Driving around trees

[Clive]

Next thought ! the seed rate near the tree where the coulter is stationary is going to be very high and the other end where it’s going fast very low

Where is the speed measurement taken and how do you keep seed rate the same from inside to outside of a turn that big ?

 

[glasshouse]

This is impressive

driver skill or cleaver GPS programming ?

dont know why he bothers, i just go round poles, i dont loop the loop

 

[glasshouse]

Looks like sprayer marks, pre emerge is usually put on before the drill, so the ridges that the drill leave aren’t disturbed.

Just like rolling around telegraph poles in this country, you get used to judging when to turn but on a MUCH BIGGER SCALE!!

Skilled operator I think.

yes

 

[milkloss]

Looks like sprayer marks, pre emerge is usually put on before the drill, so the ridges that the drill leave aren’t disturbed.

Just like rolling around telegraph poles in this country, you get used to judging when to turn but on a MUCH BIGGER SCALE!!

Skilled operator I think.

That was my point really. Sprayer trams looked quite small/close to the tree which would be ideal for pin pointing obstacles.

 

[JD6920s]

Next thought ! the see rate near the tree where the coulter is stationary is going to be very high and the other end where it’s going fast very low

Where is the speed measurement taken and how do you keep seed rate the same from inside to outside of a turn that big ?

Would it possibly have section control and/or variable rate?

 

[Farmer Roy]

Next thought ! the see rate near the tree where the coulter is stationary is going to be very high and the other end where it’s going fast very low

Where is the speed measurement taken and how do you keep seed rate the same from inside to outside of a turn that big ?

only guessing here

you will notice he is towing 2 air seeder bins, each supply one half of the planter. Once again guessing, but those bins are most likely ground driven on the seed meters ( as opposed to electric or hydraulic drive ). As he is circling the tree, the inside bin is also travelling a lot slower than the outside one, so wouldn't be putting out as much product.
the outside of the planter ( potentially a lower seed rate during the sharp curve ) is also going to effectively being sown twice, with the next pass, if that makes sense
I get your question, ideally some form of sectional control to avoid oversowing would also be required, but I don't know if they run that. With Simplicity bins hooked up like that, I doubt it

one thing to also bear in mind, they are probably sowing seed only, at a much lower rate than you would. The seed is also most likely farmer saved, so the actual costs of inputs / ha would be quite low

 

[Farmer Roy]

How common are the big operations like that ? And what kind of area do they operate over ?

not sure how big Zell's are, but they are definitely cropping many hundreds of thousands of acres. Family farm, not a corporate. A few years ago they put in a bid to buy Collymongle off the Twynam Group ( cant remember if they did buy it or not ) in western NSW. That was about 35,000 hectares, the bid was + A$40 mill

They are located west of Moree, NSW. Big open plains, beautiful soils all through there, but hot & dry.

Big operators like this are not that common. Depends a lot on climate / geography / location. The big ones tend to be in more remote, arid locations, where obviously a certain scale is needed to be profitable.

In this part of NSW, the Liverpool Plains, based around Gunnedah & Quirindi, average size arable might be say 3 - 4000 acres. 10,000 would be considered a bigger operator. As I said, its all relative . . .

 

[AndrewB]

The farmer I worked for saved about 500 ha worth of seed and fert the first year he bough gps for the drilling tractors, ( 10 000 ha of crop). During the day shift you could be reasonably accurate less than 50cm overlap on 18 m seeders, but night shift and especially if dry seeding you couldn't see a thing from the dust.
Also made him seed in straight lines rather than going round and round from outside to the middle.

 

[Farmer Roy]

 

[yellowbelly]

They are probably " moisture seeking ", planting the seed up to 6 inches deep to place into moist soil, thus leaving a deep furrow with only an inch of soil actually covering the seed. Quite common

There's a bit in this video that shows what @Farmer Roy was telling us about..(around 1.28 in)

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Great video - I've seen it somewhere on here before.
The seed he used drilling the overlaps round those trees would have been enough to have drilled a lot of fields in the UK

I'm sure we are related

That was my first thought, too, praise the lord for section control

 

[Chae1]

Place I worked on in 2000 i put marks in for drill to follow first. That was just 12m drills though. I'd autosteer on my tractor and put in 3 marks every run. Got some pictures somewhere.

 

[Farmer Roy]

My biggest issue with what they are doing ( knowing the environment they operate in ) is the total lack of groundcover, but in a dry environment that is not always within your control

Re reading this part ( & not being able to edit it ) I feel I am being unfair. There obviously is cereal stubble flat on the ground in front of the planter, it is just being obliterated by the depth they are going & the soil throw. Ideally, I'd like to keep the stubble standing & have it still there after the planter continuing to provide groundcover, but in their environment, there may not have been a lot of stubble to start with, or it may have been a few years since the last crop. It is a fairly harsh environment out there

 

[Farmer Roy]

Place I worked on in 2000 i put marks in for drill to follow first. That was just 12m drills though. I'd autosteer on my tractor and put in 3 marks every run. Got some pictures somewhere.

Yeah, that was common practice in the early days of auto steer, when it was so expensive ( $100K a unit ). Only big places could justify it & generally they'd only set up one tractor ( if they had multiple sowing rigs ) which would skip every run, then the non autosteer one would follow & fill in the gaps.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Great video -
The seed he used drilling the overlaps round those trees would have been enough to have drilled a lot of fields in the UK

Haha - remember our seeding rates are a lot lower than yours.
If sowing wheat or barley, they may be only putting out 30 - 50 kg / hectare

He would be able to turn off one or both aircrafts anyway on that overlap, even if he didn't have sectional control

 

[davieh3350]

Place I was on near Tottenham NSW was full of Kurrajong trees, a bit of a challenge starting a field at night, but made the place beautiful

Took a few down too though..

 

[Farmer Roy]

He would be able to turn off one or both aircrafts anyway on that overlap, even if he didn't have sectional control

Air carts !!!

I don't like not being able to edit anymore when spell check thinks it knows better . . .

 

[Steevo]

Air carts !!!

I don't like not being able to edit anymore when spell check thinks it knows better . . .

That makes more sense!! Aircrafts seemed a bit bizarre but I just accepted it as the downunder word for the big ones! lol

 

[Farmer Roy]

That makes more sense!! Aircrafts seemed a bit bizarre but I just accepted it as the downunder word for the big ones! lol

Bloody auto correct on my iPhone

 

[foxbox]

Next thought ! the see rate near the tree where the coulter is stationary is going to be very high and the other end where it’s going fast very low

Where is the speed measurement taken and how do you keep seed rate the same from inside to outside of a turn that big ?

You can see that effect on an MF 30 drill driven from one end if you drive round a corner one way and then the other, effect might be magnified somewhat on that machine