Tar River SAYA-507 No Till Drill

[Turkish]

I have a Saya 505. Just finished drilling Winter Rye, A.W. Peas, and GH Radish in the large box....and put them down via the openers. But in the small box I routed the drop tube to my mod plastic drop tubes that are right BEHIND the openers.....thus sprinkling the clovers (2 varieties) and brassica (PTT, DER) low on the ground and followed by the rolling cage wheel and flaps.

This is my first attempt at using this mod. Gonna find out how this works as compared to placing these small seeds in the trench with the larger seeds. Will know more in a few weeks.

This arrangement allows me to choose the factory drop location for the rear box.......or to drop the seeds behind the trench.
View attachment 45411View attachment 45413
Edit.....the last pic below likely best illustrates the alternate seed drop I used this fall. I got 1.5" of rain immediately following this planting......so I feel I should get a decent germination.

Where are the small seeds deposited with the factory setup?

 

[Foggy47]

Where are the small seeds deposited with the factory setup?

Tho they are dropped a bit further back.....they are deposited in the trench created by the openers....just like the big seed box.

 

[swilk]

I just picked up my 507 yesterday .... going through the mental checklist of things and I think that I will definitely need some weight on the unit. I thought about framing, with salt treated pine, a box that runs the length of the front shelf. Drill some holes through that shelf and run some big bolts through the box and secure with washers/nuts underneath and then use several bags of quickcrete to fill the box. Put a couple of stainless u-bolts in the top of the concrete to hook onto if I want to remove the weight.

It would be securely bolted to the shelf but also easily removable.

I also plan to replace at least the small seed tubes with smooth tubes instead of the ribbed so there is no chance of seed getting caught up in the ribbing.

Appreciate this forum and this thread ... lots of great information.

 

[swilk]

Had a day of sustained high winds so instead of hunting took the day to tinker around with the drill. Set the row spacing of the cutters (were all over the place to start) and adjusted the seed cups so all close at the exact same time. Set the chain tension and went through and torqued bolts and added loctite to several that shouldn't ever need removed.

Still have to set the seeding discs to align with the cutters but that should be easy enough.

Nicest thing about taking the time is a person learns these things forward and back.

I'll be building 320lbs of weights for the front and intend to use it before deciding if more weight on the back is needed.

Curious, has anyone considered welding "teeth" onto the basket? Would keep it from ever skipping as
well as loosen a bit of soil for the draggers to to spread over the trench.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I’m just passively following this thread but it seems odd to buy a pretty expensive piece of equipment and basically not be able to use it from the manufacture without fixing stuff and modifying.

 

[Brian662]

I’m just passively following this thread but it seems odd to buy a pretty expensive piece of equipment and basically not be able to use it from the manufacture without fixing stuff and modifying.

It's about half the price of the next closest comp. A third the price of the high end drills.

 

[swilk]

Half the price and it takes a day or less to go completely through it ....with the added bonus a person learns everything about it as they go.

Plus, the weight of these brings more tractors into the realm of possibility to use where those other drills won't.

If I made a living planting then I would not even consider the tar River. But I don't. I plant things for critters to eat as a hobby.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

It's about half the price of the next closest comp. A third the price of the high end drills.

Who’s the next closest? I’m pretty sure a genesis 5 is like $15k without a small seed box.

I think I would need to add a ton of weight for it to work for me and then I doubt the trenches would get closed anyway. My 3’ esch with 7 rows weighs over 2100# and it needs more weight to plant sufficiently in my soils.

 

[Foggy47]

Who’s the next closest? I’m pretty sure a genesis 5 is like $15k without a small seed box.

I think I would need to add a ton of weight for it to work for me and then I doubt the trenches would get closed anyway. My 3’ esch with 7 rows weighs over 2100# and it needs more weight to plant sufficiently in my soils.

I looked at a Genesis 5 Lite, and a LandPride 3P500. Both units would cost over $15,000. and the Genesis would still need a small seed box to offer a similar means to put down small seeds while planting my rye in the fall (or make a second pass with the brasica). The land pride can be a Not Till drill in light soils like mine......but may not do very well in heavy soils due to it's weight and lack of slicking coulters.

Given those situations above.......I feel I am best served by the Tar River product. After those drills above went north of $12,000 in price.....it was hard for me to pay more. If I had more clay in my soils I may have chosen differently.

 

[Nightvision]

For all that care, LMC makes a decent looking no till drill. It’s called the HDNT 65. Weighs about 2000lbs. It’s fairly new to the market so no real info on it now. I looked at one and it looks well made but it’s also $15,000.00 so definitely not a significantly cheaper option than the other high end drills

 

[omicron1792]

I looked at a Genesis 5 Lite, and a LandPride 3P500. Both units would cost over $15,000. and the Genesis would still need a small seed box to offer a similar means to put down small seeds while planting my rye in the fall (or make a second pass with the brasica). The land pride can be a Not Till drill in light soils like mine......but may not do very well in heavy soils due to it's weight and lack of slicking coulters.

Given those situations above.......I feel I am best served by the Tar River product. After those drills above went north of $12,000 in price.....it was hard for me to pay more. If I had more clay in my soils I may have chosen differently.

I went through same exact debate. Had a saya bought, but changed and got landprode 3p600

From what I have gathered, the cutting coulters don’t do that much. Many end up removing them.

My drill weighs over 2k pounds with seed, and all the weight is on the planting coulters. I’ve used it on two planting cycles now, and it has buried the seed every time.

The real test will be this spring when I plant into thick rye, but so far I’ve been happy with my decision. I’m sure it would have worked out had I gone with the saya too.

 

[swilk]

I'm getting ready to frame up and pour some weights for the front of mine...not sure exactly how much I'll end up with yet but probably close to 500lbs total.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

For all that care, LMC makes a decent looking no till drill. It’s called the HDNT 65. Weighs about 2000lbs. It’s fairly new to the market so no real info on it now. I looked at one and it looks well made but it’s also $15,000.00 so definitely not a significantly cheaper option than the other high end drills

Looks like a similar design to SAYA but made in USA and with a cultipacker vs roller cage and flaps.

 

[Nightvision]

Looks like a similar design to SAYA but made in USA and with a cultipacker vs roller cage and flaps.

It’s heavy duty for sure. Part of me likes the cultipacker and part wonders if the closing wheels would be better. I’m sure the cultipacker helps keep the cost lower but it’s not like $15k is low.

Small seeds would do just fine behind the packer but if you were trying to drill into standing beans I think you would have substantially more loss to the beans versus the closing wheels

 

[Wind Gypsy]

It’s heavy duty for sure. Part of me likes the cultipacker and part wonders if the closing wheels would be better. I’m sure the cultipacker helps keep the cost lower but it’s not like $15k is low.

Small seeds would do just fine behind the packer but if you were trying to drill into standing beans I think you would have substantially more loss to the beans versus the closing wheels

That weight is in the neighborhood of other NT drills like the great plains and genesis of that size. I feel like a full width cultipacker would reduce the amount of down pressure available to close each trench compared to a closing wheel because it's distributed over a considerably wider area. Not sure how all that down-pressure is regulated but depending on how it works, i could see the potential to reduce the amount of down pressure available on the coulters and openers too if a lot of the weight is on the cultipacker. I've found that my 3' (7 row) Esch drill that weighs 2100#+ needs additional weight added to work well in my soils both to get consistent trench depth and to get trenches closed.

 

[Foggy47]

It’s heavy duty for sure. Part of me likes the cultipacker and part wonders if the closing wheels would be better. I’m sure the cultipacker helps keep the cost lower but it’s not like $15k is low.

Small seeds would do just fine behind the packer but if you were trying to drill into standing beans I think you would have substantially more loss to the beans versus the closing wheels

Went snooping around on LMC on both Facebook and the WWW. Seems they were importing a version of the Tar River and had it re-badged to LMC at one point. Now I see some similarities in this new offering but I wonder if its made in the same factory? Pretty sketchy to me at this point.....especially if it is to sell at the price said above. Dunno.

 

[Nightvision]

Went snooping around on LMC on both Facebook and the WWW. Seems they were importing a version of the Tar River and had it re-badged to LMC at one point. Now I see some similarities in this new offering but I wonder if its made in the same factory? Pretty sketchy to me at this point.....especially if it is to sell at the price said above. Dunno.

Not that one. This one is the HDNT-65 and is a real no till drill. Many companies are buying that Tar River and calling it their own.

LMC is a large company down here in Georgia that makes real farming equipment much of it associated around peanuts.

 

[omicron1792]

Went snooping around on LMC on both Facebook and the WWW. Seems they were importing a version of the Tar River and had it re-badged to LMC at one point. Now I see some similarities in this new offering but I wonder if its made in the same factory? Pretty sketchy to me at this point.....especially if it is to sell at the price said above. Dunno.

Same machine.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Same machine.

They have a "NTGD-55 and NTGD-78" which are the same as the 505 and 507 Saya. The HDNT-65 is different https://ne-np.facebook.com/LMCAgLLC...plate-large-seed-through-co/5234142396693121/

 

[Foggy47]

I see some improvements. Most of that extra weight in in the cultipacker on the back. Not sure how that will help it penetrate hard ground. Prove me wrong.......and pass the popcorn.