Claydon

[Niels]

Have to disagree - CTF has no relevance to zero-till at all and i'm yet to met a proper zero-till farmer who does it or feels its needed, most would agree that cover crops are a big part of zero-till and i don't recall saying otherwise ?

why do you need to control traffic when you have a good undisturbed soil structure and you only need low hp tractors with weight no greater than 7.5t on wide tyres running at 6psi with timeliness that means you don't go on land that is in a condition prone to compaction ? CTF when zero-tilling is the last thing you want to do, I want to drill at an angle to last season crop residue for starters, I also don't want a 10m or 12m drill and the associated HP and weight that would bring putting you back on the cultivation merry go round

i kind of see the point in CTF in a min-till plough or even strip till situation maybe

by haevey harvest operations I mean combine and cart - unavoidable heavy operations where I do control traffic and run a fixed tramlines system as part of that

I can see where you are coming from but it does offer some advantages? Maybe CTF is not the proper term but surely if you run all your equipment down the same tracks that gives less compacting? Rather than run a 6m drill and a 10.5m combine run an 8m drill and 9m combine (header)?

I can see the angle drilling being an issue yes. I have seen in Australia, and assume US as well, they alternate and drill in between previous years rows. Maybe you'd have to do that, as you would have rtk-gps anyway. I do like the idea of having a gutter underneath the chaff spreader and drop the chaff in the wheeling from the CTF system. Maybe you could even sow grass in the tracks and turn nozzles off on the sprayer to prevent killing it off. I agree with your width. Maybe 8m would be most ideal?

 

[Clive]

I can see where you are coming from but it does offer some advantages? Maybe CTF is not the proper term but surely if you run all your equipment down the same tracks that gives less compacting? Rather than run a 6m drill and a 10.5m combine run an 8m drill and 9m combine (header)?

I can see the angle drilling being an issue yes. I have seen in Australia, and assume US as well, they alternate and drill in between previous years rows. Maybe you'd have to do that, as you would have rtk-gps anyway. I do like the idea of having a gutter underneath the chaff spreader and drop the chaff in the wheeling from the CTF system. Maybe you could even sow grass in the tracks and turn nozzles off on the sprayer to prevent killing it off. I agree with your width. Maybe 8m would be most ideal?

I don't think it offers any establishment advantage at all in zero-till just negatives like not being able to drill at a angle to last crops residue which is important

you say compaction but what compaction ? when I drill I don't create any compaction as i'm on a structured soil, with green cover with a 7.5t tractor at 6psi tyres in good soil conditions - if there is compaction risk due to conditions I wont drill

harvest advantages are clear - 30m sprayer with fixed tramilnes on RTK and a 10m header mean compaction caused by these unavoidably heavy operations that sometimes have to be completed in less than ideal soil conditions are localised and can if required be corrected

this is the system im trying to run

 

[SilliamWhale]

I can see where you are coming from but it does offer some advantages? Maybe CTF is not the proper term but surely if you run all your equipment down the same tracks that gives less compacting? Rather than run a 6m drill and a 10.5m combine run an 8m drill and 9m combine (header)?

I can see the angle drilling being an issue yes. I have seen in Australia, and assume US as well, they alternate and drill in between previous years rows. Maybe you'd have to do that, as you would have rtk-gps anyway. I do like the idea of having a gutter underneath the chaff spreader and drop the chaff in the wheeling from the CTF system. Maybe you could even sow grass in the tracks and turn nozzles off on the sprayer to prevent killing it off. I agree with your width. Maybe 8m would be most ideal?

But you compacting the same spot over and again quite significantly, whereas with no till we don't really compact in the first place. Its awkward for the kit size and tractor track widths and you can end up with gear that may not be very popular second hand. You also end up concentrating chaff and nutrition in the same spots each year.

 

[Clive]

To be fair you could pull a 10m no-till drill with the tractor you are currently using on your 4m.

? Which one ? Tractors is more than we need on 4 but it wouldn't manage more than 6-8 of the same up a hill

The. 9m Dale was ok I guess but I sold it and kept the JD for a reason

 

[keenanfeeder]

But you compacting the same spot over and again quite significantly, whereas with no till we don't really compact in the first place. Its awkward for the kit size and tractor track widths and you can end up with gear that may not be very popular second hand. You also end up concentrating chaff and nutrition in the same spots each year.

The soil will only compact to a certain extent

 

[SilliamWhale]

True. You can also get ruts.

 

[Feldspar]

? Which one ? Tractors is more than we need on 4 but it wouldn't manage more than 6-8 of the same up a hill

The. 9m Dale was ok I guess but I sold it and kept the JD for a reason

I forgot you have hills. Never seen one around here; rare things indeed.

 

[York]

? Which one ? Tractors is more than we need on 4 but it wouldn't manage more than 6-8 of the same up a hill

The. 9m Dale was ok I guess but I sold it and kept the JD for a reason

surprise.
when did you sell the Dale?
You are now only with one drill? If so how does it feel with the loss of the options?
York-Th.

 

[Clive]

surprise.
when did you sell the Dale?
You are now only with one drill? If so how does it feel with the loss of the options?
York-Th.

Used the Dale on approx 50% of our area this autumn then sold it. It just didn't feel like it offered anything that the JD didn't, depth control was less precise and forward speed very limited compared to the JD.

I came to the conclusion that I could solve the few situations where a tine would be better than a disc through rotation rather than machinery. Also increased split between autumn and spring cropping means we don't need the size of drill I have been used to to maintain timeliness

I was able to sell the drill for pretty much what we paid so it seemed a good idea

Cross slot would be the ultimate solution I guess but I can't justify the price or HP requirement ! Have added fert system to the JD and and am investigating row cleaners instead for now !