Is a Vaderstaad Carrier or equivalent a useful implement to have ?

[Pilatus]

As above , do you find the above type of implement useful for helping to dry out the top inch or so of your very heavy fields ,thereby allowing you to get drilling, whereas if you did not use it you would be waiting extra days before you could get drilling.??

 

[Brisel]

Yes! I don't often use it in the autumn unless I want a good chit of volunteers/weeds. I've done all the heavy fields with it this spring as it helps dry the top out & provide some loose soil to go around the seed. Only the top 1.5". The packer on the back is great for maintaining a consistent depth.

On wet clay my Claydon drill cuts slots with little surface disturbance so there is little crumb to go around the seed. I've also used it on a couple of fields that have wheelings from the muck spreaders to chuck some soil into the ruts or I'll see every wheeling if it stays dry. A local big contract farmer has a heavier Kockerling Rebel T which he uses to move the top 2" before his Vaderstad Spirit Strip Till drill autumn & spring.

What are you doing to get into heavier land?

 

[Pilatus]

Yes! I don't often use it in the autumn unless I want a good chit of volunteers/weeds. I've done all the heavy fields with it this spring as it helps dry the top out & provide some loose soil to go around the seed. Only the top 1.5". The packer on the back is great for maintaining a consistent depth.

On wet clay my Claydon drill cuts slots with little surface disturbance so there is little crumb to go around the seed. I've also used it on a couple of fields that have wheelings from the muck spreaders to chuck some soil into the ruts or I'll see every wheeling if it stays dry. A local big contract farmer has a heavier Kockerling Rebel T which he uses to move the top 2" before his Vaderstad Spirit Strip Till drill autumn & spring.

What are you doing to get into heavier land?

Nothing,but I do have my reasons for starting the thread

 

[AndrewB]

Had a shot of one last week to work down heavy land for spring barley, very impressive takes a bit of pulling, don’t grow enough spring crops to justify buying one.

 

[Shutesy]

I would love to have one for the occasions when it might come in handy but there's no way I can justify one even at the 2nd hand prices that they are, other makes such as Proforge are still a bit to much to justify as well.

 

[Clive]

Our carrier has been and continues to be a very useful part of the system

Zerotill doesn’t consistently work without some flexibility to system and season

 

[Pilatus]

I would love to have one for the occasions when it might come in handy but there's no way I can justify one even at the 2nd hand prices that they are, other makes such as Proforge are still a bit to much to justify as well.

I get the impression that in “theory” it would be a useful implement to
buy amongst a group Zero Till
farmers within say a twenty mile radius of one another.

 

[Shutesy]

I get the impression that in “theory” it would be a useful implement to
buy amongst a group Zero Till
farmers within say a twenty mile radius of one another.

Not a bad idea if there's enough of you in a close enough area. I think this Autumn if i feel I need a set of discs anywhere in the system I may go and try and borrow some of the neighbours for a fee.

 

[Pilatus]

I drive by a d/d farm Nr Fairford and I see they have 2,think one must be very well worn.

 

[franklin]

I aspire to one day owning a Carrier.

 

[britt]

I can hire one locally if needed, it just needs to be dry for long enough for the owner to do his first.
I spot a flaw in my plan !
Note to Mods: can we have an emogee (or however you spell it) with a brolly !

 

[Brisel]

 

[Beowulf]

What sort of horsepower would you need on the front of one of those?

 

[juke]

50 hp a meter to cover yourself as a rule, less if your just chitting

 

[ratchet spanner]

What sort of horsepower would you need on the front of one of those?

NH T250 on 5mtr carrier here. We do have a lot of hills

 

[Clive]

What sort of horsepower would you need on the front of one of those?

Not much If used shallow - we have 724 on 6m and that’s way ott - we could pull 8m easy with that power I reckon but it’s never used deeper than an inch

 

[nick...]

Ive got the proforge version and its a brilliant machine that i use alot.works verywell on stubble and breaking down ploughing.a very underated machine at a fraction of the cost of a carrier
Nick...

 

[Brisel]

I pull an 8.2m Carrier with 190hp but it makes it work if going deep e.g. pulling down plough furrows. For chipping the top 2" on a stubble I can do 16 kph on level ground. Levelling bars dragging soil take a lot of hp.

 

[Properjob]

The Carrier has been the tool that has made a complete success to our strip tillage with a Mzuri, tried all rakes etc....but a waste of time. Use the Carrier on OSR stubbles to dry out the top inch of soil a few times, kills lots of slugs and eggs without damaging worms, cheap way of dealing with volunteers too. Use ahead of all spring drilling to create a more friable surface after winter rainfall and capped stubbles. Knocks out willow herb etc as well. Like Clive said, only ever an inch deep so little weeds disturbed and always maintaining a weatherproof surface.

 

[Stoxs]

The Carrier has been the tool that has made a complete success to our strip tillage with a Mzuri, tried all rakes etc....but a waste of time. Use the Carrier on OSR stubbles to dry out the top inch of soil a few times, kills lots of slugs and eggs without damaging worms, cheap way of dealing with volunteers too. Use ahead of all spring drilling to create a more friable surface after winter rainfall and capped stubbles. Knocks out willow herb etc as well. Like Clive said, only ever an inch deep so little weeds disturbed and always maintaining a weatherproof surface.

We have come to this conclusion also, just this spring bought a 4mtr Mzuri and have been discussing straw rakes.
Our conclusion was buy a new carrier with a bio drill for our grass seeds and use same tool infront of drill pass to create chit and loosen that top 30-40 mm and create a crumb on top that will back fill nicey onto sown seed. A very useful and versatile but expensive tool the carrier.
One point to watch with carriers is the 5mtr will suffer from wing bounce in soft ground at speeds around 10-12 kph this will make your fields rough. 6mtr + carriers don't suffer this problem.