Grass seed drilling

[paul attard]

Anyone have ideas as how best to drill/sow a 1ha field with grass seed? It`s got a slight slope, will be ploughed, having been in grass since Adam & Eve. More weeds than grass. Nobody here seems to have a drill; we're in the Basque country, northern Spain, but conditions are similar to the west of England. I bought a grass seed mix from Mole Valley Farmers.
I thought perhaps an old Vicon fertiliser spreader might do the trick. Would it work?
All suggestions welcome.

 

[bobk]

Anyone have ideas as how best to drill/sow a 1ha field with grass seed? It`s got a slight slope, will be ploughed, having been in grass since Adam & Eve. More weeds than grass. Nobody here seems to have a drill; we're in the Basque country, northern Spain, but conditions are similar to the west of England. I bought a grass seed mix from Mole Valley Farmers.
I thought perhaps an old Vicon fertiliser spreader might do the trick. Would it work?
All suggestions welcome.

Direct drill it , then you'll have the biggest knob in the village ,

 

[Brisel]

A Vicon would do the job. Run the rate as low as possible so the seed doesn't run too quickly - the spreader is designed for much higher rates of fertiliser. Just keep driving around until it is all gone. I doubt you'd get more than 6m of spread width.

 

[stroller]

You could do it by hand if it's only 1ha, half a day?

 

[tr250]

@paul attard welcome to the forum hope the weather is better in Spain than here in Northamptonshire ️️. what machines do you have at your disposal. We drill ours but only because I find calibration easier and generally more accurate. A lot of people use a fert spreader/ slug Pelleter type machine then Harrow arguably better as no rows and better weed competition. Tim g

 

[Flat 10]

Seed fiddle

 

[paul attard]

@paul attard welcome to the forum hope the weather is better in Spain than here in Northamptonshire . what machines do you have at your disposal. We drill ours but only because I find calibration easier and generally more accurate. A lot of people use a fert spreader/ slug Pelleter type machine then Harrow arguably better as no rows and better weed competition. Tim g

I worked at Moulton College for 10 years. Weather not bad, though annually we get about 1200mm rainfall annually. Don't know if anyone around here has a drill, as the land is usually with fair degrees of slope, surrounded by mountains up to 1300m high. There's a local chap with some machinery. Problem with direct drilling is it wouldn't clear the weed problem, especially pendulous sedge. Sowing by hand is far too hit & miss & uneven. Slug pelleter sounds a good idea, but I bet nobody round here has one.

 

[paul attard]

You could do it by hand if it's only 1ha, half a day?

Problem is not time, since I'm "retired", but the uneveness of the spread. But thanks anyway for replying.

 

[Flat 10]

Buy a seed fiddle.

 

[Flat 10]

You can buy a modern equivalent

 

[Bobthebuilder]

Quad bike slug
Pellet spinner

 

[Bobthebuilder]

But if your going to plough it you’ll need to work it down so just use a combi drill

 

[paul attard]

But if your going to plough it you’ll need to work it down so just use a combi drill

Ah, "just use a combi-drill". Unheard of here! If only. Most land here is permanent pasture. It's only when you cross the mountains to near Vitoria where arable land begins.

 

[Gadget]

Anyone have ideas as how best to drill/sow a 1ha field with grass seed?
I thought perhaps an old Vicon fertiliser spreader might do the trick. Would it work?
All suggestions welcome.

Paul
I have broadcast grass seed with a vicon, I had a proper grass seed kit for it. The main thing that you need to know was that two of the outlet holes had blanking plates in so all the seed passed through the third. Doing it that way means that the sowing hole can be open much wider which reduces the problems of bridging and blocking.

 

[paul attard]

Paul
I have broadcast grass seed with a vicon, I had a proper grass seed kit for it. The main thing that you need to know was that two of the outlet holes had blanking plates in so all the seed passed through the third. Doing it that way means that the sowing hole can be open much wider which reduces the problems of bridging and blocking.

That sounds useful. Many thanks

 

[bobk]

Have you got any soil ? might be pp for a reason

 

[Wilberforce]

I worked at Moulton College for 10 years. Weather not bad, though annually we get about 1200mm rainfall annually. Don't know if anyone around here has a drill, as the land is usually with fair degrees of slope, surrounded by mountains up to 1300m high. There's a local chap with some machinery. Problem with direct drilling is it wouldn't clear the weed problem, especially pendulous sedge. Sowing by hand is far too hit & miss & uneven. Slug pelleter sounds a good idea, but I bet nobody round here has one.

Did you also teach at Walford?

 

[Bury the Trash]

You dont need the special bits for a varispreader ime, the modern shallow sided ones dont pack the seed in as much as the old steeper sided ones so the agitator can be got away without, just dont put mord than about an acres worth in at a time , common sense really.
Also You can still shut the standard openings down enough to sow 12 kg an acre type mix twice over , I cant remember the setting for that though

More of a worry , particularly if you go over the field twice is the bit that leaks out of a less than perfect hopper bottom / spreading mechanism when shut off and turning on the headlands, spreading around the field would help in that respect as you are always sowing until the last bit in the middle.
A good way I found of doing twice is not to cross or diagonal the second time, but to go the opposite way down the bit between the last wheel marks iyswim.
Spread width on a calm day will be not much more than about 4 metres iirc..

 

[Homesy]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solo-421-C...?keywords=solo+spreader&qid=1574509731&sr=8-1

 

[paul attard]

Did you also teach at Walford?

Yes, 15 happy years from 1984-1999