Seeders Most Versatile Seeder for a 35 HP 4wd tractor

[EdwardB]

What would you recommend to buy to plant a wide variety of seeds, everything from grass to cover crops to larger seeds such as beans; and in a variety of conditions (no-till, partial till & full till). Any suggestions or helpful tips are welcome since I have never used one before.

 

[EdwardB]

Anyone? Anyone at all?

 

[jeff9366]

A seed drill is used for no till. It punches through minor crop residue. One pass and done. Heavy, expensive, new.

Broadcast spreaders, operating off the PTO, are good for medium and small seeds. Soil needs to be well prepared, then rolled after seeding.

What are you trying to do?

What is your equipment budget?

What field equipment do you own now?

How much land do you want to seed?

 

[EdwardB]

A seed drill is used for no till. It punches through minor crop residue. One pass and done. Heavy, expensive, new.

Broadcast spreaders, operating off the PTO, are good for medium and small seeds. Soil needs to be well prepared, then rolled after seeding.

What are you trying to do?

What is your equipment budget?

What field equipment do you own now?

How much land do you want to seed?

I recently acquired an 80 acre parcel that half about 55-60 acres of old orchard land. The soil is sandy loam. The front field is somewhat hilly with grass and weeds and some brambles and small bushes on it; I am in the process of removing them. My soil samples indicate low organic material so I thought I would work in the existing vegetation and then seed a cover crop. The issue with the front field is that it has row ridges and holes\dips from the previous orchard planting and tree removal. I'll have to deal with those before planting. The front field will likely be put into some type of orchard and\or vineyard down the road.

The back field of about 35 acres and is flatter with a bit better grass, although the it also has some small orchard row ridges. That needs a cover crop too. It ultimately will be part blueberry patch, part orchard and part pasture and part veggies.

I currently have a JD 4410, a 6' Howard Rotovator, Mott 72" flail
and will be getting a Woods 6' disc soon. Yes, I know the tractor is small for the property, but that's what I'll be using. My budget is flexible depending on versatility. I plan on this being the first and last seeded I will buy. Let's say $5K plus or minus.

 

[jeff9366]

Hopefully you will have more responses now that your goals are clear.

Do you want both a Howard Rotovator AND a Disc Harrow? Both these implements are soil mixing TILLERS, in different forms. Usually it is either/or, not both.

As you have sand, perhaps the Rotovator, then a heavy Landscape Rake with gauge wheels or the Rotovator, then a heavy Land Plane/Grading scraper in lieu of the Disc would give a faster, better result. In sand, a Landscape Rake can accomplish everything a Chain Harrow will do. (Everything Attachments produces excellent Landscape Rakes.)

For sand based soil I think a broadcast spreader would be as good as a seed drill. For 80 acres I would consider a Cultipacker to roll in the seeds. A Cultipacker leaves 2" ridges pressed into the soil, which do final flattening of clods, prevent soil erosion until seeds germinate and improve seed germination through solid soil contact.

I use Buckwheat around organically grown Blueberry bushes to reduce hand weeding with a Korean Hoe. Every Buckwheat seed germinates. The Buckwheat dies about now, just before Blueberry harvest in Florida, which is convenient. This Fall I plan to experiment with Annual Rye as a cover crop in one or two Blueberry rows to see if I can reduce weed cultivation with the Kubota BX tractor and increase organic matter. Our Rabbiteye BB bushes are planted on 8'-6" centers.

On land that I have cleared from jungle, I have been planting deer food plots, once in late March, a second in September. Food plot seed is cheap and the mix contains strong germinators. When the crop matures I give the deer three weeks to feed, then mow with a Rotary Cutter and disc in the residue as green manure. My Disc Harrow has 20" diameter pans, notched front and rear. It chops the cut residue fine. So would your (excellent) Howard. Some type of food plot seed mix MAY be your cheapest cover crop seed. Commonly $22/50 pounds at Walmart.

A Korean Hoe is BY FAR the best hand tool I have discovered for close Blueberry cultivation: Amazon.com : Long Handle EZ-Digger : Garden Hoes : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Broadcast Spreaders: PTO Fertilizer Spreaders by Agrex

Cultipackers: Cultipackers For Sale by Everything Attachments

LANDSCAPE RAKE: tractor Landscape Rake - YouTube

LPGS: land plane grading scraper - YouTube


Photos #1 - #4 ETA Cultipacker
Photos #5 - #7 'Wunderbar' Modular Tool Bar Cultivator from Woodward Crossings, PA. (I have two.)

 

[Steave]

After jeff9366's comprehensive write up complete with pictures what else can anyone say. I will mention the buckwheat is a great soil builder and have used it in areas that need soil repairs. If you don't want the buckwheat coming back say in a future garden spot just mow it down as soon as it starts to flower. You can dig up the area and replant because the buckwheat will mature in 2 months or less. I have planted early and cut and replant 3 times in one season. Really builds the ground with the vegetation plus it is deep rooted and loosens soil deep down. If you allow the buckwheat to mature and seed it will come back next year if you lightly disc, something you might not want in a vegetable garden.

 

[EdwardB]

After jeff9366's comprehensive write up complete with pictures what else can anyone say. I will mention the buckwheat is a great soil builder and have used it in areas that need soil repairs. If you don't want the buckwheat coming back say in a future garden spot just mow it down as soon as it starts to flower. You can dig up the area and replant because the buckwheat will mature in 2 months or less. I have planted early and cut and replant 3 times in one season. Really builds the ground with the vegetation plus it is deep rooted and loosens soil deep down. If you allow the buckwheat to mature and seed it will come back next year if you lightly disc, something you might not want in a vegetable garden.

I'll have to look into buckwheat as a cover crop. Sounds interesting. I spoke with a local again dealer Friday and they suggested a spreader would be an economical choice to seed with. Plus, with the right model I can fertilize and spread lime.

 

[Wolf Bayou]

I have done a lot of looking on this as well as I once had a tractor of similar size. You can certainly do everything with a mower---tiller or disc---spreader----cultipacker. Those are proven tools for tillage and seeding. However, if you plan to do that much land in cover crops annually it will me a major chore to till or disc that much ground with a tractor of that size. I would consider a no till solution. You don't have enough tractor for most no till drills but a small 2-4 row planter set up with no till coulters and good closers is something likely manageable. There are a number of guys cutting down larger planters to make these smaller planters for food plots and other uses. I see them on ebay ranging from 1800 for 2 row models up to 4000 for 4 row models with markers.

Combine that with a good sprayer and you may be able to cut way back on your tillage which will help also help your organic matter.