Need advice on grain drill for haying

[flusher]

I'm looking for a used grain drill to plant my 7-acre hayfield. The recommended mixes for the North Valley are:

Horse mix: 44% orchardgrass, 28% annual rye, 28% perennial rye

Cattle mix: 43% orchard grass, 27% perennial rye, 16% salina clover, 11% annual rye, 3% ladino clover

I understand that, ideally, a grain drill for these seed mixtures should have a grass seed attachment since these seeds are so small in size compared to most grain seeds. I've looked at several 10-12-ft seeders the last few days (an IH, an Oliver-Superior and a JD), none of which have grass seed attachments. So I may have to settle for a grain drill without one.

My haying book says that a grain drill that has settings for rye and wheat can handle grass seeds. If worse comes to worse, they recommend using duct tape to cover part of the drop holes to restrict flow of grass seed down the tubes.

Anyone out there care to steer me in the right direction here? Thanks

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Buy a Brillion seeder unless you plan on planting wheat, oats or other type of crops like that. The Brillion seeder is great as it firms the seedbed so that the grass seed doesn't get buried too deep and it is easy to see where you have been with a Brillion seeder as the packer makes a distictively nice look on the ground once it passes over.

I have a 5' Brillion I use on smaller fields and missed out on a 10' Brillion in excellent shape. On larger fields I have used a Vicon but added a International 5100 21x7 grain drill with the grass seed attachment. It is 12' seeding width and will allow me to still plant my oats in the spring. But if I find another deal on a wider Brillion I am buying it as they are great for grass seed.

 

[flusher]

Buy a Brillion seeder unless you plan on planting wheat, oats or other type of crops like that. The Brillion seeder is great as it firms the seedbed so that the grass seed doesn't get buried too deep and it is easy to see where you have been with a Brillion seeder as the packer makes a distictively nice look on the ground once it passes over.

I have a 5' Brillion I use on smaller fields and missed out on a 10' Brillion in excellent shape. On larger fields I have used a Vicon but added a International 5100 21x7 grain drill with the grass seed attachment. It is 12' seeding width and will allow me to still plant my oats in the spring. But if I find another deal on a wider Brillion I am buying it as they are great for grass seed.

May eventually plant oats. Not sure about that.

Brillion seeders are really nice. Like the idea of one pass seeding/cultipacking. Fast, easy, no sweat planting. But a new one is way out of my price range. Even used ones are spendy assuming you can find one. Hard for me to justify several thousand bucks for even a used Brillion with only 7 acres of planting once a year.

My neighbor used something like a Brillion with his MF-294 to plant 20 acres of alfalfa a few months age. I probably could rent that thing and use my MF-135 diesel to get my planting done, but that would be doing it the easy way.

I'm pretty much resigned to doing planting in two passes--seeding/tickling with some type of drill followed by rolling/cultipacking. Fuel cost is not an issue with my small hayfield. My goal (and challenge) is to find the equipment for this el cheapo approach without spending more than $1K.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

For $1k are you trying to get both items or just the drill? Small drills are bringing a premium now because everyone wants one for food plots and such (the grass seed attachment makes them worth more). Cultipackers are in the same boat as there seems to be a large demand for people with food plots looking for cheap, used equipment. I have found if you buy bigger equipment you can save money. I paid $1800 for my 14' cultimulcher (a great tool for preparing seedbeds) a few years ago. Just after I bought it all the prices doubled and the guy who sold it to me was begging to buy it back.

My grain drills are both International 5100's. They are both 21x7's and the one I bough local for $2400. It was just the drill but in beautiful shape. The other one is in good shape (paints a little more weathered but that is about it) and is a soybean special with grass seed attachment. I paid $1200 for that one on Ebay but had to drive 4 hours to get it, load it and then haul this thing home overwidth thru 3 cities (Canton being one of them and this was the weekend they had the HOF inductions ). I was lucky I wasn't stopped but it was a crappy day and I figure the cops were all inside somplace where it was warm and dry as I only saw one the whole trip home. So if you figure time for two guys, fuel and wear and tear then it is a little cheaper then the other one but with a lot more hassles.

Just plain old culitpackers are getting hard to find in good shape and still cheap. A lot of the old cultipackers had cast ends and usually this cast part is broken but with a little fab skills and limited use I don't think it would be a major problem.

What I do when I am looking for a good deal on a used piece of equipment is I put word out to a few of my friends who know a lot more people then I do as well as start searching Ebay and Fastline. Both sites will let you sort results by distance so you can look things over and find something close that fits your needs. But if you don't find anything right away talk to your neighbor so that it buys you more time to find the right piece of equipment that meets your needs and budget. As soon as you buy something you will find another in better shape for a little less 3 houses down the road from you

If you are interested in a International 5100 grain drill without the grass seeder I have one for sale

 

[Farmwithjunk]

You'll encounter most of your problems with the clovers. Most all grain drills don't have the capabilities to accurately feed out seed that small. Clover seed, even when mixed with other "larger" seed will tend to find it's way out through the feed cups at their own rate. The small seed attachments are the only GOOD way to accurately control small seed placement. Trying to seed clovers with a "cyclone spreader" is a hit or miss proposition at the best.

Too bad we're so far apart... I've got an 8' and a 10' wide small seed box and associated hardware for Deere drills laying in my barn. They'd work on just about any Deere "letter series" drills. They're yours for the taking. So, if you're in the neighborhood any time soon

Robert is spot on with the advice about using a cultipacker after seeding . I did a few waterways and filter strip on my farm a few years ago. The Soil and Water Conservation District helped with the cost involved. The ONLY way they'd kick in on the $$$$ was by my doing things by THEIR standards. That included using a cultipacker after seeding.

Brillion seeders are hard to beat. Also, I've RENTED seeders before. I'd suggest contacting your county AG extention office on that subject. Ours has seeders that can be rented very reasonable to county residents.

 

[TwinWillows]

FWJ,

I have a JD FB-B 8ft drill w/o the small seed box & would be interested in talking w/you about yours. I'm in far N West KY.. Please PM me if you have a moment.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[flusher]

You'll encounter most of your problems with the clovers. Most all grain drills don't have the capabilities to accurately feed out seed that small. Clover seed, even when mixed with other "larger" seed will tend to find it's way out through the feed cups at their own rate. The small seed attachments are the only GOOD way to accurately control small seed placement. Trying to seed clovers with a "cyclone spreader" is a hit or miss proposition at the best.

Too bad we're so far apart... I've got an 8' and a 10' wide small seed box and associated hardware for Deere drills laying in my barn. They'd work on just about any Deere "letter series" drills. They're yours for the taking. So, if you're in the neighborhood any time soon

Robert is spot on with the advice about using a cultipacker after seeding . I did a few waterways and filter strip on my farm a few years ago. The Soil and Water Conservation District helped with the cost involved. The ONLY way they'd kick in on the $$$$ was by my doing things by THEIR standards. That included using a cultipacker after seeding.

Brillion seeders are hard to beat. Also, I've RENTED seeders before. I'd suggest contacting your county AG extention office on that subject. Ours has seeders that can be rented very reasonable to county residents.

Thanks as always for your input. I'm getting a real education as a result.

Regarding my $1K limit I was going by the prices I see on the eBay auctions for cultipackers and grain drills. I've seen 9-ft cultipackers go for as little as $250 a few months ago. I thought I had a chance at an 8-ft Schmeiser cultipacker at an auction last weekend, but it was a mess, missing parts, not worth bidding.

And I've seen smaller size JD grain drills go for $600 on eBay.

Unfortunately most of those items are found East of the Rockies.

I still have a few local places to check out. I'm optimistic that I can find some kind of grain drill soon in my price range.

The biggest problem I have when checking out these old drills is to know when some part is missing. Getting replacement parts, I imagine, is probably a bear for some of the really vintage stuff I've been looking at lately.

Regarding clover seeding, the problem you mentioned is probably a good reason to plant horse mix.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

FWJ,

I have a JD FB-B 8ft drill w/o the small seed box & would be interested in talking w/you about yours. I'm in far N West KY.. Please PM me if you have a moment.

Thanks,
Tom

Consider yourself "PM-ed".

 

[RancherSam]

not to hijack the thread, I'm also having trouble finding a cultipacker and trying to find alternative solutions. How would you guys rate rolling metal barrels filled with water behind the drill as a means of packing the seed in?

Sam

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I don't know, I have never tried it but you don't want to compact the ground too much. Also, the cultipacker has grooves so that water will have plenty of valleys to settle into. A barrel will have large flat areas between the valleys. I don't know just how much difference this will make.

Basically, you can get buy without it if you want to. The idea of the packing wheels on the drill or a cultipacker behind the drill is to improve seed to soil contact. If you make the surface too hard though the seed has to struggle to bust thru the surface.