Claydon TerraStar

[ajd132]

Nip over with the joker very shallow to make a little bit of tilth early on. 15-20ha/hr.
I know someone with a joker near you offering very competitive contracting rates (I hear he needs to be busy all the time to keep him out of trouble).

 

[90hp farming]

Nip over with the joker very shallow to make a little bit of tilth early on. 15-20ha/hr.
I know someone with a joker near you offering very competitive contracting rates (I hear he needs to be busy all the time to keep him out of trouble).

I have a very old hankmo machine which is almost identical to the terrastar but less than 1/10th of the price. use it for mixing in fym two weeks ahead of the drill. have to concur with the initial comment of it being very good at collecting string (and net wrap and polythene.....)
however, because I am a heathen and have a tine drill I find the hankmo very useful - `blends` the muck with the soil and dries it out and spreads the lumps. as I only have 90hp I cant really pull it at the suggested speed, but as such it only really moves about a third of the land and it is surprising how much I find it helps.
as with all direct drilling operations it is not something to be used in the wet.
expensive to run too, on a big acreage - each blade is £10 and there are lots of them

 

[Brisel]

If you running about that much you might as well get your plough out

What happen to strip till being a single pass operation ?

say mid August harvest and 1st October drill date

Terra star
X2 rake
Drill
Roll - a must behind a strip till IMO

That's a 5 pass establishment system ! ? I can't help but think the point is being somewhat forgotten by their customers if that's what they are asking Claydon for !

Better than 5 passes with gear that needs hundreds more hp to pull stuff half the width moving may more tonnes of soil.

It's called weaning yourself off a steel addiction gently...

 

[Brisel]

I have a very old hankmo machine which is almost identical to the terrastar but less than 1/10th of the price. use it for mixing in fym two weeks ahead of the drill. have to concur with the initial comment of it being very good at collecting string (and net wrap and polythene.....)
however, because I am a heathen and have a tine drill I find the hankmo very useful - `blends` the muck with the soil and dries it out and spreads the lumps. as I only have 90hp I cant really pull it at the suggested speed, but as such it only really moves about a third of the land and it is surprising how much I find it helps.
as with all direct drilling operations it is not something to be used in the wet.
expensive to run too, on a big acreage - each blade is £10 and there are lots of them

Don't forget the bearings and shafts which wear out eventually too, leaving the blades to spin freely

Great bits of kit. I used to smash up unharvested cauliflowers, cabbages & frosted beet with one.

 

[Fat hen]

My feeling is that this machine is to address the shortcomings of the Straw Rake. I found that the rake tended to aggregate straw often into large lumps, which we'd have to burn! Also has a tendency to bounce off hard dry soil. Although I found it effective in general. But definitely not as effective as Jeff et al would have us believe!

 

[Surgery]

It's a perfect spring for them to bang on about complementing a rake with this machine IMO , how long will it be before another machine rolls off the line which will complement this one , I think some folk get hooked by talk too much as 'it forms part of the drilling system'

 

[Knockie]

Some interesting views there, thanks. Planning to use the TerraStar on some of our land that I feel isn't quit "ready" for DD with a disc.
Planning to establish SB in two passes this spring, the first pass broadcasting urea, leaving a couple of days then the second pass broadcasting SB seed, similar to what some of our French friends are doing with the Duro France Compil.
Remember being a wee bit further North we are lacking a few degC of soil temperature and I feel on some of our land a wee bit of soil movement will help dry/warm the soil.
Cheers.

 

[Brisel]

My feeling is that this machine is to address the shortcomings of the Straw Rake. I found that the rake tended to aggregate straw often into large lumps, which we'd have to burn! Also has a tendency to bounce off hard dry soil. Although I found it effective in general. But definitely not as effective as Jeff et al would have us believe!

Which rake was that? If it's dry enough to combine then it's dry enough to rake. Doing it whilst damp will create the lumps. So will doing it twice in quck succession.

 

[martian]

Planning to establish SB in two passes this spring, the first pass broadcasting urea, leaving a couple of days then the second pass broadcasting SB seed, similar to what some of our French friends are doing with the Duro France Compil.
Remember being a wee bit further North we are lacking a few degC of soil temperature and I feel on some of our land a wee bit of soil movement will help dry/warm the soil.
Cheers.

Thanks, couldn't remember what they called it. Handy one pass system. Cracking soundtrack too...

youtube.com/watch?v=3Zv_tCKgz5o

Be very interested to hear how you get on with it Knockie

 

[Feldspar]

Some interesting views there, thanks. Planning to use the TerraStar on some of our land that I feel isn't quit "ready" for DD with a disc.
Planning to establish SB in two passes this spring, the first pass broadcasting urea, leaving a couple of days then the second pass broadcasting SB seed, similar to what some of our French friends are doing with the Duro France Compil.
Remember being a wee bit further North we are lacking a few degC of soil temperature and I feel on some of our land a wee bit of soil movement will help dry/warm the soil.
Cheers.

I can see that working, although I think I would make the first pass in the autumn. Then spread the urea and seed, and then make the second pass. The only question is whether the Terrastar would move enough soil to adequately cover the seed given that it 'pecks' at the soil. Would you use a higher seedrate or not?

 

[Louis Mc]

I can see that working, although I think I would make the first pass in the autumn. Then spread the urea and seed, and then make the second pass. The only question is whether the Terrastar would move enough soil to adequately cover the seed given that it 'pecks' at the soil. Would you use a higher seedrate or not?

It probably relies on your soil bring I. Decent Nick to start with?? Nice natural tilth in top inch or two??

 

[JD6920s]

Anyone know how the terra star will cope with the odd large stone?

 

[Fat hen]

Which rake was that? If it's dry enough to combine then it's dry enough to rake. Doing it whilst damp will create the lumps. So will doing it twice in quck succession.

The Claydon Rake. The surface is supposed to be moist to be most effective (according to Jeff). Not always possible to get this. Dry clay soils tend to make the tines bounce.
I think they realised they needed something to cut the surface/trash. Hence the Terra Star

 

[Brisel]

ONLY use the rake when it is dry. I think you've misheard Jeff.

Doing it whilst damp is asking for lumps as the straw sticks to itself. I have tried & failed, thinking it would be a nice job for the corn carting student to knock off a few acres each morning while the combine is being serviced & it is damp. If you see balers running locally it's dry enough to rake.

 

[Fat hen]

ONLY use the rake when it is dry. I think you've misheard Jeff.

Doing it whilst damp is asking for lumps as the straw sticks to itself. I have tried & failed, thinking it would be a nice job for the corn carting student to knock off a few acres each morning while the combine is being serviced & it is damp. If you see balers running locally it's dry enough to rake.

No seriously, they all said that the best time to rake is on a morning after an overnight shower - not wet, but moisture. Creates more tilth and deals with slugs emerging after rain

 

[Feldspar]

No seriously, they all said that the best time to rake is on a morning after an overnight shower - not wet, but moisture. Creates more tilth and deals with slugs emerging after rain

We find if it's too dry the rake just skates over the surface. Best time is straight behind the combine before the soil bakes hard in the sun.

 

[Will7]

The best time to rake for redistributing chopped straw is when the ground is hard and the straw is dry (otherwise you pull the stubble out which give you more trash to deal with). Preferably at least a week after combining to allow the straw to go a bit brittle

The best time to rake to allow a bit of cultivation is when there is moisture in the soil.

The 2 jobs need doing at 2 different times depending on what you want, otherwise it is always a compromise IMHO.

 

[Brisel]

Lots of different opinions here.

If the straw is lumping up, try it when drier. I guess everyone's needs and expectations are subtly different.

I need straw spreading. Tilth is tertiary. Slug control is a secondary one. In osr stubbles it will be different again.

 

[York]

straw rake:
look, that the difference between a pull type rake and a 3-point rake.
If you want to distribute straw than you have to fill the rake up with straw. So why you ever want to lift it up at the headlands?
A proper rake is also not hopping around when the soil is dry, if will have enough weight to be kept down.
As soon as the dew creeps in in the evening the rake has to stop and in the morning the driver of the rake is helping the combine drivers to service the combines. then he will start when the straw is dry & brittle.
I have given the reference on properly setting & operating a rake numerous times. that is the reason you need for a 12m straw rake 250+hp. We have "killed" a 300hp tractor in front of a 12 m rake.
This rakes keep their value and are hardly found on the 2nd hand market, the 3-point rakes you just look on the 2nd hand market......
For me that says a lot.
York-Th.

 

[Devon James]

We have had a go with the Terra Star. It was very useful in quickening up the drying of the surface to enable drilling and an improved finish, no peeling off the a shares. Left overnight and the wind was enough to take the edge off the ground.
In catchy times like this spring it would be very handy.