The Dale is a much better drill IMO if you want a tine
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.
I tend to agree with Will7, there won't be one drill that will suit all conditions. If you are looking at switching to zero till there's going to be challenges, but the system works and has worked on our farm for over 20 years now. Having dealt with wider spaced rows for so long it's hard to imagine going back but now but I realize there are still advantages to smaller spacing, we just chose the system that works best for us.
I've never heard of a Dale drill before as I'm from Canada but after some research, and correct me if I'm missing something, but is the Dale zero till drill not equipped with Seed Hawk openers?
To further both discussions, one of the founders of Seed Hawk is a regular contributor on another forum I follow that is focused on zero till. It might be worth a read if you're interested in some more international discussions!
http://www.notillville.com/