Vaderstad Seed Hawk

Banana Bar

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Looking to dip my toe into DD, every drill I look at seems to have some merit. Latest thought is possibly Seed Hawk. I would initially be trying some first wheat after osr and possibly some 2nd wheat after a light pass with a carrier. Mainly heavy land without serious hills.

ALL opinions received will be welcome (its a minefield out there!!)

BB
 

Badshot

Member
Location
Kent
I like the look of the seedhawk but do wonder if the wide spaced but narrow rows of seed are a bit too far apart for cereals.
 
Looking to dip my toe into DD, every drill I look at seems to have some merit. Latest thought is possibly Seed Hawk. I would initially be trying some first wheat after osr and possibly some 2nd wheat after a light pass with a carrier. Mainly heavy land without serious hills.

ALL opinions received will be welcome (its a minefield out there!!)

BB

Is your rotation is WW/WW/OSR?
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Looking to dip my toe into DD, every drill I look at seems to have some merit. Latest thought is possibly Seed Hawk. I would initially be trying some first wheat after osr and possibly some 2nd wheat after a light pass with a carrier. Mainly heavy land without serious hills.

ALL opinions received will be welcome (its a minefield out there!!)

BB

The Dale is a much better drill IMO if you want a tine
 
Looking to dip my toe into DD, every drill I look at seems to have some merit. Latest thought is possibly Seed Hawk. I would initially be trying some first wheat after osr and possibly some 2nd wheat after a light pass with a carrier. Mainly heavy land without serious hills.

ALL opinions received will be welcome (its a minefield out there!!)

BB
The Dale is a much better drill IMO if you want a tine

And he knows where there is one for sale............ :ROFLMAO:
 

Banana Bar

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Rotation is up for grabs at the moment. On a large part of the farm its been WW /Osr/ WW/Osr for years and has been very successful and profitable. With prices dropping we are considering WW WW OSR WW W Beans. Probably direct drill all first wheats initially and put osr in with subsoiler as we do already. Nervous as hell about taking the plunge if I'm honest.

BB
 

Will7

Member
BB,

Would you be looking at a new drill or a secondhand one as there are differences? I have an 8m "old" style one which due to the weather I have not done much drilling with. The row width is an issue, but not insurmountable as vaderstad do a twin opener to give 2 rows of seed. It does look a little brutal though and I am sure something more subtle could be done.

In answer to Clives point, the seedhawk coulter assembly is tried and tested in the field, and has been for a while. I am fairly sure that in a comparison of ha's drilled between the seedhawk coulter and Dale coulter, the Dale's area would be insignificant. That said I like the look of the dale, but the seedhawk is cheaper secondhand.

There is no drill that will suit all conditions. You probably have 2 types of cultivator, therefore you will need 2 types of drill to suit conditions.

I am on a similar rotation to you and looking to use the drill in a similar manner.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
BB,

Would you be looking at a new drill or a secondhand one as there are differences? I have an 8m "old" style one which due to the weather I have not done much drilling with. The row width is an issue, but not insurmountable as vaderstad do a twin opener to give 2 rows of seed. It does look a little brutal though and I am sure something more subtle could be done.

In answer to Clives point, the seedhawk coulter assembly is tried and tested in the field, and has been for a while. I am fairly sure that in a comparison of ha's drilled between the seedhawk coulter and Dale coulter, the Dale's area would be insignificant. That said I like the look of the dale, but the seedhawk is cheaper secondhand.

There is no drill that will suit all conditions. You probably have 2 types of cultivator, therefore you will need 2 types of drill to suit conditions.

I am on a similar rotation to you and looking to use the drill in a similar manner.


Coulter difference are small but significant IMO - the seehawk tyre is not great in the wet and can smear, it also leave a more ridged finish IME

older seedhawks have issues with weight transfer so I would avoid ! - they lift out of work on hilly ground and weight is not evenly distributed between centre and wings, wheel equipment in the middle also causes issues especially when wet

New chassis design is much better but an awkward thing watching the demo driver with castor wheels - its also a LOT more expensive
 
Rotation is up for grabs at the moment. On a large part of the farm its been WW /Osr/ WW/Osr for years and has been very successful and profitable. With prices dropping we are considering WW WW OSR WW W Beans. Probably direct drill all first wheats initially and put osr in with subsoiler as we do already. Nervous as hell about taking the plunge if I'm honest.

BB

I think Brome will get you with that rotation. Can you grow spring barley at all? And maybe some other spring stuff. Lots of drill options out there though for your type of thing - don't forget primeras as well.

I think I'm right in thinking you've got a lot of acres to do?

At the very least you will have a drill that can do direct drill or min till or plough so thats no problem. Go and see Dockers (who runs a seedhawk) and George Renner (who has had a dale for years) for a good compare and contrast. Go and visit a few people this winter who are doing what you want to do, its the best way.
 

Banana Bar

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Thanks Mr Whale, I just spotted an error in my previous post, I would be planting spring beans not winters. I had hoped that the beans or possibly peas would be the time to deal with brome?

BB
 

Andrew K

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Essex
Andrew,
I have drilled a few fields with a seedHawk, and i would avoid a tandem axle machine as it smears and messes up headlands in the damp, let alone the wet.Fert system is good, but 10" rows let in blackgrass IMO.
I would look at a Sumo DTS if you want a really wide drill, that will do all those crops well, or a Mzuri pro til if you want a 4m machine.
It will take a while for your ground to acquire the biology ideal for a straight disc machine, strip till is a good first step.
 

Banana Bar

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bury St Edmunds
I fully intend to interrogate Tom once he has finished his travels! Could well be seeing grass ley for sheep or possibly AD plant! My sheep flock has expanded from 130 last year to 350! At the current rate of expansion we will have 9000 ewes in 4 years.

BB
 

willy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Rutland
The Dale is a much better drill IMO if you want a tine


I would disagree, the wheel is far better and disturbs less soil. You need that good seed to soil contact that the new dale does not do so well. If its too wet shallow the drill off or leave it till its a bit drier.
 

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