Strip till versus no till

Hobbit

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
South West
Can't see why you need so much power for a Claydon, we pull a 4m DTS with 210hp quite happily. 485hp on the 9m
We have been pulling our 4m dts with a case puma 175 as the bigger puma 230 has been pulling the sky drill. It coped really well and I would like to think that’s down to the soil being in great shape after a few years of DD.
 

nick...

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
south norfolk
Why do the 4m dts take so much pulling.not a great deal in the ground.dont know how many legs but they only look very narrow and surely only run very shallow.in my opinion anyway.ive got very little idea if I’m honest
Nick...
 

Shutesy

Moderator
Arable Farmer
Why do the 4m dts take so much pulling.not a great deal in the ground.dont know how many legs but they only look very narrow and surely only run very shallow.in my opinion anyway.ive got very little idea if I’m honest
Nick...
There's some good info on the Sumo website. A 3m has 9 'rows', each with a ripper leg that could be in 9 inches deep, potentially a 6 inch wide coulter that can be between 1 inch and 4 inches deep, a pair of covering discs and a pair of press wheels behind, into unmoved stubble that can take some pulling, I believe a 4m has 12 'rows'. Yes they can be run shallow and take less pulling, but they aren't called a 'Deep Tillage Seeder' for nothing.
I would say your doing the right thing by looking at a variety of machines but I would suggest given the time of year now and especially the weather this year your not likely to see many demos going until next spring.
 

nick...

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
south norfolk
Thanks for that.i can’t imagine there will be many demo’s till spring.had a call about a mzuri being demoed locally tomorrow or Tuesday but weather dependant again.
Nick...
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Can't see why you need so much power for a Claydon, we pull a 4m DTS with 210hp quite happily. 485hp on the 9m

There's a forum member happily pulling a 4.8m Claydon with 215hp. Your 485hp is 53 hp/m. I only use all 62 hp/m on deep sowing or steep hills with my Claydon. Not that different.
 

Rihards

Member
Location
Latvia
We run a 4m and 9m DTS, will drill in nearly any conditions. If the covering wheels block up, take them off, if the front tine blocks up, take it off or stay in the shed. We have done both these things with good success to extend the drilling window/contracting drilling in less than ideal conditions. Trash isn't a problem, if it is really tall (0.5m +) drill headlands first before turning on it. Chopped straw sometimes needs drilling at an angle. Never leave unbaled straw in a field as the drill will collect it up very effectively. Maximum depth we have ever run the leading tine is 9 inches. That was in the early days. Now rarely below 5, even for OSR. Soils have improved immeasurably, mostly with the drill enabling much less or no cultivation. We have also used the drills to loosen OSR stubbles in August and then drilled them in October without the leading tine (Much faster and less draft/weight required + more area covered) Have had excellent results with APM legs too. Now starting with an 8m Horsch Avatar plus the DTS's. Still covering around 8600ac with contracting and cover crop drilling.
Wery interesting experience. As I am running 4mdts now 5. Season, we are on shalowest tillage leg pins position. I dont try to take off this leg as was afraid about Stones. How good seed coulter goes without tillage leg on some stony conditions? Do You have some pictures how it affect soil disturbance etc please? ?
 
As above.thinking I’m going to have to take steps to save multiple passes.waiting to hear from weaving,Mzuri,sumo and the Spanish vikmar I think it is to look at machines at work.hoping to look at Claydon too.anyone local to me running any of the above who woukd not mind me coming to look and ask questions.any advantages of one system over the other.strip or no till
Nick...

I’d just take a step back before jumping. Strip Till can add as many issues as it takes away in my experience. Irrelevant of the make of drill think about slugs, added weed burden, increased reliance on herbicides and glyphosate. They all move to much soil which in turn grows weeds at the same time you plant the seed.
If your wanting to reduce costs you should just concentrate on a no-till system.
 

nick...

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
south norfolk
I’d just take a step back before jumping. Strip Till can add as many issues as it takes away in my experience. Irrelevant of the make of drill think about slugs, added weed burden, increased reliance on herbicides and glyphosate. They all move to much soil which in turn grows weeds at the same time you plant the seed.
If your wanting to reduce costs you should just concentrate on a no-till system.
I’m just after opinions and not seen any machines working due to weather and conditions.ive got some stiffish land here that shines when ploughed in July August and I’m not sure no till woukd work and agronomist says a disc drill is not going to work on that soil.as mentioned I looked at a Simtech which I liked and hope to see a few more next week if I get to croptec
Nick...
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
I’m just after opinions and not seen any machines working due to weather and conditions.ive got some stiffish land here that shines when ploughed in July August and I’m not sure no till woukd work and agronomist says a disc drill is not going to work on that soil.as mentioned I looked at a Simtech which I liked and hope to see a few more next week if I get to croptec
Nick...
As your heading into DD from a plough/maxitill position I'd definitely go for the simtech as a starting point, it'll be a lot more forgiving than a disc.
If you go at an angle to the wheelings it'll.help level them over a few years and eventually the land will travel.a lot better.
When you get to the stage if nice firm level fields you may want to look for a disc drill too, but it'll be a few years away realistically.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
A no till drill is fine of the structure underneath is ok, but sand land has no natural structure and may run tight in years 2-4 which would cost you yield until the soil biology really gets going. Warksfarmer is partially right - a strip till drill does move soil and will not help a weed or slug problem. Changing your system to more spring crops and cover crops will sort those for you. No till is also heavily reliant on a non selective herbicide like glyphosate. My glyphosate use has not gone up since switching from min till with rotational ploughing but it certainly hasn't gone down either.
 
Can't see why you need so much power for a Claydon, we pull a 4m DTS with 210hp quite happily. 485hp on the 9m

4m mounted Claydon hybrid here on 210 horses...on wet flat hanslope clay (nice medium clay) had to be careful not to push on too fast-happy at 13k max. But front legs not in 4 inches - nearer 3. Minimal wheel-slip.
On evil brick clay about 11.5 kph. Which is fast enough.

Starting to seriously consider the 4.8 m extension kit and a wee engine chip.

BUT in a normal year here in semi arid Bedfordshire we start when there is enough moisture for the seed - we are often waiting for that rain therefore. When these clays are on the "too dry"side you can take 1 kph plus off the figures above.
 

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