Woods PSS84/FPS84 Seed box question

[Westwind]

Not finding a lot of info on this on the Woods site.

The PSS seems to come with the warm season grass box, the FPS seems to come with a “large seed box”.

Will a warm season seed box plant oats and rye? Is it the same thing as a “large seed box” with an agitator? I don’t plan on planting warm season grass but there seems to be more PSS’s out there than FPS’s out there. If the warm season grass box will plant cereal grain, that works for me!

Sometimes I see reference to a “third“ seed box too. Anybody know what that’s about? Haven’t seen any pictures of a Woods seeder that seems to have anything but two seed boxes.

Thanks in advance!

 

[White Birch Farm]

Warm season grass seed is fluffy. So it requires specialized agitators. Therefore a true WSG seed box will have those agitators. Small see boxes generally are sized for clover/alfalfa/brassicas and could probably handle low rates of winter rye. Large seed boxes handle everything else and should be able to handle rye and oats etc when set very low. That being said, whether those specific woods boxes meet that criteria, I do not know as I would not considering buying them. They are not fish nor fowl.

 

[omicron1792]

Not finding a lot of info on this on the Woods site.

The PSS seems to come with the warm season grass box, the FPS seems to come with a “large seed box”.

Will a warm season seed box plant oats and rye? Is it the same thing as a “large seed box” with an agitator? I don’t plan on planting warm season grass but there seems to be more PSS’s out there than FPS’s out there. If the warm season grass box will plant cereal grain, that works for me!

Sometimes I see reference to a “third“ seed box too. Anybody know what that’s about? Haven’t seen any pictures of a Woods seeder that seems to have anything but two seed boxes.

Thanks in advance!

I like firminator as an all in one planter. It’s a great piece of equipment and sturdy.

For multiple seed boxes you would need a drill. Small seed box places seeds behind the trench so they don’t get buried too deep. No real benefit to having multiple seed boxes on an all in one planter imo.

Maybe the implement you speak up is a drill. Not sure.

 

[Westwind]

Thanks guys! I read a bunch of posts by @SwampCat and @dukslayer and looks like they both have the PSS model. It’s not really a drill… does look like it kind of plants in rows via the large seed box and dropping seed behind a disc gang. The small seed box looks more like a broadcast deal behind all where it’s cultapacked in.

I looked at the Firminator too. I like the looks of it. I’m pretty much exclusively doing rotations of clover, cereal grains with clover and brassica mixes so either would probably work. I see that guys really like drills but I used a rented Great Plains drill to do all my native grasses and the setup and maintenance kinda scares me.

 

[Westwind]

Here are a couple pics for reference. I haven’t really seen these set up any other way than disc gang, spike roller and cultipacker roller. I can’t figure out why they reference a “third seed box” or why you would do that…

 

[SwampCat]

I have a PSS84 I have planted with for 8 years now. Probably about fifty acres a year. Mine has the large seed box, for larger seeds like sunflower, soybean, wheat, rye, peas, and large seeded mixes. Mine also has the small seed box for seeds like clover, brassicas, and millets. I believe there also is a NWSG box option that I do not own.

Mine has a disk gang in front, a spiked roller in the middle which bears a large part of the weight, and a cultipacker in the rear. The disk gang breaks the soil and the large seeds drop behind the disk gang, just in front of the spiked roller. The roller crushes dirt clods and packs the seed bed, helping to cover seed from the large seed box and prepare the planting surface for the small seed. The small seed box drops between the spiked roller and the cultipacker.

I typically plant 100 to 150 lbs per acre wheat from the large seed box, and at the same time planting 5 lbs per acre durana clover from the small box. If I am planting into standing clover, I set the disk gang to either straight or at least less aggressive so as not to destroy the existing planting.

No, it is not a drill. While it is capable of planting in standing vegetation under the right conditions, it does not do it as well as a drill. The NRCS rents a drill in my area, but they did not want to rent it me - I have a fair number of large trees in some of my plots with exposed roots and they feared damage to the drill from the roots. My Woods just rides over them. It will also easily handle rock up to softball size - I have not tried anything larger than that.

Like any planter, it requires some care. You are way ahead if you completely empty the seed boxes and drain the seed cups. It is chain drive and requires lubrication. The only failure I have had is a broken disk spacer between two disks. I had put chains between my disk blades to keep mud from building up and one of the chains ate through the disk spacer after 400 acres planted.

The woods seeder also does a great job repairing hog root and erosion - much better than a standard disk because the spiked roller crushes the clods and the cultipacker smooths it. For that reason, it also does a great job on smoothing ruts in trails.

 

[SwampCat]

Dont discount the spiked roller. I have seen sites planted with a firminator that did not have a roller to crush the dirt clods, and the planting surface was not prepared nearly as well. Mine seems to do best at about 3.5/4 mph.

 

[Westwind]

@SwampCat and anyone else- Would the Woods reasonably plant rye into heavy cornstalks?

This would be a very minimal use of the seeder- if it would work it would be a bonus. If it wouldn't work, it would not be a showstopper.

 

[SwampCat]

@SwampCat and anyone else- Would the Woods reasonably plant rye into heavy cornstalks?

This would be a very minimal use of the seeder- if it would work it would be a bonus. If it wouldn't work, it would not be a showstopper.

I believe it would be a mediocre planting. The disk blades on the Woods Seeder do not penetrate the soil as deeply as a stand alone disk - and cornstalks are tough as heck, and there would be a lot of organic matter there to deal with

 

[Westwind]

I believe it wood me a mediocre planting. The disk blades on the Woods Seeder do not penetrate the soil as deeply as a stand alone disk - and cornstalks are tough as heck, and there would be a lot of organic matter there to deal with

Kinda thought so but thought I would ask. Thanks!

 

[davidhelmly]

It has been several years since I bought my FPS84 and really looked at what was offered. I compared the PSS and FPS before I bought and back then all of the ones I looked at came with the large seed box standard and not a warm season box.
I bought mine with the large and small seed box and have zero complaints about it, my only regret is that I didn’t buy one 10 years sooner.
I also looked at the Firminator because they are a local company but you couldn’t get a small seed box on them so that made my mind up. With with the large and small box on the Woods you can easily plant large and small seeds at 2 different depths in 1 pass and it’s a huge time saver.

 

[Westwind]

It has been several years since I bought my FPS84 and really looked at what was offered. I compared the PSS and FPS before I bought and back then all of the ones I looked at came with the large seed box standard and not a warm season box.
I bought mine with the large and small seed box and have zero complaints about it, my only regret is that I didn’t buy one 10 years sooner.
I also looked at the Firminator because they are a local company but you couldn’t get a small seed box on them so that made my mind up. With with the large and small box on the Woods you can easily plant large and small seeds at 2 different depths in 1 pass and it’s a huge time saver.

Thanks for the reply! Being able to plant two seeds at two depths is exactly why I feel like this will work well for me. I used to do the Lick Creek rotations and got what I thought was great results but it was super time consuming using disc, cone spreader, spike tooth harrow, hand seeder and cultipacker.

I haven’t done a good job with my plots the last few years because of the time it took to do it right.

I’m also hoping that if I have the right equipment I can use much less gly/cleth etc. Maybe even eliminate it, which would be awesome.

I really think this will be a game changer for me.

 

[Westwind]

Ok- I need some help with this, for some reason I can’t get my brain wrapped around this.

One of the things I want to easily plant is the Lick Creek cereal grain combo.

Here is what I have written down:

50–80# per acre winter rye
80-120# per acre spring oats
20-80# per acre spring peas. (Often I didn’t do this)
8-12#. Per acre red clover (Usually did 6# white clover instead)
5# GH forage radish

Here is the rate chart from the FPS84. Max rates are:
66# per acre cereal grain mixture
97# per acre oats

Will I be able to get the seeding rate for the winter rye and the oats I want? Thinking I am going to have to mix the GH forage radish in the cool season seed box with the winter rye and oats.

 

[goatman]

Don't know where your planting but I substitute sunflower seed for the winter peas when the price went up. Also unless your leaving the clover for several years your wasting your money on white clover. Red clover is fine and catching nitrogen. You will still have to calibrate your drill if your worried about lbs/acre. Or just go drill a little and adjust from there. Deer don't care.

 

[Westwind]

I’m in zone 5a. I generally have done white clover just in case I don’t get back to it in the spring I can just mow and use it as a clover plot. Also makes my planning and seed buying simpler. My plots are less than 6-8 acres total so I don't really notice a huge price difference…. I have done mammoth red before and liked it!

 

[davidhelmly]

Ok- I need some help with this, for some reason I can’t get my brain wrapped around this.

One of the things I want to easily plant is the Lick Creek cereal grain combo.

Here is what I have written down:

50–80# per acre winter rye
80-120# per acre spring oats
20-80# per acre spring peas. (Often I didn’t do this)
8-12#. Per acre red clover (Usually did 6# white clover instead)
5# GH forage radish

Here is the rate chart from the FPS84. Max rates are:
66# per acre cereal grain mixture
97# per acre oats

Will I be able to get the seeding rate for the winter rye and the oats I want? Thinking I am going to have to mix the GH forage radish in the cool season seed box with the winter rye and oats.

View attachment 48786

I'm not completely sure that I understand but if you're trying to plant 130-200# of cereal grain plus 20-80# of peas at the same time from the cool season box it can't be done with the FPS84, if you look at the rate chart for the PSS84 that shouldn't be a problem.
The reason I picked the FPS over the PSS is that it can do much smaller amounts of legumes from the legume box compared to the PSS and I don't do extreme amounts of cereal grains like you are looking to do. It looks like the PSS would be more what you need.

https://assets.oregontool.com/adaptivemedia/rendition?id=72cd7344889837dad999d930dc4fb52c69a57470

 

[Westwind]

I'm not completely sure that I understand but if you're trying to plant 130-200# of cereal grain plus 20-80# of peas at the same time from the cool season box it can't be done with the FPS84, if you look at the rate chart for the PSS84 that shouldn't be a problem.
The reason I picked the FPS over the PSS is that it can do much smaller amounts of legumes from the legume box compared to the PSS and I don't do extreme amounts of cereal grains like you are looking to do. It looks like the PSS would be more what you need.

https://assets.oregontool.com/adaptivemedia/rendition?id=72cd7344889837dad999d930dc4fb52c69a57470

That is really interesting. The seed box meter opening is identical on both models. The difference in seeding rates is not even close...

The PSS says it has fluted and picker wheel seed metering. The FPS says it has fluted seed cup metering. Maybe that accounts for the difference.

I’m planning on going to a local Woods dealer Monday. I don’t have a ton of confidence that they will know much about them, never saw one on their lot.

 

[davidhelmly]

I’m in zone 5a. I generally have done white clover just in case I don’t get back to it in the spring I can just mow and use it as a clover plot. Also makes my planning and seed buying simpler. My plots are less than 6-8 acres total so I don't really notice a huge price difference…. I have done mammoth red before and liked it!

A mix of red, white and crimson clovers have been my go to for years

That is really interesting. The seed box meter opening is identical on both models. The difference in seeding rates is not even close...

You’re right and that’s why I decided on the FPS.

 

[Westwind]

A mix of red, white and crimson clovers have been my go to for years

I generally do a mix of white clover and usually some Alsike for the spots along the timber. Like the idea of mixing clovers since they all “act a little different”! This year I was thinking I would mix in some Aberlasting in my long term spots, might as well throw in some red!

Years ago I ordered a couple bags of Ed Spinazzolas mix, I do think many years later some of the Kura is still growing.

 

[SwampCat]

My PSS84 will plant as little as 3 lbs per acre white clover from the small seed boxes. I have had good success planting a mix that had browntop millet, ebony pea, milo, sunflower, and lablab. That is a lot of difference in seed size. That is using the large seed box

My standard fall planting is about 125 lbs per acre wheat and about 3 lbs per acre durana clover into existing clover plots. The clover seed is just to freshen the existing clover. I set the disk gang to not quite straight - very unaggressive. The clover is in the small seed box.