Inaccurate drilling

[Bobthebuilder]

I blame RTK GPS for lower yields !

Shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line right ?

So wiggly rows are longer than straight ones yes ?

Longer rows surely means more plants ?

Ey when anyone used to say my drilling wasn’t straight I just used to say you get more corn in wiggly rows

 

[snarling bee]

I knew someone who always drilled parallel with the road so nobody could see the misses, blocked spouts and wiggly lines!!

 

[Brisel]

I blame RTK GPS for lower yields !

Shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line right ?

So wiggly rows are longer than straight ones yes ?

Longer rows surely means more plants ?

It depends on whether the extra seed and input overlap is wasted or not. I’d say the margin would be lower on overlaps and the inputs would be better off at the correct rate in the correct place.

 

[Pilatus]

I don’t think your allowed to broadcast seed with dressing on now .

Surely one is harrowing the seed in straightaway.
Off topic I was told the other day it is an offence with a £1000 fine for starting ones car and letting it warm up on ones drive,so I assume non of us do that either ,like so many other things .

 

[Cowcorn]

With all the driver aids gps steering nice cabs electric alarms ect it should be easy but I'd seem to remember you used to be able see all the outlets on a mf 30 drill more so at night and be spot on driving with a two wheel drive tractor three rib tyre about 4 inches from the drill wheel mark

Thats right i used to drill with an IH 784 and plant the front wheel firmly on the marker line from the previous run and bobs your uncle !! I still drill some of my spring crops with the later MF 500 drill to get the fert down with the seed. Handling all those 50 kg bags sure beats going to the gym !!! The 500 drilled crops emerge every bit as neat as the combi drilled ones, and usually yield better if late sown than grain only combi drilled.

 

[Pilatus]

From what I see, in some fields the accuracy (underlapping/overlapping, straightness of drilling) is not improving relative to the amount of capital that is being invested in the latest GPS /RTK Systems to achieve the aforementioned.
I get the impression that you get what you pay for , a large estate near me (money no object) use an RTK system and the results are superb over the 4000+ acres they farm,one would have a job to find a single baulk or headland over/underlap.
One would also have a job to find a drilling mishap at Stowell Park and Misereden Estate farms both farmed by Velcourt , a true credit to the Quadtrac operator.

 

[jonnyjon]

I don’t think your allowed to broadcast seed with dressing on now .

I sow all undressed seed

 

[Fish]

Who gives a sh*t, inaccurate drilling isn't about the odd wiggly run or under or overlaps, it's about not placing the seed at the right depth at the correct rate in the prevailing conditions.
By the way I use rtk, and would always prefer to see the odd overlap than too many underlaps, that just me.

 

[neilo]

Had a contractor powerharrow drill a couple of fields for me a year or so ago as too wet to get the Vaddy over it, no GPS and I ended up with 22m tramline spacing. He did a field last year mindful of the pee taking he'd had re his 22m tramlines and I ended up with 25m tramlines and gaps, so went and bought my own combi to do the job properly. I guess it all depends on how OCD you are about things, the trouble with GPS is that you get used to seeing beautiful straight lines over the whole farm and when you get someone in to drill "old school" it looks a bloody mess regardless.

I have to ask, what tramline width did you end up with this year?

Of course, the answer is to just not put tramlines in, then the wiggly lines, small misses and tramlines at wrong centres aren't so evident, especially if you DD into a scruffy long stubble to hide it at emergence.

 

[PSQ]

It’s easy to spot a single 4 inch ‘lunchtime’ GPS drift in a field of (spot on) 24m tramlines and wag the finger .
But it’s still 100x better than drilling with a “bit of overlap to make sure”, where *every* tramline in the field measures 23.5m
We were the latter, now the former.

 

[MrNoo]

I have to ask, what tramline width did you end up with this year?

Of course, the answer is to just not put tramlines in, then the wiggly lines, small misses and tramlines at wrong centres aren't so evident, especially if you DD into a scruffy long stubble to hide it at emergence.

24m on the button, measured them!! With no tramlines you end up with greens come combining, I have found this on headland tramlines that I dont put in when using the combi in wet condition.

 

[oakleaf]

I don’t think your allowed to broadcast seed with dressing on now .

No reason at all to doubt you but thats a new one for me and one that l break most years.

 

[Shutesy]

No reason at all to doubt you but thats a new one for me and one that l break most years.

I wouldnt be to keen to admit that on a public forum, its been a rule for a while now.

 

[jonnyjon]

Have not put in tramlines with the drill for 5 years, put them in with GPS and would never go back now

 

[oakleaf]

I wouldnt be to keen to admit that on a public forum, its been a rule for a while now.

Ok thanks but l am talking about filling in patches that failed over winter etc or that rabbits have taken out , not about sowing a thousand acres of cereals with the spinner .
Incidentally does the forum admin get many enquiries about a posters identity from any body investigating peoples illegal activity confessions?

 

[Shutesy]

Ok thanks but l am talking about filling in patches that failed over winter etc or that rabbits have taken out , not about sowing a thousand acres of cereals with the spinner .
Incidentally does the forum admin get many enquiries about a posters identity from any body investigating peoples illegal activity confessions?

No worries. We get very few inquiries direct to us as far as I know and the only information we hold is what you register with so essentially your username and email which we never give out. It has been known for the likes of the BSPB to monitor the forum and users have mentioned they have been contacted following remarks they have made on here with regard to seed.

 

[2wheels]

We have spent hours and hours trying to get ours sorted. Our problem is the drill seems to have a wandering offset and so the same settings in one field can be different in another. We also are trying to push a drill which isn't quite 6m (why John Deere didn't design it to be properly 6m I don't know) into a true 6m system, so it's already on its limits.

we had an amazone 3mtr which would only cover 2.9mtrs with the coulters pushed all the way out.

 

[scholland]

If I wasn't no till I would broadcast, people who are tilling should be broadcasting imo, far cheaper, faster and a better job going on cover crop experience

I was at a presentation from a farmer who had been on a study tour in nz the other week, 1 guy broadcast his wheat then disced it in, plenty pgr and N. Budget on 13.5 ton and often achieving over 15!
3 years grass in his rotation though.

 

[Bob lincs]

No reason at all to doubt you but thats a new one for me and one that l break most years.

I didn’t know but it came up at a NROSO meeting recently

 

[Chae1]

I was at a presentation from a farmer who had been on a study tour in nz the other week, 1 guy broadcast his wheat then disced it in, plenty pgr and N. Budget on 13.5 ton and often achieving over 15!
3 years grass in his rotation though.

Another of there unfair advantages.