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Regenerative Agriculture and Direct Drilling
Regen Ag and No-till Machinery
SimTech Aitchison Drills
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<blockquote data-quote="Simon C" data-source="post: 274721" data-attributes="member: 319"><p>Someone mention Sim-tec and clay soil in the same sentence? Well I do have a little experience of these things. I was a bit reluctant to comment because I am a great fan of the drill and by continually harping on about it, I may start to sound like a salesman. It is a common trait on here, people going on and on about their own make of drill and running down all the others. Since I also have two disc drills, and having used all three this Autumn, hopefully I can give an unbiased opinion.</p><p></p><p>So I will start with the drawbacks on the Sim-Tec-</p><p></p><p>Although it is easy to pull (20 hp/metre would be plenty), it is very back heavy when lifted up on the three point linkage so you do need a decent horse on the front with loads of front weights. This means that when fully loaded with seed there is a lot of weight on the back wheels when turning, I nearly always have big terra tyres on so I can float around on the headlands without making a mark.</p><p></p><p>If you cut the stubble longer than your row width (150 mm on my model) it will block. So definitely no high cutting or Stripping.</p><p></p><p>The box drill will cope with anything from linseed to beans, but it is bit strange doing beans because the sponges have to be kept wet. When they get dry, they slip on the seed and the flow stops. In practice, this means getting out with a little hand sprayer and giving them all a squirt, probably twice for every fill.</p><p></p><p>The vibration of the tines means that seed is not always dropped evenly along the row. The harder the ground, the more vibration you get and therefore the slow you have to go. This can get a bit frustrating at times.</p><p></p><p>Now the good bits-</p><p></p><p>The Sim-Tec is the world wide number one machine for direct drilling into wet clay, it will keep going long after everything else has given up because of smearing of bunging up. This is because of George Simon's brilliant design of the spring tines. The coil is directly above the coulter so that it doesn't just drag through the soil, but sort of shuffles along moving backwards and forwards and from side to side without lifting and loosing depth. This action means that there is hardly any smearing on the bottom of the slot, what ever the conditions.</p><p></p><p>Whereas disc drills struggle with penetration in very hard, dry soil, the Sim-Tec will always pull itself in because of the angle of the points. I have drilled into stuff resembling tarmac and never broken a tine.</p><p></p><p>The flexi roller on the back has the rings running between the rows, rather than on top of the seed. This means that in wet conditions it doesn't squash mud onto the seed but leaves the slot to dry. You can then decide how much you want it to dry before going back over with rolls of harrows, what ever you think it needs. Sometimes it is ten minutes, others it is two days. In my opinion, slot closing is the most important thing and just do what ever is necessary, I have various contraptions to hook on the back as well as the chains, depending on conditions, but if it needs an extra harrowing or rolling, you just have to do it.</p><p></p><p>I drill linseed at half an inch deep with out any problem, but my fields are completely flat. If going into rough ex ploughed land, you can go a bit deeper with cereals and bigger seeds, but small seeds would be more difficult.</p><p></p><p>The front straight discs do help with trash flow, at first glance, all those tines look like they will block straight away, but it is amazing how much chopped straw and cover crops will go through. Any lumps hanging on the back row on tines are pulled of by the roller.</p><p></p><p>That will do for now, I'm getting hungry.</p><p></p><p>Probably think of a few more things latter.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Simon C, post: 274721, member: 319"] Someone mention Sim-tec and clay soil in the same sentence? Well I do have a little experience of these things. I was a bit reluctant to comment because I am a great fan of the drill and by continually harping on about it, I may start to sound like a salesman. It is a common trait on here, people going on and on about their own make of drill and running down all the others. Since I also have two disc drills, and having used all three this Autumn, hopefully I can give an unbiased opinion. So I will start with the drawbacks on the Sim-Tec- Although it is easy to pull (20 hp/metre would be plenty), it is very back heavy when lifted up on the three point linkage so you do need a decent horse on the front with loads of front weights. This means that when fully loaded with seed there is a lot of weight on the back wheels when turning, I nearly always have big terra tyres on so I can float around on the headlands without making a mark. If you cut the stubble longer than your row width (150 mm on my model) it will block. So definitely no high cutting or Stripping. The box drill will cope with anything from linseed to beans, but it is bit strange doing beans because the sponges have to be kept wet. When they get dry, they slip on the seed and the flow stops. In practice, this means getting out with a little hand sprayer and giving them all a squirt, probably twice for every fill. The vibration of the tines means that seed is not always dropped evenly along the row. The harder the ground, the more vibration you get and therefore the slow you have to go. This can get a bit frustrating at times. Now the good bits- The Sim-Tec is the world wide number one machine for direct drilling into wet clay, it will keep going long after everything else has given up because of smearing of bunging up. This is because of George Simon's brilliant design of the spring tines. The coil is directly above the coulter so that it doesn't just drag through the soil, but sort of shuffles along moving backwards and forwards and from side to side without lifting and loosing depth. This action means that there is hardly any smearing on the bottom of the slot, what ever the conditions. Whereas disc drills struggle with penetration in very hard, dry soil, the Sim-Tec will always pull itself in because of the angle of the points. I have drilled into stuff resembling tarmac and never broken a tine. The flexi roller on the back has the rings running between the rows, rather than on top of the seed. This means that in wet conditions it doesn't squash mud onto the seed but leaves the slot to dry. You can then decide how much you want it to dry before going back over with rolls of harrows, what ever you think it needs. Sometimes it is ten minutes, others it is two days. In my opinion, slot closing is the most important thing and just do what ever is necessary, I have various contraptions to hook on the back as well as the chains, depending on conditions, but if it needs an extra harrowing or rolling, you just have to do it. I drill linseed at half an inch deep with out any problem, but my fields are completely flat. If going into rough ex ploughed land, you can go a bit deeper with cereals and bigger seeds, but small seeds would be more difficult. The front straight discs do help with trash flow, at first glance, all those tines look like they will block straight away, but it is amazing how much chopped straw and cover crops will go through. Any lumps hanging on the back row on tines are pulled of by the roller. That will do for now, I'm getting hungry. Probably think of a few more things latter. [/QUOTE]
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