How well does the spun on wheat look? Are fert spreaders accurate enough?

[spikeislander]

Hi there considering this as a back up plan , we have a Vaddy 8m and Kv tine drill , which has got us drilled up the last two years pretty much . But I feel the drop in output from 8 to 6 plus unblocking Coulter’s etc means the amount we can do in a day is much less at a time when the weather isn’t giving many chances and time is ticking on?
Wondering if a switch to wide tines and fert spreader is an option?
How did people get on?
Would a Kuhn 40.1w spread accurate to 24m or further or does it need reducing?
And has anyone put one on the front?
I know a boom one is ideal but hard to find a serviceable one.
Thankyou chaps just a few views and experiences would be handy.
Regards Damian

 

[RobW]

Hi Damian,
We have done some for the second year. Last year it yielded the same as the tine drilled wheat. We found that the calibration on our KRM was the same as for urea, we had SCS come and calibrate it first. We have a small amount of 'banding' where it was too windy or for whatever reason, but actually the crop looks very good, and it was really a small price to pay for catching up with our wheat. We went through with a set of spring tines afterwards so it tends to look somewhat 'drilled' in rows anyway. Its a very good back up plan in my opinion. Next year, if it's looking wet again, we will try going much earlier. Have also found our headlands are substantially better than drilled fields.

All the best

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Oats go good - no recent photos of wheat I've spun on but it's "good as".

As above the crops are often as good/ better than drilled, especially headlands, wet spots etc which are struggling with structure.
Striping/banding can be minimised by travelling in both directions at half rate if it gets gusty - I really wasn't confident about the oats in the picture!

 

[teslacoils]

Some of the best locally was spun on. It was, however, spun on and dragged in in good conditions. It wasn't an emergency job.

 

[RobW]

Hi, as an aside I would love to get hold of a 15m spring tine to go with our 30m spinner, then we'd be good to go! Has anybody tried incorporating with a stubble rake?

 

[Salopian_Will]

Our neighbour did 110 acres last year (2019) and harrowed it in. I think they harvested 0 acres of it - an exceptional year though.

As has said above, if being done as an emergency job best not to bother at all.

 

[jondear]

Some of the best locally was spun on. It was, however, spun on and dragged in in good conditions. It wasn't an emergency job.

Farmers did it for years !Spread and disked in or dragged .Low cost quick .

 

[Salopian_Will]

Farmers did it for years !Spread and disked in or dragged .Low cost quick .

But in good conditions.....

 

[Andrew K]

Go early and it usually works, but seed dressings are a no no.

 

[Bury the Trash]

an obvious one but using plenty of seed is important when its late or challenging conditions.

 

[Luke Cropwalker]

Set up the spreader to spread at tramline width but drive at half tramline width if you get my meaning. Put plenty of seed on plus a bit more for insurance. Don't leave it too late on very heavy land, it still won't work or worse, it will be variable. Seen plenty done with good results but usually after roots on forgiving soils.

 

[Bury the Trash]

ah Yes the old 'double overlap' technique bit slower getting over the ground but much more even seed cover .

infact if you do the whole park over with an approximately half rate / guessed at rate pass then adjust the spreader accordingly for the the second pass up to full rate. thus calibrating the spreader in avery down to earth but practically accurate manner
and it would perhaps be sensible to choose the smallest field first

 

[PSQ]

Finished a wet field in 2001 (iirc) with a Kuhn Axis 20m boom spreader, and it was probably the worst crop Ive ever grown.
It was in mid October, I doubt delaying till January would have helped the situation.

 

[Longneck]

Damo
We did a block with my old Kuhn spinner at 24m this year and tined it in straight after. Its almost the best looking bit of wheat on the farm this year.
We went relatively early on just to get some ground covered whilst the other tractor was plodding on with the tine drill.

I was going to get it tray tested before hand but in the end just went for it and its come nice and even. Even the settings guide on the Kuhn app were bang on for the rate.

Will try and get some pictures of it for you or just have a word with CL, he thinks it good!!

 

[spikeislander]

Thanks everyone ( longneck I’ll have a word with CL).
I think it’s clear that ( as we all possibly suspect) best results are when it’s given a fair chance to be good I.e still decent seedbeds if not a tad wet , and in good time.
Late , wet slop will give the expected results.

 

[snarling bee]

Sown 28 Nov @300kg/ha

Sown 17 Oct @ 280kg/ha, but no pre-em herbicide

Both even across field. Amazone TS spreader on Amazon settings

 

[snarling bee]

Neighbour reportedly said what the BH were we doing making that mess. This is his DDing into AB15 residues. Looks like he's had 2 goes at it. I know which I like the look of.

 

[spikeislander]

Thanks Nigel I knew you did some and was going to ask how it looked, will be interesting to see comparisons throughout the year and ultimately harvest, did you drill much conventionally nearby , in similar conditions and date to compare?

 

[snarling bee]

Nothing to properly compare. All drilled wheat was a. first wheat and b. done a month before.
We only spun on and cultivated when drills wouldn't work anyway. (tine drill tractor would have left horrible wheelings)

 

[Banana Bar]

We put about of 120 ha wheat in / on before conditions got bad. We had SCS calibrate our KV Geospread to 24 metres as it wouldn’t go to 36. In the end I spread at 18 to be sure. We followed this with a 30 yr old Vaderstad NZ and a 74yr old father as pilot.
It’s all come very well with the exception of the odd headland where I was fighting strong winds. This was into land that had either had a pass previously with a Terrano, or land that had had a very shallow pass with a Kockerling Allrounder.
I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again but as said before it needs doing before you become desperate.

BB