Moore / Sky Drill

Banana Bar · Jan 9, 2019

Following discussion with others and not being around to witness Moore drills being used what are the differences if any between the Moore drill and Sky drill. Really like the look of the Sky but some say it’s just a green Moore and will be plagued with the same problems, what were they?

BB

Will Blackburn · Jan 9, 2019

Lack of effective slot closure.

Banana Bar · Jan 9, 2019

Will Blackburn said:
Lack of effective slot closure.

And has this been resolved?

Matt77 · Jan 9, 2019

Demo we had with their team wasn’t all that impressive, chap couldn’t get it very deep in nice soil, wanting wheat in after beans at 40mm for Avadex, he made hard work of it and to top it all when it came up it had 3 blocked coulters every run, only did a ton of seed. Seemed heavy enough....

Banana Bar · Jan 9, 2019

Matt77 said:
Demo we had with their team wasn’t all that impressive, chap couldn’t get it very deep in nice soil, wanting wheat in after beans at 40mm for Avadex, he made hard work of it and to top it all when it came up it had 3 blocked coulters every run, only did a ton of seed. Seemed heavy enough....

That doesn’t sound great. Has anyone else had this problem? Going to see a user soon for his advice but welcome all opinions.

Will Blackburn · Jan 9, 2019

Banana Bar said:
And has this been resolved?

I have a JD now, so I suppose it has been.

SilliamWhale · Jan 9, 2019

On the other hand @scholland has had some tremendous results with his Moore. Sandy land and shallow seeded crops though

SilliamWhale · Jan 9, 2019

Banana Bar said:
That doesn’t sound great. Has anyone else had this problem? Going to see a user soon for his advice but welcome all opinions.

My opinion - it doesn't have more important engineering features than the 750 or the Weaving (lets say they're the UK's leading disc drill candidates at the moment, maybe add the Avatar). And in my opinion what it doesn't have makes all the difference (slot closing, seed firming, depth control next to seed boot)

If you want to buy a drill go and meet some users on farm and see their crops, I think you would learn more than just an afternoon demo

Will Blackburn · Jan 9, 2019

SilliamWhale said:
On the other hand @scholland has had some tremendous results with his Moore. Sandy land and shallow seeded crops though

Yes stronger ground is the issue especially if the ground is drying and shrinking. Top notch example of the original Moore in Shetland, quite ballsy to cut and shut it.

i dont belief it · Jan 9, 2019

Only problem with the Moore was seed depth drilled wheat at 50mm and could find seed anywhere between 15 & 50mm if it was drilled less than 50mm could find seed on top as for slot closing I would say it was one of the best hardly ever rolled afterwards. Have a sprinter now but the 15 year old Moore is still there if its needed.

Richard III · Jan 9, 2019

They might have altered the Sky but the old Moore was more like a cross between a tine and a low disturbance disc drill in the amount of soil moved. Autumn crop growth is noticeably slower behind my GD than it was the old Moore because of this and this effect can be good or bad depending on sowing date and season. I found slot closure usually very good the Moore in my soil conditions, but it would over compact in the wet, when a GD or 750a would still be operating happily.

scholland · Jan 9, 2019

SilliamWhale said:
On the other hand @scholland has had some tremendous results with his Moore. Sandy land and shallow seeded crops though

I love my old moore, ideal for my land as you say.
It continues to impress me.

scholland · Jan 9, 2019

Will Blackburn said:
Yes stronger ground is the issue especially if the ground is drying and shrinking. Top notch example of the original Moore in Shetland, quite ballsy to cut and shut it.

Not really but thanks!
Needs must and it was a fun job.

Michael S · Jan 11, 2019

I have been using a Moore, first 6m and now 8m, for over 25 years but predominately as a "conventional" drill but also tried no-till in various situations. Wheat after peas, spring rape, soya and stripped linseed generally very pleasing but on our soils, predominately heavy phase handslope and ragdale clays, cutting through chopped straw to establish either wheat or rape is something we never managed to do evenly and reliably.

moretimeforgolf · Jan 13, 2019

If you want an alternative, how about Sly? They only had the coulter unit on display at Lamma but I was very impressed with the design - not seen it at work yet.

Banana Bar · Jan 13, 2019

moretimeforgolf said:
If you want an alternative, how about Sly? They only had the coulter unit on display at Lamma but I was very impressed with the design - not seen it at work yet.

Had it in demo in the autumn.

moretimeforgolf · Jan 13, 2019

Banana Bar said:
Had it in demo in the autumn.

What was your verdict , or is too early to make a judgement?

Brisel · Jan 14, 2019

Banana Bar said:
Had it in demo in the autumn.

I would also be interested in your view in the Sly.

@T Hectares 's neighbour has a Sky. There's one down the road from me & we share the same agronomist, so I'll see what I can find out. The disc angle is a bit less than the Moore but it's mostly the same as far as I can tell. The improvements are in the frame.

T Hectares · Jan 15, 2019

Yes, my neighbours have one.
They replaced an earlier Sulky version for it, the crops look very good behind it and slot closure isn’t an issue on the soil types here.
The Sky seems a more substantial build than the Sulky and takes more hp to pull, the three hoppers and flexibility in where the products are placed seems to be the big advantage on one.
Our flints do wear the discs pretty quickly but no different to any other disc drill in that respect, we are on very abrasive soils

Brisel · Jan 15, 2019

From what you’ve seen of it, was the slot closure good enough?

Moore / Sky Drill

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