Fodder Beet drill with narrow/wide spacing

[Jim75]

Are there any precision drills that can go as narrow as 375mm or as wide as 750mm? Crop is grazed in situ or lifted with a beet bucket so doesn’t need to fit for a lifter. Thanks

 

[davidroberts30]

Are there any precision drills that can go as narrow as 375mm or as wide as 750mm? Crop is grazed in situ or lifted with a beet bucket so doesn’t need to fit for a lifter. Thanks

If I was grazing a crop I would sow it with a air drill and probably keep a foot wide every run for somewhere to put the fence

 

[robbie]

Most precision drills can be set to what you like, 375mm might be a bit tight for some but they do it with them to drill onions/carrots/parsnips where you'll have 4 rows on a 72inch bed.

 

[Gav]

Sfoggia make 6 and 8 row precision drills that are telescopically adjustable between row widths of 450mm to 750mm, can’t quite get down to the 375mm you require though, not for quick adjustment anyway.

 

[spin cycle]

Most precision drills can be set to what you like, 375mm might be a bit tight for some but they do it with them to drill onions/carrots/parsnips where you'll have 4 rows on a 72inch bed.

i bought an elderly webb drill for fodder beet that,at the time, was set 4 rows on 60' wheels....thats 375mm i think

 

[robbie]

i bought an elderly webb drill for fodder beet that,at the time, was set 4 rows on 60' wheels....thats 375mm i think

Set for beetroot?????

 

[Jim75]

If I was grazing a crop I would sow it with a air drill and probably keep a foot wide every run for somewhere to put the fence

going to try a few runs with a vaderstadt spirit. We get a contractor with a tempo but can’t go that narrow and a big job to widen apparently. Just looking to fill the rows a bit better and maximise the potential of the crop.

 

[spin cycle]

Set for beetroot?????

not sure...i had to change wheels and open it up .....did ok....but given up on fb now

 

[davidroberts30]

going to try a few runs with a vaderstadt spirit. We get a contractor with a tempo but can’t go that narrow and a big job to widen apparently. Just looking to fill the rows a bit better and maximise the potential of the crop.

Just drill it as normal then with the caddy
Calibrate 1 pack to the acre and drill away
Sow it on normal corn spacings

 

[Al R]

I wouldn’t go on normal cereal spacing unless you just want leaves. A good beet plant needs circa 16cm between each plant on 18-20” row spacing so that the beet bulb reaches its best growth potential. You might get away with a 16” row spacing but you would then need more gap down the length of the row. I’m pretty sure there are some new Tempo’s that will do it hydraulically.
Ever studied short ground where beet rows have overlapped, their coke can size as they dont have enough lebensraum to reach their potential like their other counterparts.

 

[Jim75]

I wouldn’t go on normal cereal spacing unless you just want leaves. A good beet plant needs circa 16cm between each plant on 18-20” row spacing so that the beet bulb reaches its best growth potential. You might get away with a 16” row spacing but you would then need more gap down the length of the row. I’m pretty sure there are some new Tempo’s that will do it hydraulically.
Ever studied short ground where beet rows have overlapped, their coke can size as they dont have enough lebensraum to reach their potential like their other counterparts.

listening to Jim Gibbs when he was over we’re currently on 90000 seeds on 22” I think it is and maxed out potential wise whereas if we can get narrower go to 120000 seeds + that’s the optimum apparently

 

[neilo]

If I was grazing a crop I would sow it with a air drill and probably keep a foot wide every run for somewhere to put the fence

I have mine drilled by a contractor with an aged precision drill. For a couple of years I had a box left empty, so there was a gap every 3m to put the fence in.

Unfortunately that meant there was bare ground that enabled the odd weed to get established, which were more of a pita than if I had had beet growing there, increasing yield.

I don’t do it any more.

 

[davidroberts30]

I wouldn’t go on normal cereal spacing unless you just want leaves. A good beet plant needs circa 16cm between each plant on 18-20” row spacing so that the beet bulb reaches its best growth potential. You might get away with a 16” row spacing but you would then need more gap down the length of the row. I’m pretty sure there are some new Tempo’s that will do it hydraulically.
Ever studied short ground where beet rows have overlapped, their coke can size as they dont have enough lebensraum to reach their potential like their other counterparts.

I've grown maize on cereal spacings and had 1 of the best crops we ever had
I tried the blocking of coulters to make rows but the seed bunched
I just drilled it at 5 inch,very little bunching
I dont see the point in drilling ever 8 inch in a 20 inch row
I only precision drill to suit the lifter
More spatial arrangement cant be bad

 

[Hobbit]

The Accord optima V drill will go from 45cm to 80cm in 5cm steps.
We have drilled beet at 55cm by mistake. The contractor turned up to lift it with a 6row harvester and gave up. I ended up buying an old single row standen
The beet grew very well!!

 

[Will 1594]

45 cm rows and go for 18/20 cm spacing if on fit land
20 cm you will get bigger beet
Establish it well , and inch of rain every month and an Indian summer lots of sunshine they will pile weight on over back end