Lightest practical drilling outfit

[FarmyStu]

So what's the lightest, practical drilling outfit you can come up with? Something that really is capable of covering some ground but is as light as possible?

So I'll start with a Massey 4709 tractor (3.9t) and an Amazone D9 3000 Super 3m mechanical box drill holding 1000l of seed (Approx 2t) giving an all up weight of just under 6t. I'd guess it could hit 12kph and actually cover a reasonable amount of ground in a day? With good tyres and good logistics (seed waiting at the headland with no messing around) I think it would be a great outfit for this years wet fields. Anybody using such a setup or something better?

 

[sahara]

We used to have an International 511 cultivator drill pulled by our dualled up Ford 5000, dad used to say that would cover a lot of ground, a bit noisy by todays standards though!

 

[daveydiesel1]

What size tyres u usin. Probably wont get much lighter. If u had 1050 tyres it would float

 

[Nearly]

@carbonfibre farmer

 

[vantage]

Hovercraft and Vicon wagtail!

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

@carbonfibre farmer

4mtr drill.
62hp tractor. Tractor weights around 3t.
In good going can cover some ground.
Pretty light

 

[Foxcover]

Farm nearby drilled in the 80’s with a 2wd Ford 7600 dualled up pulling an 6m MF500

 

[FarmyStu]

This is the outfit I grew up with. Originally a Ford 4600, then a 4610 with Lambourne cab before this 4630 with centre mounted gear sticks. Brand new in this pic but always usually ran with cage wheels right up until the early 2000's.

 

[Pebd99]

Valmet 6600 dualled up with an accord 4m dc with Suffolk coulters. It could float over anything.

 

[Boysground]

I started with a Ford 7610 2wd and 4m accord. My middle year farm at college had a IH956 4wd Terra tyres all round and a 6m accord. That didn’t leave much footprint

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[Thomas5060]

This was our corn drilling outfit from about 10 year ago. Ford 4600 with MF 728 drill

 

[carbonfibre farmer]

We also use this....
4600 on duals or cage wheels. Wide fronts. 3mtr drill. It drilled through some pretty bad stuff post sugar beet which has come up well. If this won't go, pretty much nothing will.

 

[Barleymow]

60 acres a day with this if like last autumn only put half ton in a time

 

[Lincsman]

These were light if the operator was less than 12 st.

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[mf7480]

70hp, 4m Accord.

 

[Acke]

From -59 to -75 we drill 125ha/year with a IH B250 and a 3,96m Tive with 1100 liter seedhopper and large steelwheels.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Helicopter widely used down here, 200ha/hr for some crops.
Drones are just starting for seeding into standing crops ahead of harvest but damnably difficult to photograph.

 

[D14]

MF 595 2wd with cage wheels pulling a 4m MF 30. Then swapped it onto a Case 956 xl 4wd before moving to a contractor with a 4m combi and still to this day I’ve not idea why.
All we used to do was pigtail twice, drill and roll with light tractors. Subsoiling was very rare.
I’ve been seriously thinking of buying an old pigtail and trying to find a drill with MF bits but with a central hopper as filling the 30 was the pain.

 

[Selectamatic]

 

[jonnieboy]

Is not a bit academic as you’ve already ploughed causing a pan, probably power harrowed twice to get to a point where you can use the light drill ?
I’m going for @Clive with his 12m Horsch
Tin hat on !