Brokenbear
5 year old buck +
After two hard days of planting and just making the barn before the storm hit ...I went back to the farm today to open the seed gates. vacuum out the seed boxes ..blow off and wipe down the machine and check chains etc. since this was my first run with this new to me used 3P606NT ..
During my after action machine debrief I found 3 drops of the big box plugged ..at the top ...I was running Barley non certified seed (local pickup) for some quick ground cover that I want frost to kill for a this winter dormant pollinator plot planting...I ran 300 pounds/6 bags of barley ..and it ran smooth as silk ..
Settings
55 (%) on the seed rate handle
1 on the gear box
1 on the cup gate
Analysis/cause of the seed blockage ....first 5 bags were in fact barley with an occasional visible Milo seed ..6th bag was dumped and I did not closely inspect it ..THIS is pilot error failing to inspect all seed before introducing to the drill ...The 6th bag had much much more Milo content which I really did not care but the killer was a pocket full of soybeans mixed in ...
NOTE the cup gate setting was 1 (one) ..many if not most soybeans will not pass a cup gate setting of 1 and generally will require a cup gate setting of 2 (two) so stoppage was encountered
I cleared most of the seed from the cup throats and gently coaxed the cup gates to the number 2 (two) position which allows soybean sized seeds to pass and spun the drive tire to cycle any residue seed out ..
My machine has 3 boxes with large seed box at front, native grass in the middle and small box on the back ..the problem is the native seed box is the biggest box and masks out visual inspection of the big seed box cups .. and one really cannot see the large seed box cups to discover blockage (especially in bright sunlight) unless the machine is raised and the inspector is on hands n knees ..preferably with a good pocket spot beam flashlight because I am NOT crawling under that iron weighing a ton and 2 bits with nothing but knives on the bottom side
The next work around I see coming is a tool to open/close/set the seed cup gates ..I was trying to use a 3/8" X 48" dowel rod to move gates .. length wise it was about the correct length to reach the levers but too limber... but I will build one that will manage the large seed cup levers from the rear of the drill seed rate levers for all positions 1 thru 4 as well as 5
Bear
During my after action machine debrief I found 3 drops of the big box plugged ..at the top ...I was running Barley non certified seed (local pickup) for some quick ground cover that I want frost to kill for a this winter dormant pollinator plot planting...I ran 300 pounds/6 bags of barley ..and it ran smooth as silk ..
Settings
55 (%) on the seed rate handle
1 on the gear box
1 on the cup gate
Analysis/cause of the seed blockage ....first 5 bags were in fact barley with an occasional visible Milo seed ..6th bag was dumped and I did not closely inspect it ..THIS is pilot error failing to inspect all seed before introducing to the drill ...The 6th bag had much much more Milo content which I really did not care but the killer was a pocket full of soybeans mixed in ...
NOTE the cup gate setting was 1 (one) ..many if not most soybeans will not pass a cup gate setting of 1 and generally will require a cup gate setting of 2 (two) so stoppage was encountered
I cleared most of the seed from the cup throats and gently coaxed the cup gates to the number 2 (two) position which allows soybean sized seeds to pass and spun the drive tire to cycle any residue seed out ..
My machine has 3 boxes with large seed box at front, native grass in the middle and small box on the back ..the problem is the native seed box is the biggest box and masks out visual inspection of the big seed box cups .. and one really cannot see the large seed box cups to discover blockage (especially in bright sunlight) unless the machine is raised and the inspector is on hands n knees ..preferably with a good pocket spot beam flashlight because I am NOT crawling under that iron weighing a ton and 2 bits with nothing but knives on the bottom side
The next work around I see coming is a tool to open/close/set the seed cup gates ..I was trying to use a 3/8" X 48" dowel rod to move gates .. length wise it was about the correct length to reach the levers but too limber... but I will build one that will manage the large seed cup levers from the rear of the drill seed rate levers for all positions 1 thru 4 as well as 5
Bear
