Old moore unidrills

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
neilo, do you put fert in with the seed in the simtech or does your new drill have a separate box? I thought about doing this with fert and slug pellets but worried that the smoother fert might make its way down to the sponges quicker than the seed.

I’ve never tried putting fert in with the seed, and no, the new drill doesn’t have a separate fert box (I don’t think i’d Spec one if it was available tbh). I have mixed slug pellets with seed on occasion (where Glastir wouldn’t let me apply on the surface after drilling:facepalm:), and they seemed to stay mixed OK. I suspect fert would be the same?

Where I have wanted to put fert in the seedbed, i’ve Run over it quickly with the fert spreader beforehand, then the drill has mixed it into the seeding zone anyway.
I don’t really see a need unless P index is on the floor (as it was when I arrived here), as N is surely mobile enough to move down from surface spreading anyway.:scratchhead:
 
IMG_0565.jpg
seen at National Ploughing Championships 2017 Ireland !
 

New Puritan

Member
Location
East Sussex
With apologies for raking up an old thread, @DrWazzock - is your Moore a 3 metre one? What sort of power do you need to pull it?

And thank you for your previous comments on what to look for when buying one and maintenance of them etc.
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
With apologies for raking up an old thread, @DrWazzock - is your Moore a 3 metre one? What sort of power do you need to pull it?

And thank you for your previous comments on what to look for when buying one and maintenance of them etc.

Mine is a 4m version. I have pulled it for many years with a 105 hp light tractor (Lamborghini 105) but 135hp (Renault 630z) copes better in harder ground.

Tractor wheel marks (indentations) can be a problem as with any drill if drilling on softer cultivated ground with a big heavy tractor, although so far I have got away with it. You can adjust the coulters that run behind the tractor tyres to run a bit deeper than the rest, but the coulters are in pairs and Sod's law says one runs in the wheel mark and one doesn't so that isn't always an easy solution.
Of course there are dual wheels and possibly wheeling eradicators but that's another ball game.
 

New Puritan

Member
Location
East Sussex
Thanks @DrWazzock - that's helpful to know, as ever. I'd assume a 3m one would be that much easier to pull then, so my JD3050 ought to be able to manage.

I've found one for sale, though it's already been marked down in my estimation by the dealer's failure to respond to my enquiry.
 
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clbarclay

Member
Location
Worcestershire
Unless you have some serious hills then a 90 hp tractor on a 3m more should be fine. The manual states 90hp for a 3m arable or 100hp if it is a tandem version. I have used a JD 6600 on my 3m and it is no sweat for that tractor. I'm sure the Case 1594 we have could pull it (provided all the other tractors had simultaneous severe break downs and the weather was closing in).
 

New Puritan

Member
Location
East Sussex
The ones I have seen have always been around the £3.5k mark, usually they are miles away and usually described as something along the lines of 'off farm condition' / 'will need some light recommissioning before using' etc.

The attraction of them to me is that (from what I gather anyway) I could still use it as a conventional drill some of the time, they're not overally power hungry, parts are available, and they've been making them for donkeys' years so it's proven technology. Happy to be corrected on any of that of course, or perhaps the same applies to many others?
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
No, just mulling over what it would cost to get into DD. A new one is out of the question, even with a grant. And I know I'd get fudge all for my plough / PH / drill. £3.5k mentioned earlier in the thread sounds doable. But not if it needs £5k spending on it.......
We were in the same position as you with an original budget of about £3.5k with a bit of wiggle room. I did get the simtech with the grant and it cost us about £6k altogether after the grant paid £10,300 I think it was. It was a hell of a lot of money for something that will spend most of its time in the shed and I almost didn't do it but by now I'm glad I've got it. It will outlast me (I'm 29) and the old Moore's seem to be going up in price all the time. I saw an ancient very narrow (less than a tractor width) Moore and the dealer was asking £2,800 for it :eek::eek:
The simtech now have gone up in price too (£20k+ I think) so I'd never get one even with the grant. Duncan's are a bit cheaper you might get one of those for about £5k with the grant if the grants are still available. Might be worth phoning someone at simtech to see if they have an old aitchson lying around? No harm in asking they were very helpful when I spoke to them.
 

hally

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
cumbria
Beware mind a unidrill past it’s best can be a real money pit. A 3m arable drill can cost over £100 per coulter for discs and Coulter’s and there’s 18 of them, also bearings at £20 each (36) can add up. Springs and wear plates are often to replace as well as drop tubes. 3 to 4K is easily spent on refurbishment. You always need to do your sums with these old drills.
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
Beware mind a unidrill past it’s best can be a real money pit. A 3m arable drill can cost over £100 per coulter for discs and Coulter’s and there’s 18 of them, also bearings at £20 each (36) can add up. Springs and wear plates are often to replace as well as drop tubes. 3 to 4K is easily spent on refurbishment. You always need to do your sums with these old drills.
Beware mind a unidrill past it’s best can be a real money pit. A 3m arable drill can cost over £100 per coulter for discs and Coulter’s and there’s 18 of them, also bearings at £20 each (36) can add up. Springs and wear plates are often to replace as well as drop tubes. 3 to 4K is easily spent on refurbishment. You always need to do your sums with these old drills.
That's why I bit the bullet and went for the simtech. But it wouldn't have been possible without the grant I was very lucky with the timing of it.
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
The ones I have seen have always been around the £3.5k mark, usually they are miles away and usually described as something along the lines of 'off farm condition' / 'will need some light recommissioning before using' etc.

The attraction of them to me is that (from what I gather anyway) I could still use it as a conventional drill some of the time, they're not overally power hungry, parts are available, and they've been making them for donkeys' years so it's proven technology. Happy to be corrected on any of that of course, or perhaps the same applies to many others?

That's a fair assessment.

When bought our 4 m Unidrill about 10 years ago for £2200 it was in off farm condition and we spent about £2k on it to get it up to spec. It needed a few bearings a new set of coulters and a few new disc hubs as the bearings had seized and worn the hub down.

Setting up the coulters to the discs isn't a quick or easy job. By the time you have finished you have got the hang of it then when you need to do it again you have forgotten how you did it. That's what I find.

No, just mulling over what it would cost to get into DD. A new one is out of the question, even with a grant. And I know I'd get fudge all for my plough / PH / drill. £3.5k mentioned earlier in the thread sounds doable. But not if it needs £5k spending on it.......

Bought at £3.5k I reckon it would need about £2k spending on it. Fully refurbished would probably retail at around £7.5 k to cover the time taken for the refurb. Not very difficult work but pulling the bearings etc needs a bit of thought and care as does setting up the coulters.

Lots of set screws for the coulters in the castings so if it's been sat out years and they are seized solid then I'd walk away. They can shear off if rusted in.
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
Thinking of changing ours if the grant comes again. 3m grassland coulters fairly new but what's it worth?View attachment 764276 View attachment 764278
At a guess from what I've seen in adverts and magazines £20-25k? Think a new one is pushing £40k now.
Don't advertise it at that just because I've said it's worth that though I could be well off :facepalm:
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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