Anyone using a lighter 100/150hp tractor with old cultivator drill this season

[snipe]

at the end of the day snipe axle weigh is what it is 60 ton Bert harvester on 6 800 or 1000 tyres is still 10 ton a tyres. . How far down is the compaction

I agree that axle weight it what causes deep compaction. But you can mitigate this by increasing the foot print and reducing tyre pressure. A 7t tractor on row crop will cause more damage than an 8t tractor on very large flotation tyres. Would you rather have a 12t trailer on super singles pulled across your field or a 14t with 560 65 22.5. ?? You also need to make sure the pressure points of each axle or wheels are not too close to each other, or the pressure waves will overlap causing increased compaction. Best way I can describe this is watching a polar bears on thin ice. It widens it’s stance so the ice can take its weight.

 

[snipe]

We now run duals in dryer conditions to help consolidation and remove then in sticky conditions as I now believe the more soil run on is more soil damaged, or a 600 tyre at 8 psi will do more damage than a 400 at 12 psi.

Working on that train of thought Why don’t you fit row crop wheels??

 

[Speedstar]

We used to run a MF 2640 with dual wheels right round on a 3 meter Howard rotorspike with a up and over bridge link to a falcon 3 meter drill worked very well back in the early 80's

 

[Richard98]

What hp should a 3m Kuhn/Accord combi (or similar) require? (Decent medium loam, moderate slopes in places)

We used to run the 3m amazone combi in the picture on our 6265 mf (105hp) and it killed it, 3 turbos and an engine rebuild in 6000 hours and it’s now retired to light duties. Mix of soil types and only norfolk slopes. It could be that particular tractor but having seen that, I’d want 120hp minimum on one to get along. Our 6270 mf is just about boss of it, the t6 at 145 hp plus boost if you believe in it doesn’t know it’s got it on the back, runs in eco pto. I hate seeing 250hp tractors etc on 3m drills but it’s safer to be slightly overpowered than underpowered in my experience.

 

[Richard98]

Ask @Richard98 ..... he sees their comings and goings.

Struggling I believe, 5f plough on massive tractor, power harrow on cat etc etc.

To be fair they did get some in early as well which is now very lush and green.

He got some in early when it was bone dry which is rather lush as said above, from what dad said he has got a long way to go drilling wise yet. The latest attempts have been a 5 furrow on I think a 6215r working 24 hours to try and keep ahead of the challenger and 6m power Harrow followed by the 8m vaderstad. Being away at harper I haven’t heard how the drill got on yet?

 

[Skimmer]

Working on that train of thought Why don’t you fit row crop wheels??

You still need a wheel big enough to carry the weight and transmit the power without sinking.

 

[Bury the Trash]

I agree that axle weight it what causes deep compaction. But you can mitigate this by increasing the foot print and reducing tyre pressure. A 7t tractor on row crop will cause more damage than an 8t tractor on very large flotation tyres. Would you rather have a 12t trailer on super singles pulled across your field or a 14t with 560 65 22.5. ?? You also need to make sure the pressure points of each axle or wheels are not too close to each other, or the pressure waves will overlap causing increased compaction. Best way I can describe this is watching a polar bears on thin ice. It widens it’s stance so the ice can take its weight.

hmmm
Research was done at Silsoe years ago and on this article back in 1958 looks like it so its not new info. so im surprised not many realise it.
https://soilandwater.org.uk/Guide-to-cutting-compaction

would want too narrow either looks like optimal balance i guess


"As axle weight increases,so does the depth to which compaction penetrates , regardless of the pressure at the surface."

 

[Norfolk Olly]

What hp should a 3m Kuhn/Accord combi (or similar) require? (Decent medium loam, moderate slopes in places)

In 1986 90-100hp
2019 200-250

 

[Skimmer]

So using that example,
a 14t grain trailer is better on super singles than 560/22s, I know an extrem example.
I think I will stick to my 710/42 vf @ 7psi thanks.

I now believe soil structure is more important than I used to, particular on our light sand. At what psi on what land at what moisture content damage starts to happen I don't know, but if you run over an egg with your 7 psi tractor it would be just as broken as if I ran over it with a 12 psi tractor.
Like wise with your grain trailer, if damage occurs @ 20 psi then are you damaging more soil slightly with 560/22 or less soil as severely with a super single @80psi or.

 

[7610 super q]

Light as you can go, whilst still having pushy buttons to play with. Spring drilling pic, no point sowing anything this autumn.

 

[GeorgeK]

In 1986 90-100hp
2019 200-250

Horsepower ratings ain't what they used to be, you need 200hp when you've only got 50ft/lb torque!

 

[fermerboy]

We used to work our Amazone 3M combi and front hopper with hyd fan blowing back fert on a good 7840 NH non turbo.
She was worked extremely hard but did it, could manage 25-30ac on a long day.
It was the hyd front hopper dragging her back, without that she'd be grand 90% of the time.
Got the same rig on a tweaked TM140 now and its well on top of the job.
Pressed ploughing makes a hell of a difference.
More hp definitely speeds job up, but its getting silly round here nowadays.

 

[Wilkster]

Picture taken in the spring but that’s our setup. 4m Juko/Farmhand drill on a 90hp Deutz 4.57

 

[topcat2006]

Picture taken in the spring but that’s our setup. 4m Juko/Farmhand drill on a 90hp Deutz 4.57
View attachment 842009

I used to spend days stood on the back of one of those when I was seven pushing in the tramline shut offs.

 

[Granite Farmer]

The contractor who drills my corn uses a 240hp tractor and Amazone 3m combi. It is a big drill and I'd say that in the steep ground it would be to heavy for my tm120.

 

[D14]

Is it not the tyres that are important just as much as the size of the tractor. We have a 4t tractor and an 8t tractor. The lowest pressure in the tractor tyres of the 4t one is around 12psi, where as the 8t tractor has its tyres at 8psi. I know the 4t tractor would make the deepest impression in the soil.

Your 8t tractor will exert 8t onto the soil irrelevant of tyres. Wider tyres all you are doing is spreading the load and flattening more soil.

 

[snipe]

Yes it will, I agree. But will an 8 ton tractor on wide tyres do more or less damage to the soil than a 7 ton tractor on narrow over inflated tyres.

 

[Two Tone]

Back in the 80’s I used to drill with a mounted Carrier 4 metre drill on the back of a 75hp MF 690 2wd and duals on the back.
It was very fast in good conditions. I once drilled 50 acre field after tea and finished just as it was getting dark.

The tractor was a 6 speed with a manual splitter in each gear (the third gear lever).
in good conditions, it was flat out in 5th gear high split.
You get to the end of the row, change down to 4th, then into low split drop the revs a bit, lift the arms and hit the side bakes to turn. Hardly any need to turn the steering wheels as the front wheels would be off the ground as you turned anyway! Then back up through the gears and flat out on the throttle again.

Headland were done last in just 2 runs. The problem was the drive wheel wouldn’t slow down enough to stop, therefore would spill seed onto the headland surfaces.

Another problem was that you needed a mesh guard on the back window to stop the stones from smashing it!

The last of those drills had trelleborg lgp wheels on, which helped a lot on depth control, especially when it was wet.
If that drill couldn’t drill it in the wet, nothing else would.

 

[Scholsey]

 

[Richard98]

Back in the 80’s I used to drill with a mounted Carrier 4 metre drill on the back of a 75hp MF 690 2wd and duals on the back.
It was very fast in good conditions. I once drilled 50 acre field after tea and finished just as it was getting dark.

The tractor was a 6 speed with a manual splitter in each gear (the third gear lever).
in good conditions, it was flat out in 5th gear high split.
You get to the end of the row, change down to 4th, then into low split drop the revs a bit, lift the arms and hit the side bakes to turn. Hardly any need to turn the steering wheels as the front wheels would be off the ground as you turned anyway! Then back up through the gears and flat out on the throttle again.

Headland were done last in just 2 runs. The problem was the drive wheel wouldn’t slow down enough to stop, therefore would spill seed onto the headland surfaces.

Another problem was that you needed a mesh guard on the back window to stop the stones from smashing it!

The last of those drills had trelleborg lgp wheels on, which helped a lot on depth control, especially when it was wet.
If that drill couldn’t drill it in the wet, nothing else would.

We’ve got 4 carier drills here in various states of decay? grandad swore by them and was all they used for decades until dad bought an amazone combi around 2007 ish. We still used a 4m with one row of pipes taken off to drill beans until we got a weaving tine drill 4 years ago. The only problem with the carier was it seemed to bury the beans beneath the tractor but the ones behind the wheels would barely be covered no matter what arrangement of eradicator tines or duals etc was used. 2 out of 4 would still work with a bit of tlc