Seed rate too low - Claydon Hybrid 6m

[farmer92]

Hi team,

So finished up a 60 acre field yesterday with our 6m Claydon. Set at 250kg/ha (wheat) but seems I was under by about half a tonne. Was calibrated correctly, fan speed etc all okay. Should I just nudge the rate up a bit when I continue tomorrow or is it worth recalibrating? The drill is normally good at putting on the right rate.

Hope everyone's spring drilling is going well! 80 acres done now and a fair bit more to go!!

Nick

 

[JD6920s]

Hi team,

So finished up a 60 acre field yesterday with our 6m Claydon. Set at 250kg/ha (wheat) but seems I was under by about half a tonne. Was calibrated correctly, fan speed etc all okay. Should I just nudge the rate up a bit when I continue tomorrow or is it worth recalibrating? The drill is normally good at putting on the right rate.

Hope everyone's spring drilling is going well! 80 acres done now and a fair bit more to go!!

Nick

Definitely recalibrate, it'll only take a few minutes, and at least then you know it's right, not wondering all the way across the field and then finding out you don't have enough seed to finish the last three acres!

 

[Spencer]

Didn't realise until finished?? So you put 1 tonne in to start yes? Your sowing at 250kg/ha. So after 4ha you need to refill yes. Surely you look in tank after 4ha and if there's seed left in then it's not put enough on. Then next time you need to refill you should have drilled 8ha! Check as you go...No?

 

[Brisel]

We calibrate several times, especially when having moved the metering roller. Once is never enough to get the right rate. I thought Claydon fitted the Accord metering system because it is reliable???!??!?!?!

 

[juke]

correct calibration procedure on the hybrid is at least 3 times we do it at least 5 times to be sure sometimes more if its taking a bit of getting it right

 

[willy]

We calibrate several times, especially when having moved the metering roller. Once is never enough to get the right rate. I thought Claydon fitted the Accord metering system because it is reliable???!??!?!?!

I always found it spot on (amazingly so) I wonder if something has changed? On wheat I always had the meter open wide then back half a screw.

 

[Hammer]

Yes after 5 seasons of use my experience is also that it's very accurate, I only calibrate once or occasionally twice for each crop/variety.

 

[tw15]

Defo re calibrate ,monitors only tell you what you tell them if you get what i mean . Best to do it first then do it again with a fairly full hopper that has just had a bit of drilling done out of it so it is more settled just to check your are right . Always work out at the start how many ha the amount of seed you put will do and check before you get to that ha it is rightish . A nother tip is to put say 200 kg in the hopper and use a permanent marker and draw a level line then do the same for 500kg and then 1000kg so you can quickly just get a rough idea of what the amounts look like in the hopper. I know that different seeds will take up more or less room but it helps a bit from just guessing .

 

[Brisel]

What model year are/were your machines @willy @Hammer ? What about yours @juke ?

 

[juke]

2015 3m hybrid. Seed only drill. Running the ventilated head pretty much all the time. Standard Artemis control box.

 

[Hammer]

What model year are/were your machines @willy @Hammer ? What about yours @juke ?

2011 6m Hybrid, Artemis box

 

[willy]

2013 6m hybrid

 

[Brisel]

@mike@claydon - Do you know if Claydon altered the metering unit in any way on more recent models? I doubt the controller would be the source of the issue.

Doing extra calibration runs is hardly the end of the world but it's a bit of a pain.

 

[mike@claydon]

Nothing has changed on the metering systems on the Hybrid drills since 2009. Sounds daft but it has happened, have the scales slipped into lbs not kgs? The drill would still calibrate correctly but wouldn't use enough seed.

 

[Brisel]

No problem with the scales. Every time you calibrate it gives a different weight. After the 4th or 5th time it is consistent enough to be worth trusting.

 

[Crabtree]

Have always found the accord and artemis pretty accurate, never as far out as the OP which is nearly 10% slow. I rarely do more than 2 weighed calibrations, yesterday on Spring Oats with only 1 calibration was about 1 kg out per ton. The other variable no-ones mentioned is the weight of seed in the bag, if home saving and even if using a mobile processor the weight in the bag will be more variable as will the flow rate. A camera in the hopper is also very useful for running the seed right out to check your seedrate.

 

[willy]

No problem with the scales. Every time you calibrate it gives a different weight. After the 4th or 5th time it is consistent enough to be worth trusting.

I always try to fill a small 10lt bucket, so there's a decent amount, so maybe a bigger sample is needed?

 

[Andrew K]

Brisel, does the speed measurement on the RDS Artemis match the speed out put [in work]being shown by your tractor or GPS box for example?
If not do a speed calibration over a measured 100m, that works for me if the difference is more than a few %. Otherwise the metering will not run at the correct speed, and no amount of static calibration checks will cure it.

 

[Brisel]

I'll check next time I'm in the cab in the field. IIRC there was a tiny difference but only negligible. Thanks.