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Grain drill questions

Daver

PMA Member
To those that have knowledge and experience with grain drills...please allow me to pick your brain a little.

Food plotting equipment/implements that I have:
1. A 40hp tractor - use it all of the time.
2. A tiller that I have used often in preparing seed beds for various plantings and also fire breaks.
3. Two sprayers, one for an ATV(20? gallon) and also one for the tractor(40? gallon).
4. A disc that I don't use much.
5. A brush hog mower that I use all of the time.
6. Three broadcast seeders, one for the ATV, one for the tractor and a hand operated one.

What I don't have is a drill, but I am not 100% sure what I want/need. I want to no till, if I can, with it. I want to be able to seed grasses(switch), soybeans and corn, brassicas and milo/Egyptian Wheat.

If I go "big time" with a heavy duty drill then I think my tractor may not be up to that task AND I don't know that I want to spend that amount of $$'s for something that I am only going to use a half dozen times per year, etc.

I don't want some low end "toy" either. Is there something in the $4K to $10k range that would be say, a minimum of 6' wide and "built to take it" and a 40hp would be able to run it fine?
 
To those that have knowledge and experience with grain drills...please allow me to pick your brain a little.

Food plotting equipment/implements that I have:
1. A 40hp tractor - use it all of the time.
2. A tiller that I have used often in preparing seed beds for various plantings and also fire breaks.
3. Two sprayers, one for an ATV(20? gallon) and also one for the tractor(40? gallon).
4. A disc that I don't use much.
5. A brush hog mower that I use all of the time.
6. Three broadcast seeders, one for the ATV, one for the tractor and a hand operated one.

What I don't have is a drill, but I am not 100% sure what I want/need. I want to no till, if I can, with it. I want to be able to seed grasses(switch), soybeans and corn, brassicas and milo/Egyptian Wheat.

If I go "big time" with a heavy duty drill then I think my tractor may not be up to that task AND I don't know that I want to spend that amount of $$'s for something that I am only going to use a half dozen times per year, etc.

I don't want some low end "toy" either. Is there something in the $4K to $10k range that would be say, a minimum of 6' wide and "built to take it" and a 40hp would be able to run it fine?
I would say no. You tractor wont handle a 6' drill with those parameters. Drills with that capability like planting corn, natives and no till will be over 15k for sure. You have most of that you need. Get a 2 row or 3 row corn planter and use your broadcast seeders for the rest. I plant foodplots as part of my business and i have yet to be able to justify a drill of that magnitude. You can do a ton with a mower, sprayer, tiller, broadcast and cultipack. Cultipacker is an irreplaceable piece.

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I would say no. You tractor wont handle a 6' drill with those parameters. Drills with that capability like planting corn, natives and no till will be over 15k for sure. You have most of that you need. Get a 2 row or 3 row corn planter and use your broadcast seeders for the rest. I plant foodplots as part of my business and i have yet to be able to justify a drill of that magnitude. You can do a ton with a mower, sprayer, tiller, broadcast and cultipack. Cultipacker is an irreplaceable piece.

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I forgot to list these, but I do have an 'industrial strength" cultipacker, about 10' wide. I also have a couple of relatively heavy drags, one each for both the tractor and the ATV.

BUT...I have had trouble getting good germination with things like milo and sometimes brassicas with the broadcast method. Although when I have had suspect germination on those crops, I suspect I could have improved things via better cultipacking(compressed soil) after seeding. I have had excellent results with brassica germination many times, but have also had sketchy success some years...like this year.
 
I forgot to list these, but I do have an 'industrial strength" cultipacker, about 10' wide. I also have a couple of relatively heavy drags, one each for both the tractor and the ATV.

BUT...I have had trouble getting good germination with things like milo and sometimes brassicas with the broadcast method. Although when I have had suspect germination on those crops, I suspect I could have improved things via better cultipacking(compressed soil) after seeding. I have had excellent results with brassica germination many times, but have also had sketchy success some years...like this year.
I would not drag either of those seeds if you are. They are to small. Often depending on soil type i will cultipack, broadcast then pack again. If its really fluffy just spreading and packing can also drive them too deep. I only would drag those to do some possible leveling prior to seeding. If that makes sense

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Look for a truax no till drill. They make a small one that plants 5.3ft wide. It can be pulled by 40 hp 2wd tractor. Make sure you got hydraulic remotes to raise and lower drill. Those drills can be found used for 4-6k.
It's not the hp that the issue...its the weight of tractor, soil type, soil moisture.
 
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Here is some broadcast milo/sorghum i did. Seeded at a high rate concerned about germination and it came up thick as cat hair.
aeca4227b0fc0426f7a39a6e9a01fc46.jpg


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Look for a truax no till drill. They make a small one that plants 5.3ft wide. It can be pulled by 40 hp 2wd tractor. Those drills can be found used for 4-6k.
It's not the hp that the issue...its the weight of tractor, soil type, soil moisture.
This true, i was referring to 3pt mounted so thanks for clarifying. I would add in that price range tou will have to put some money in and time to fix them up in my experience. Not to mention towables are cumbersome and a pain if you have many location apart from 1 farm

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I would not drag either of those seeds if you are. They are to small. Often depending on soil type i will cultipack, broadcast then pack again. If its really fluffy just spreading and packing can also drive them too deep. I only would drag those to do some possible leveling prior to seeding. If that makes sense

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Yes, makes sense. When I have broadcast the tiny seeds like EW, milo and brassicas, I have NOT used the drag in those situations. This year though, due in part to schedule constraints and pending weather, etc, I had broadcast my fertilizer as usual, tilled the fertilizer in, broadcast the brassica seed and then with a pending rainstorm, with lightning, I wasn't able to cultipack all of the ground. I had poor results, I thought the fresh rain would "cover" me in terms of not getting the cultipacking step in, but apparently not.
 
This true, i was referring to 3pt mounted so thanks for clarifying. I would add in that price range tou will have to put some money in and time to fix them up in my experience. Not to mention towables are cumbersome and a pain if you have many location apart from 1 farm

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Only one farm to mess with for me, probably drill about 2-3 acres of soybeans per year, 3-4 acres of brassicas, 2-3 acres of milo or EW per year. Not all at the same time either.
 
Rain is great but not the same in my experience. Here are some beans i broadcast. Wont get real great grain that way though. I use bean plates in my planter if grain is the goal
97516a8530b536e19e1f8b5708b984ce.jpg


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This is a topic I have researched quite a bit the last year, but have not pulled the trigger. The 5' RTP NT gets as close as possible to what you are describing. (You def aren't pulling a 6' with a 40 hp)
 
I am seeing it differently on their website. It looks like a 40hp is suitable for the Genesis 5. Follow the link below and scroll down to page 5 for a sizing chart.

https://f1870e32-e319-4333-a0c2-5a6...d/7dca2e_c958bf61021843c1ab82a17b08abdd9b.pdf
You are correct. Says you need 3000# recomended. My 50hp is 2800# lift. Not sure on your tractor but thats a stretch for mine. They are sweet but at that price i can plant alot of seeds for alot less with other planters.

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Daver- maybe i missed it... is the tractor mfwd or 2wd? Loader? Is it manual or hydrostatic? What model is tractor? I ask model cause Deere offers frame size options around that 40hp mark... offer 4000 series or 5000 series. Big difference in what those 2 can do. & manual vs hydrostatic - manual will give u more power when needed. All these lil things will make huge difference on what drill u capable of.
 
Daver- maybe i missed it... is the tractor mfwd or 2wd? Loader? Is it manual or hydrostatic? What model is tractor? I ask model cause Deere offers frame size options around that 40hp mark... offer 4000 series or 5000 series. Big difference in what those 2 can do. & manual vs hydrostatic - manual will give u more power when needed. All these lil things will make huge difference on what drill u capable of.

My tractor is an LS 4041, with a loader, 4WD and a hydrostatic tranny.
 
My tractor is an LS 4041, with a loader, 4WD and a hydrostatic tranny.
Loader & Mfwd will help immensely! Traction & front weight are huge. That tractor will pull almost any small pull type drill. Pull types don’t put all that weight on tractor like 3pt. Takes a whole lot more tractor to deal with 3pt. I’d almost say “double” IMO. Pull types are much easier to use & don’t need near the power. Way nicer. But- they gonna cost more & harder to transport.
Which are only vice versa advantages to 3pt- transport easier & cheaper. About it. Ok- maybe get in smaller spots a lil easier.
Bottom line though - a very small 3pt might work. I mean small. A 5-7’ pull type would work just fine.

Drills have all these considerations to weigh out. It’s tough to weigh it all out “well, I want a new 7’ pull type cause it’s awesome! OH- it’s $15k?!?? Doah”. One & done but don’t make sense for a few acres a year. IMO- I’d look for SMALL as it’s lower cost & time ain’t as big of a deal with few acres & will be lower cost. If ur handy- used drills are not incredibly complex to fix up. The complex part is finding one priced right at auction or for sale. Or- ya- look over newer ones with lower price tag.
I’ve run tye, JD, GP, Genesis, Case, kasco, etc. all of them have some options that would suffice. Ur tractor will pull the right size drill & id say ur next ? Will be “how much is budget?” That’s my 2 cents for the day
 
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