Simtech questions

[MattR]

Not a DDer currently but considering it, and from what I gather many would recommend a T-SEM as a good option for a small farm with a limited budget, which we are. Any general advice welcome, but specifically what are people's thoughts re row spacing? We bale all our straw but aim to spread fym when we can, not to mention that we'd aim to do some cover cropping if we went down the dd route. Can the 20 row version cope with the trash flow ok in this situation or should I be looking at the 16?

Is it a fairly versatile drill, ie good on ploughed/cultivated seedbeds too?

From videos of them there seems to be quite a bit of soil movement, more than other tine drills or not? Does this put people off?

Also - we still plough/ph at the moment; what is the consensus regarding entry into zero-till - most seem to have been a few years min/strip till beforehand. Is going direct from ploughing feasible?

(I know I have a lot of research to do and everyone will say don't rush headlong into it but I might have the opportunity to buy a used t-sem and decent direct drills in my budget are few and far between.)

(Edit: one more thing - weight quite far back? Would our Zetor Proxima Plus 110 cope with it ok (107hp)? It struggled with a not-too-heavy-looking old Amazone combi box drill I bought a while back.)

 

[pear]

Not a DDer currently but considering it, and from what I gather many would recommend a T-SEM as a good option for a small farm with a limited budget, which we are. Any general advice welcome, but specifically what are people's thoughts re row spacing? We bale all our straw but aim to spread fym when we can, not to mention that we'd aim to do some cover cropping if we went down the dd route. Can the 20 row version cope with the trash flow ok in this situation or should I be looking at the 16?

Is it a fairly versatile drill, ie good on ploughed/cultivated seedbeds too?

From videos of them there seems to be quite a bit of soil movement, more than other tine drills or not? Does this put people off?

Also - we still plough/ph at the moment; what is the consensus regarding entry into zero-till - most seem to have been a few years min/strip till beforehand. Is going direct from ploughing feasible?

(I know I have a lot of research to do and everyone will say don't rush headlong into it but I might have the opportunity to buy a used t-sem and decent direct drills in my budget are few and far between.)

(Edit: one more thing - weight quite far back? Would our Zetor Proxima Plus 110 cope with it ok (107hp)? It struggled with a not-too-heavy-looking old Amazone combi box drill I bought a while back.)

I’ll start the ball rolling-

It’s a very versatile drill, can go into all seed beds. When I have drilled into cultivated seed beds I found a pre drill pass with the rolls helped as it was better drilling into a firmer seed bed.

Ive got the 20 row version, but I do drill grass too. I have had it block on a very thick cover crop and also a very thick mat of chopped straw, but usually it goes trough both fine.

HP on your tractor should be fine, not sure on what it will carry it like though. I’ve got a 135hp NH ts135 and it is fine but I used to have a JD6830 and while it was fine pulling it, you knew you had it on there when lifting and turning.

 

[rob1]

it takes little pulling but you need weight up front to hold the front wheels on the ground, personally I would go with the 16 tine version for corn through trash, we went from plough ph drilling to dd, we had a bit of a yield drop in year 3 and 4 but the savings more that made up for it, we would have drilled nothingn here last autumn if we were still ploughing and we now have spring crops which were very rare before as by the time the soi was dry enough to work it would dry out to quickly most, if you want to do a bit of dd plus still plough some the simtech will be fine just roll before if the soil is a bit fluffy.

 

[onesiedale]

Think your Zetor may struggle. We have a valtra n92 and needed every weight we could find to keep the front down. Put it on a NH ts125 and it's great . (We do farm on the side of a hill though)

 

[90hp farming]

I have a share in a Duncan trailed drill because I am limited to 90hp. Essentially the same configuration as a Simtech without a roller to bung up.

Drilling on away land earlier this week with a loader tractor. When it comes to filling with seed, just pull the drawbar pin and the one hydraulic hose and use the drilling tractor. (The ultimate in logistics - can`t do that with a 750A!)

 

[Michael S]

I have a 4m Simtech which has 22 coulters so almost the same row spacing as a 16 row 3m. It is by no means unblockable, a good rule of thumb is to keep the stubble height less than the coulter spacing. In green covers it will handle knee high rape volunteers but more fibrous stems such as patches of fat hen can cause a blockage. Drilling through 35t/ha of pig FYM with no tillage has given no problems. Personally I haven't got on very well drilling grass into wheat stubble with chopped straw but otherwise I have been pleased with the resulting crops.

The Simtech will draw into ground too hard for our Moore drill to penetrate and work when it is too wet for a disc drill to work. Forward speed when direct drilling needs keeping down to 8-9km/hr in good going and less when the ground is hard. On cultivated land 12km/hr is no problem, as others have said get the cultivated ground rolled down as firm as possible. I often take some of the weight of the drill on the tractor in softer going.

I pull my 4m with a Valtra T174, neither power nor lift capacity are an issue, I use a 700kg front weight when wheat or pea drilling but the large pneumatic hopper carries over a tonne of seed. Earlier this week I did a 22 hour stint and drilled 51ha (6ha was cultivated) of wheat using 330 litres of diesel. About 5-7l/ha diesel use is the norm here on land that uses 30-45l/ha to plough.

I normally roll behind the drill because on our heavy ground it feels right but this year some cover crops didn't get rolled due to the rain coming too soon but have come as well or better than rolled ones. It is a very straightforward and flexible drill to start DD.

 

[MrNoo]

Is the 4m foldable or rigid? thought they only did the 4.8m?? Currently have a 3m Vadd box drill that I love but it's getting long in the tooth now and like the idea of the Simtech, I have emailed them but zero response.
I have a T6090 NH so guess it'd pull 4.8m fine but would need more than 1000kg up front.
What are they like in stones? Some fields I have more stones than dirt, Vaddy seems to cope ok but just concerned with the tungsten tipped points breaking/chipping with them.
Other option is the Sabre tine from Weaving but think it moves a fair bit more soil from what I have seen.

 

[Warp Land Farmer]

Is the 4m foldable or rigid? thought they only did the 4.8m?? Currently have a 3m Vadd box drill that I love but it's getting long in the tooth now and like the idea of the Simtech, I have emailed them but zero response.
I have a T6090 NH so guess it'd pull 4.8m fine but would need more than 1000kg up front.
What are they like in stones? Some fields I have more stones than dirt, Vaddy seems to cope ok but just concerned with the tungsten tipped points breaking/chipping with them.
Other option is the Sabre tine from Weaving but think it moves a fair bit more soil from what I have seen.

I was just pondering similar and looking at Simtec / Weaving websites and thinking the opposite!! I have a pal with a Simtec and think it’s a great drill but I do like the look of the Weaving. I’d like a price on a mounted Dale as well.

 

[pear]

Is the 4m foldable or rigid? thought they only did the 4.8m?? Currently have a 3m Vadd box drill that I love but it's getting long in the tooth now and like the idea of the Simtech, I have emailed them but zero response.
I have a T6090 NH so guess it'd pull 4.8m fine but would need more than 1000kg up front.
What are they like in stones? Some fields I have more stones than dirt, Vaddy seems to cope ok but just concerned with the tungsten tipped points breaking/chipping with them.
Other option is the Sabre tine from Weaving but think it moves a fair bit more soil from what I have seen.

4m box is rigid but the pneumatic 4m is folding if they do one. The problem with stones if they’re of a reasonable size is they get caught in between the front discs, and flick up to the back window!
I’d ring the Simtech guys if you want any info, but having used to own a Weaving tine drill, I thought they are a brilliant company to deal with. I almost went from Simtech to a GD last year but lost some ground so have stuck with my Simtech

 

[MrNoo]

Have dealt with Weaving before and did have a demo of a GD on some of my clay with some OSR but didnt do a terribly good job IMO but maybe just the year/conditions etc etc. A friend just bought a Sabre tine and loves it, used to have a Horsch prior

 

[Michael S]

The 4m only comes in rigid form and I think only with the pneumatic hopper, the 4.8m is the smallest folding frame. The folding drills don't have a centre section, the 4.8m is two 2.4m frames and the 6m similarly is two 3m frames.

 

[Renaultman]

The 4m only comes in rigid form and I think only with the pneumatic hopper, the 4.8m is the smallest folding frame. The folding drills don't have a centre section, the 4.8m is two 2.4m frames and the 6m similarly is two 3m frames.

What hp do you need for 4.8m? This is the ideal width for 24m IMHO

 

[Michael S]

I think 30-40hp per metre is a reasonable guide to always be master of the job, will be at the upper end for peas and beans.

 

[Michael S]

Is the 4m foldable or rigid? thought they only did the 4.8m?? Currently have a 3m Vadd box drill that I love but it's getting long in the tooth now and like the idea of the Simtech, I have emailed them but zero response.
I have a T6090 NH so guess it'd pull 4.8m fine but would need more than 1000kg up front.
What are they like in stones? Some fields I have more stones than dirt, Vaddy seems to cope ok but just concerned with the tungsten tipped points breaking/chipping with them.

I have quite a lot of bricks and concrete on the WW2 aerodrome land as well as 20 ha of land with 2 inch round stones in. In three years the only tiles that have come off are the bottom front ones due to poor brazeing. The bottom tile only comes off after a fair size hole has worn above it in the point, once a hole has appeared I change the point.

I spoke to them last week to order some parts and they did say they have been very busy recently but I am surprised they haven't acknowledged your enquiry. I'd ring Simon because George is more of the time in France than the UK as far as I can see.

 

[Ruston3w]

I know it might seem a bit un fashionable but we ended up with the 3.43m rigid Simtech they do, wide enough to allow duals?terras but still easy to move about, easy work for 6620JD or similar.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

I know it's a heinous question but could you mount a 3m t sem on the back of a power harrow if required?

I'm quite temped by a t sem at the moment but I'm never going to get away from the cultivations required to rectify the damage following kale crops.

 

[nick...]

It would be a heavy old lump with the drill stuck so far out the back.its possible but you would want a tractor with massive lift on it
nick...

 

[clbarclay]

If you took the roller off the back and could move the hopper forwards over the PH, then it might be a lot more manageable lump, but then behind ordinary S tines might be a good as any behind a PH. Following this logic soon ends up with a completely different drill to start with.

 

[MattR]

From watching videos of SImtechs there seems to be quite a bit of soil movement? I would imagine there's a bit of a chit of weeds when drilling into unmoved stubbles? Is this a problem people find with them - worse than other dd tine drills?

 

[Michael S]

From watching videos of SImtechs there seems to be quite a bit of soil movement? I would imagine there's a bit of a chit of weeds when drilling into unmoved stubbles? Is this a problem people find with them - worse than other dd tine drills?

I always say they look like they are moving more soil than they are but having a relatively narrow row spacing they must move more soil than some wider row spacing drills. Keeping the speed down is important to reduce soil movement. I don't feel it causes any great problems but I have kept BG at bay better than most.