Claydon TerraStar

[Feldspar]

Picked up our Terrastar today and have had a quick play in some barley stubbles and some setaside. Impressed with what I've seen so far - I think this will help us a lot for spring crops. I think it's a very good tool for heavy land because it just plucks up the soil and doesn't try and work it. Done early this will allow weathering of the lumps which is the best operation around on heavy land. I think it will also help with the primary goal in heavy land: fast drying after rain / winter. Managed to pull it with only a 130hp tractor at about 12kph. Will put it on a 200hp tractor to be comfortable. Cheap, simple and fast. Main obvious downside is if only done once and left I think it will make slugs worse rather than better.

I think this was two passes, but it might have been one into barley stubble that was ploughed last year.

 

[Feldspar]

Then tried it into some setaside which was a bit tougher. Doesn't look amazing now, but with some weathering over a few months and maybe a second pass I think it will give a nice bit of tilth to drill into. We will no-till some, but I want to spread the risk by having a few different approaches on the go.

Having seen the results though I'm not so enthused about the idea of using it to sow OSR or cover crops because it's a bit lumpy.

 

[phil]

Will you roll it?

 

[Feldspar]

Will you roll it?

Not in front of spring crops because you want larger lumps to weather down. Not sure about in front of autumn drilling. Probably not immediately. Maybe early September depending on how much weathering has occured. Want to be able to be able to drill in with little disturbance at drilling so won't aim to move it near to drilling. Will try rolling a bit soon after the first pass just to see what effect it has on black grass emergence.

 

[Andrew K]

Tried one today with Spencer at Claydons farm and was impressed.
The finish from one pass was fairly decent, and went well at 15kph plus with minimal hp.
Looks a very useful low cost tool to get blackgrass going, and aid drilling tilth IMO.

 

[Feldspar]

Have just used the Terrastar in anger in a whole field. Used it close behind the combine before the moisture left the ground and I'm pleased with what it's done. The output is huge - 6.15m on the GPS at 15.5 kph meant it felt like I was continually jabbing the headland management button. 220hp tractor was cruising up hills at 1600 rpm. One pass in ground that was ploughed last year gives quite a bit of soil movement - easily enough to leave overwinter before spring drilling. Mixed in the straw nicely. Does struggle a little in uneven fields, but can't have everything. Tried it in some setaside which is dry and solid. Two passes gave an OK result, but have decided to leave it until after the rain and see if that is any better. For the money I am very pleased with it.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Riverlea tractors have a tool like this for sale in Llandow. 3m Bomford evershed if any one is interested. 1300 pounds

 

[shakerator]

Be great for manures by looks of it

 

[Feldspar]

Have been using the Terrastar quite a lot. It's great fun to use - closest I'll get to enjoying recreational tillage. Have done some of our OSR stubbles and it doing a good job. Not very zero till but I think it's about the same price as a slug pellet application and not that much slower. Also better for operator safety too.

 

[Feldspar]

It also seems to be one of the few things that actually works a bit better in damper soils. Tried it out on the OSR stubbles when they were dry and it was skating over the surface a bit too much, especially on the sandier clay which sets harder. Waited for a rain and then after a bit of dry went and tried again and it did a much better job. Because there is no bit of it that presses or squeezes the damp soil, working it when damp is not as bad as most cultivation tools. I think we will need to go through twice before drilling in some fields. Did 35 ac in about 2 hours this afternoon so it's not terribly time consuming.

This looks like it's moving a tremendous amount of soil, but actually it's not:

Pictures is a bit poor, but it's because I was going at 16 kph!

 

[Clive]

Have been using the Terrastar quite a lot. It's great fun to use - closest I'll get to enjoying recreational tillage. Have done some of our OSR stubbles and it doing a good job. Not very zero till but I think it's about the same price as a slug pellet application and not that much slower. Also better for operator safety too.

are you rolling after it ?I used a Sampo a lot back as a student years ago and I recall it left ground quite open - not ideal if you want to deter slugs

 

[Feldspar]

are you rolling after it ?I used a Sampo a lot back as a student years ago and I recall it left ground quite open - not ideal if you want to deter slugs

I've been debating this. I think we probably won't roll after the first time. Will wait until I can find slug eggs or slugs and then whip through again to hit them (literally) and dry them out. Would ideally then roll and then drill with the 750a. Only problem is I want to put Avadex on with the rolls after drilling. Rolling twice and Terrastaring twice is getting a lot of passes.

Just debating how many fields to not Terrastar and zero till. Unfortunately the ones that are left were laid in parts and so have big mat of residue where we had to cut low. Bit worried about leaving those because the slugs will thrive.

Got the 750a out into a field for the first time today in some barley stubbles with a lot of chopped straw. Claydon is doing an excellent job drilling rape there. I think it's probably one of the instances where the 750a is going to struggle.

 

[Clive]

I've been debating this. I think we probably won't roll after the first time. Will wait until I can find slug eggs or slugs and then whip through again to hit them (literally) and dry them out. Would ideally then roll and then drill with the 750a. Only problem is I want to put Avadex on with the rolls after drilling. Rolling twice and Terrastaring twice is getting a lot of passes.

Just debating how many fields to not Terrastar and zero till. Unfortunately the ones that are left were laid in parts and so have big mat of residue where we had to cut low. Bit worried about leaving those because the slugs will thrive.

Got the 750a out into a field for the first time today in some barley stubbles with a lot of chopped straw. Claydon is doing an excellent job drilling rape there. I think it's probably one of the instances where the 750a is going to struggle.

claydon will do better in that situation as the tine is your row cleaner, OSR into heavy chopped straw is without doubt the biggest challenge for a 750a I have come across, Im using my Horsch ULD conversion for our OSR this year ( but not yet !) you are very early !

 

[Feldspar]

claydon will do better in that situation as the tine is your row cleaner, OSR into heavy chopped straw is without doubt the biggest challenge for a 750a I have come across, Im using my Horsch ULD conversion for our OSR this year ( but not yet !) you are very early !

We've finished drilling OSR now. Lowest acreage for a long time - 6% of the farm. Yields haven't been very good on current OSR, and I hear that late drilled crops did better this year, so who knows if we're right. However, both times we've tried drilling in September the crop has failed and middle of August seems to coincide with peak flea beetle here. If you're going to fail, fail early is my current moto.

 

[Clive]

We've finished drilling OSR now. Lowest acreage for a long time - 6% of the farm. Yields haven't been very good on current OSR, and I hear that late drilled crops did better this year, so who knows if we're right. However, both times we've tried drilling in September the crop has failed and middle of August seems to coincide with peak flea beetle here. If you're going to fail, fail early is my current moto.

can't really argue with that - as mentioned before I got my fingers burnt with snow on a full flower crop about a decade ago. never drilled before mid August as a result since, you further south so maybe a bit safer

 

[Feldspar]

can't really argue with that - as mentioned before I got my fingers burnt with snow on a full flower crop about a decade ago. never drilled before mid August as a result since

I think it's a case of pick your date to avoid the risk you least like the look of. I hate pigeons and flea beetle whereas I quite like snow (with skis on) so that explains my choice.

 

[Tractor Boy]

claydon will do better in that situation as the tine is your row cleaner, OSR into heavy chopped straw is without doubt the biggest challenge for a 750a I have come across, Im using my Horsch ULD conversion for our OSR this year ( but not yet !) you are very early !

I'm a little worried about drilling radish cc mixes with my 750 into chopped straw but I have left a long wheat stubble and therefore less of a mat of chopped stuff. Any other tips for drill setup?

 

[Clive]

I'm a little worried about drilling radish cc mixes with my 750 into chopped straw but I have left a long wheat stubble and therefore less of a mat of chopped stuff. Any other tips for drill setup?

Sharp discs help lots when in thick chopped straw as does long stubble as you have done

Not much more you can do though really, drilling at this time of year so stuff gets away before it gets cold and wet I expect you will be fine

 

[RTK Farmer]

I'm a little worried about drilling radish cc mixes with my 750 into chopped straw but I have left a long wheat stubble and therefore less of a mat of chopped stuff. Any other tips for drill setup?

It worked well for me last year, just get depth correct and go.

 

[Andrew K]

Was using our Terrastar today on some cultivated ground and was surprised at how well it was working at 16 to 20k on shallow disced exBorage ground and disced in chopped wheat straw.

Output at say 18k on 6m width machine, you do the maths!
The machine is a versatile tool,if it can be used for both chitting earlier on then levelling cultivation that has been already carried out?

I wouldnt have wanted to be a slug in the way of the rotors either!