Combine wheelings and zero/min till

[redbaron]

How do zero or min till people treat combine wheel marks? This last week we have run a Culti-press straight into stubble and it leaves a lovely 2 -3 ins of tilth. Good soil structure underneath, so perfect for our Moore drill.....EXCEPT that the combine wheelings remain almost untouched and hard. Even if we went straight in with Moore, it would drill well exept for the combine wheelings. Medium/heavy silt.

 

[tr250]

What have you done with it last year we find if it’s no-till last year it’s fine only problems I’ve had is when it’s fluffy from cultivation especially in the spring. I’ve actually found it comes better in the combine wheeling. Also what tyres and combine you got?

 

[Fish]

I don’t worry about it, can’t even see the permanent tramlines in the growing crops by spring.

 

[yellow belly]

control traffic 9 m drill header 27m sprayer combine on 24 inch tracks
with Spring moledraining At 4.5 m every 4 or 5 years
heavy silty clay Which moles well When moist enough and cracks in the summer
The biggest problem is balers especially when the straw is moved Now chopping Cereals pre spring crops
after break crops cannot see a mark
do not travel if it is too wet no wheels Off tramlines in field from 23 sept to 28 march
if it is too wet stay off
Trailers unload on tramlines only

 

[redbaron]

So I'm asking about drilling now/next 2 or 3 weeks. 2nd wheat into wheat stubble. Straw baled. We have variety of stubble fields, some were ex sugar beet (ploughed in Feb), some ex cabbage last autumn, then horrible mess until levelled, subsoiled twice, cultipressed, and drilled sp barley in April. But my OP really applies to any year, as I don't believe previous actions have much connection to combine wheel marks. YB - yes all well and good for those who can make controlled traffic systems work. Our combine is LEXION 570 on 900/32.
tr250 - if your experience is better establishment in wheelings do you drive all over the field first?!!
Direct drilling at an angle to combine wheelings helps of course. It just seems that silt soils which are naturally un-structured/easily compressed, might need combine wheelings loosened?

 

[DrWazzock]

Where we have direct drilled in the past I have just left them and drilled over them. Sure enough some of the seed isn’t in deep enough or left on the surface but the crop seems to fill in alright. A bit of rain softens them and generally it’s only the centre of the tread pattern and where the cleats press in that are really hard. Loosening then up can create bigger problems with clods for us and worse, emergence of blackgrass from depth. Maybe a low disturbance leg would help in amenable soils? Otherwise I wouldn’t worry. It’s a compromise.

 

[robs1]

Not sure how it works with a disc drill but our simtech has no issues we spread a lot of muck with heavy spreader and also small bale most so lots of movement of vehicles, can never see any difference in the crop, as has been said cant even see the tramlines in spring

 

[yellow belly]

So I'm asking about drilling now/next 2 or 3 weeks. 2nd wheat into wheat stubble. Straw baled. We have variety of stubble fields, some were ex sugar beet (ploughed in Feb), some ex cabbage last autumn, then horrible mess until levelled, subsoiled twice, cultipressed, and drilled sp barley in April. But my OP really applies to any year, as I don't believe previous actions have much connection to combine wheel marks. YB - yes all well and good for those who can make controlled traffic systems work. Our combine is LEXION 570 on 900/32.
tr250 - if your experience is better establishment in wheelings do you drive all over the field first?!!
Direct drilling at an angle to combine wheelings helps of course. It just seems that silt soils which are naturally un-structured/easily compressed, might need combine wheelings loosened?

If your soil is not self structuring and a total controlled traffic system is not possible then try to organise the combine to a controlled traffic with the tramlines
1 less run to sort
then you may have 3 other combine runs wheeling less than 25% of the ground a loosener for just these wheel marks only cost 25% of a complete subsoil every year

I noticed the benefits of non wheeled land 40 years ago when we burned straw and mintilled
took 30 years to get a wide enough drill for combine width and 1/3 of the sprayer width
could have done it in 1980 when we had a 4 m drill and 12m sprayer but did not appreciate the saving that could be made although with diesal labour and tractor much lower cost relative to the wheat price in the 1980s

for me the heavier clayier the soil the easier it is
I see the problem soil for notill as lighter clayless and silt soils they are workable when it is too wet to be on the land but a crop is still established where as when it is too wet heavy soil results in crop failure
a wide drill allows for waiting to dry out time and lasts a lot longer before wearing parts cost

in the 1970s a 4 m drill drilled under 200 acres of autumn cereals with 6 weeks Full time cultivation work 110 hp 80hp and a 70 hp tractor
now a 9 m drill does 15 times that Area with no cultivations 260 hp tractor

 

[warksfarmer]

How do zero or min till people treat combine wheel marks? This last week we have run a Culti-press straight into stubble and it leaves a lovely 2 -3 ins of tilth. Good soil structure underneath, so perfect for our Moore drill.....EXCEPT that the combine wheelings remain almost untouched and hard. Even if we went straight in with Moore, it would drill well exept for the combine wheelings. Medium/heavy silt.

If they are really bad a Shakerator presently but I’m looking for something less aggressive. Also a powerharrow will do a job.

I find them particularly bad with a tracked combine even though we’ve been tracks for the last 15 years. This year with a wheeled combine made us realise tracks are actually bad news for damage to the soil.

 

[Adeptandy]

If they are really bad a Shakerator presently but I’m looking for something less aggressive. Also a powerharrow will do a job.

I find them particularly bad with a tracked combine even though we’ve been tracks for the last 15 years. This year with a wheeled combine made us realise tracks are actually bad news for damage to the soil.

Pleased you said that, was thinking of looking for a tracked combine, but like the lower running costs of a tyre

 

[deleted user 837354]

The theory is that if land isn't cultivated it is harder to run down and wheel in the first place.

 

[tr250]

Pleased you said that, was thinking of looking for a tracked combine, but like the lower running costs of a tyre

I like tyres but we don’t have a massive header to carry and ours is very wide on the road. The narrow body rotarys on 900s look as good as it gets for soil damage

 

[Farmer Roy]

Controlled traffic farming with every implement being multiples of or divisible into the header front width

eg here - 12 metre planter, 12 metre header, 36 metre spray rig

or - you could go 12 metre header & 6 metre planter, with the header running down every second planter track . . .

there are many options & wats to do it, to fit into your own system, rather than having to do what everyone else is doing ( although that does make it a lot easier to get contractors in, if you are one a “standard” CTF configuration.

generally, we dont plant into our tram tracks either

part of the theory is that permanent tramlines get compacted & hard & become more like a road, & easier to travel on, than the softer zero till / limited traffic soil of the rest of the field

the biggest problem to overcome here was actual wheel spacings. Most dedicated CTF farmers here now run 3 metre wheel tracks on their tractors ( & sprayrigs ) to match the wheel spacing on headers ( combines )

tramlines can be “renovated” from time to time if they get too deep or wide or any other problem

GRIZZLY : Ground Breaking Technology - Wheel Track Renovator

The Grizzly Wheel Track Renovator fills and renovates wheel tracks after your crop has been harvested. Get ready for next season. View Here.

grizzlyag.com.au

 

[Farmer Roy]

the biggest problem to overcome here was actual wheel spacings. Most dedicated CTF farmers here now run 3 metre wheel tracks on their tractors ( & sprayrigs ) to match the wheel spacing on headers ( combines )

Tractor Wheel Spacers

3m John Deere wheel spacers, cotton reels

widetract.com.au

John Deere & CNH Will now cover warranty on 3 metre spacings, which was always an issue in the past

 

[Farmer Roy]

 

[FarmerBruce]

@Spencer

 

[FarmerBruce]

If they are really bad a Shakerator presently but I’m looking for something less aggressive. Also a powerharrow will do a job.

I find them particularly bad with a tracked combine even though we’ve been tracks for the last 15 years. This year with a wheeled combine made us realise tracks are actually bad news for damage to the soil.

@Spencer

 

[Farmer Roy]

 

[redsloe]

The theory is that if land isn't cultivated it is harder to run down and wheel in the first place.

Yep, the fields drilled with strip drill you can't see the tramlines, the two fields we ploughed the tramlines are 3 inches deep. Going to drill slightly across this year, need to decide wether to put in tramlines this year or not as both are rare square fields.

 

[ajd132]

12m ctf, extra long auger on combine. tractors and trailers rarely leave 36m tramline. nothing worse than seeing fancy drone pictures of a combine from above that would fit onto a tramline system running just off.