Drilling Maize with a JD750A

[BSH]

Looking for advice on setting up the drill to sow maize. Do you block off outlets and if so what is the best way? It would be for silage or game cover.Thanks

 

[Simon Chiles]

Looking for advice on setting up the drill to sow maize. Do you block off outlets and if so what is the best way? It would be for silage or game cover.Thanks

I bought an Accord distributor cover to shut of every other row only to find out that all the front seed pipes do the front coulters and obviously the rear ones do the back so it was only ever going to work by major re routing of the pipe work. With the advent of headers that don't now need to follow rows I'd just cut the seed rate for forage maize and not bother with shutting off rows, my theory being that maize for forage needs light for proper cob formation which can be achieved better by more randomly placed seed at a lower rate than it can placed closer together in rows, however it always brings objections from seed salesmen.
As for game cover I'd just drill it on normal row spacing, I'd again drill it at a lower seed rate. Personally I'd drill the maize and either leave strips of about 1 m wide between bouts in small areas of cover, in larger areas I'd drill two or three bouts and then miss one before drilling the next bouts. I'd then drill a mix of seeds ( phacelia, linseed etc ) over the whole area that would grow less high but supply seeds in the bottom of the maize cover.

 

[damaged]

Accord 'head' pipes can be blocked off individually with, and this may suit @BSH , empty shot gun cartridges.

 

[Banana Bar]

I bought an Accord distributor cover to shut of every other row only to find out that all the front seed pipes do the front coulters and obviously the rear ones do the back so it was only ever going to work by major re routing of the pipe work. With the advent of headers that don't now need to follow rows I'd just cut the seed rate for forage maize and not bother with shutting off rows, my theory being that maize for forage needs light for proper cob formation which can be achieved better by more randomly placed seed at a lower rate than it can placed closer together in rows, however it always brings objections from seed salesmen.
As for game cover I'd just drill it on normal row spacing, I'd again drill it at a lower seed rate. Personally I'd drill the maize and either leave strips of about 1 m wide between bouts in small areas of cover, in larger areas I'd drill two or three bouts and then miss one before drilling the next bouts. I'd then drill a mix of seeds ( phacelia, linseed etc ) over the whole area that would grow less high but supply seeds in the bottom of the maize cover.

Surely for game cover even with the front pipes blocked off it will distribute evenly down the rear pipes? I hope it will I'm doing some next week and that's what I'm doing!

BB

 

[Simon Chiles]

Surely for game cover even with the front pipes blocked off it will distribute evenly down the rear pipes? I hope it will I'm doing some next week and that's what I'm doing!

BB

If you still want wide rows I'm sure it will work. However with only every other row blocked off I don't think it gives the birds enough space to fly, hence the leaving the space or missing a bout every now and then. I'd like to point out that I don't own a gun or have ever been shooting. I have listened to the requirements of gamekeepers and established lots of areas for game cover over the years and the feedback I've had suggest that this is the popular solution but I am no expert. I'm told that the smaller varieties of seed hold the birds in the maize when it's colder but they venture out into the gaps in the maize when it's warmer, the gaps also allow them to fly. Like farming you'll find lots of different opinions on what is the best solution.

 

[Andrew K]

You can get purpose made rubber plugs from Weaving for blocking off coulters in the distribution head.