with natural flow which should help prevent clogs and prevent stress on the hoses.

Tomorrow I hope to finish up and wait for the ground to dry out a little so I can verify my coulter/opener alignment and then play a little. Thanks again to Kev for the pics, and to everyone else on this forum for sharing the good and the bad.

I wish you could make a video on what you state above. It's hard to interpret what you are saying here. I had many similar issues and it does take time to set up these drills. I found my battery powered impact wrench was super valuable when working those nuts and bolts. I still do not fully understand how to adjust the double disk openers depth. It's allot of trial and error IMO.

Having a hydraulic top link helped me a bunch.

 

[ACCMan]

I should have taken before and after pics.

 

[john volkman]

you guys have me officially scared to pick up my drill! fingers crossed.... proper assembly is something i would take for granted on a piece of equipment like this !

 

[ACCMan]

Make your dealer go through it and align the coulters and openers, and ensure the openers will raise and lower, and check and set the seed cup calibration. If he does this, anything else on the drill is a piece of cake, just a little time consuming. I wish I would have taken my own advice, but I had to learn the hard way.

 

[Ballerski]

Any pics or videos would be appreciated. The manual is basic at best.

 

[Foggy47]

Below are a few pics I had from another thread on a different site. It shows the U-bolts you need to turn to adjust the front slicing coulters so they are evenly spaced at 7.5" across the front.... and then align the double disk seed openers to align with them. I cut a 6' board to 7.5" and was able to use that to align and square the openers. Somewhat hard to do by sight. The last pic shows the two mixes I had which totaled 134 lbs of seed. This is what I was putting down per acre. Not real high capacity hoppers.....but it works fine that way to know the seed drop rates.

 

[goatman]

John it's fairly easy. Find center front and back. Then just measure half of 7.5" on the first two. Right and left. From there 7.5". I didn't mind going over mine to learn about it. Haven't done the seed cups yet. Doesn't need to be perfect. Deer don't mind.

 

[ACCMan]

I finished setting up the drill today and made a quick test drive outside to ensure the coulters and openers are aligned and I am good to go. Now when we dry out I can run a shakedown cruise by drilling a little fescue. The manual, such as it is, references the rear box seed cups having a cotter pin to move to fine tune for small and large seed. Has anyone experimented with this and what were your results? It appears the pin is in a storage position at the top right now.