Direct Drilling on Tracks

[Try to succeed]

Is there anyone out there direct drilling with a challenger? I have my first zero till crop established after peas this year with a budget CO on dutch, and got away without damaging headlands at the time I drilled with conditions being reasonable. As I phase more land in I’m getting concerned about destroying my headlands with the tracks. The general theory is to reduce horsepower however I’m too scared to jump all in and change my machinery set up without enough personal experience for a while. Next step down is a puma 150 so challenger will be the drilling tractor for at least the next two years. Just curious as to people’s experiences...
Thanks

 

[Farmer Roy]

Is there anyone out there direct drilling with a challenger? I have my first zero till crop established after peas this year with a budget CO on dutch, and got away without damaging headlands at the time I drilled with conditions being reasonable. As I phase more land in I’m getting concerned about destroying my headlands with the tracks. The general theory is to reduce horsepower however I’m too scared to jump all in and change my machinery set up without enough personal experience for a while. Next step down is a puma 150 so challenger will be the drilling tractor for at least the next two years. Just curious as to people’s experiences...
Thanks

heaps here with zero till & tracks

I suppose the big question is how wide is your planter ? 12m leaves less of a berm than 8m, for eg, as you’re not turning as sharp. If you are turning with 4m, you will be screwing the ground up quite a bit to turn that sharp.

another option, which is quite popular with all widths, is to “race track” your planting with the auto steer. ie - you skip every second run, or you skip 2 then turn & fill them in as you go, if that makes sense. It’s how the spray planes used to spray, so they didn’t waste so much time turning back into themselves each pass

by doing that, you are not turning as sharp back into your work, so less chance of leaving berms or “speed bumps”

 

[Try to succeed]

heaps here with zero till & tracks

I suppose the big question is how wide is your planter ? 12m leaves less of a berm than 8m, for eg, as you’re not turning as sharp. If you are turning with 4m, you will be screwing the ground up quite a bit to turn that sharp.

another option, which is quite popular with all widths, is to “race track” your planting with the auto steer. ie - you skip every second run, or you skip 2 then turn & fill them in as you go, if that makes sense. It’s how the spray planes used to spray, so they didn’t waste so much time turning back into themselves each pass

by doing that, you are not turning as sharp back into your work, so less chance of leaving berms or “speed bumps”

Thanks for your reply. I’m on 6 meters and utilise those things at present. There’s no getting away from it smearing and capping; bloody brilliant in a straight line though!
with headlands being such a headache for entrants into zero till, I feared my challenger hit headlands may be my biggest issue

 

[Rihards]

yes, I do

 

[Try to succeed]

yes, I do

Do you notice any ill effect on the scuffed headlands?

 

[Grass And Grain]

heaps here with zero till & tracks

I suppose the big question is how wide is your planter ? 12m leaves less of a berm than 8m, for eg, as you’re not turning as sharp. If you are turning with 4m, you will be screwing the ground up quite a bit to turn that sharp.

another option, which is quite popular with all widths, is to “race track” your planting with the auto steer. ie - you skip every second run, or you skip 2 then turn & fill them in as you go, if that makes sense. It’s how the spray planes used to spray, so they didn’t waste so much time turning back into themselves each pass

by doing that, you are not turning as sharp back into your work, so less chance of leaving berms or “speed bumps”

Just remeber, we probably have smaller fields and wetter soils at drilling time.

 

[Brisel]

I think that @cows r us has a Challenger and Cross Slot

 

[ConanPB]

Have done small amount of dd with our Challenger and 6m Vaddy. Did big headland first (4x) then middles when drilling spring oats last year. I have to say looked a right mess at the ends, but emerged well and couldn't notice at harvest. Did
some wheat on a grass Ley and ended up cultivating the turning headland. Not sure what the solution is, sympathise with your struggles !

 

[Alistair Nelson]

Spud will tell you according to triton it’s the way forward!! One minute low horse power requirement min disturbance drill light drill for late drilling, next minute stick a big crawler on! Cant see it myself.

 

[fred.950]

Is there anyone out there direct drilling with a challenger? I have my first zero till crop established after peas this year with a budget CO on dutch, and got away without damaging headlands at the time I drilled with conditions being reasonable. As I phase more land in I’m getting concerned about destroying my headlands with the tracks. The general theory is to reduce horsepower however I’m too scared to jump all in and change my machinery set up without enough personal experience for a while. Next step down is a puma 150 so challenger will be the drilling tractor for at least the next two years. Just curious as to people’s experiences...
Thanks

Is it a 7 series challenger?
Do you use RTK?

 

[alomy75]

I have my 7530 on a 4m sprinter which is way too heavy really; it’s on metcalfes so the tractor literally doesn’t know it’s there. If I change it it will be for something smaller. We do however have a challenger too which father is keen to put on the drill. The dd wheat after beans came slower in the wheelings but the dd wheat after wheat came quicker in the wheelings...I’m not convinced tracks are the answer (and I love my crawlers and have access to both). If I was going to use it I would definitely drill in lands; any sort of shunt or about-turn would spell disaster unless the drill had a cultivation element and you do headlands last. Big headlands too in case you have gores/short work too...I think you would need at least 20m to turn a crawler round without scuffing. The ultimate would be a 4-track conversion to a wheel tractor...

 

[Try to succeed]

Is it a 7 series challenger?
Do you use RTK?

Yes 745 steinbaured up to 765. 6 meter drill drilling in lans on RTK. Currently leave 18-20m headland

 

[Try to succeed]

Is it a 7 series challenger?
Do you use RTK?

Yes 745 steinbaured up to 765. 6 meter drill drilling in lans on RTK. Currently leave 18-20m

 

[Try to succeed]

I suppose it may be more cosmetic on the surface if the soil hasn’t been touched. The cultivated land takes a battering deeper down when turning and I’m almost relying on the freeflow to level it up.

 

[Chris F]

I think that @cows r us has a Challenger and Cross Slot

He does:

 

[Chris F]

I have to say I did think this thread was going to be about that Novag concept from Agritechnica 2017 though:

 

[fred.950]

Yes 745 steinbaured up to 765. 6 meter drill drilling in lans on RTK. Currently leave 18-20m headland

We have 8m but drill 40m headland next to no scuffing or smearing but I don’t know what ground you are on.

 

[Try to succeed]

We have 8m but drill 40m headland next to no scuffing or smearing but I don’t know what ground you are on.

I’m on keuper marl heavy clay with high mag for the most part so easily smeared in the wet, and takes a lot of looking after. It seems no matter how shallow the turn there’s no getting away from the fact it scuffs. Next available tractor is a 150 puma so I’ll have to persevere with the challenger as long as I am cultivating other areas of the farm

 

[fred.950]

I’m on keuper marl heavy clay with high mag for the most part so easily smeared in the wet, and takes a lot of looking after. It seems no matter how shallow the turn there’s no getting away from the fact it scuffs. Next available tractor is a 150 puma so I’ll have to persevere with the challenger as long as I am cultivating other areas of the farm

Chalk down here so no comparison sadly

 

[cows r us]

He does:

View attachment 926835

Haha. We do indead. If I'm honest I think I would prefer a wheeled tractor or a half track. In my opinion we move a bit more soil on the headlands due too scuffing but not so much that it's a problem.
The biggest issue is behind the tracks when conditions are a bit damp. I guess it would be the same with wheels though. When it's time too change we will probably be going for a smaller hp tractor on wheels.