Wheat drilling 2020

[britt]

Anybody who can combi drill direct into ploughing does not have heavy land. Far from it in fact. Heavy land 'never' ploughs over lovely. It slabs over and then needs multiple passes with various pieces of equipment to get a seedbed.

I'm glad you said that.
When we ploughed, in September, we had to power harrow and roll within 24hrs to weatherproof it against wet or dry. Then left a couple of weeks to weather and then combi drilled and rolled to crush the last of the clods, or push them in.

 

[Wombat]

Anybody who can combi drill direct into ploughing does not have heavy land. Far from it in fact. Heavy land 'never' ploughs over lovely. It slabs over and then needs multiple passes with various pieces of equipment to get a seedbed.

What you mean you cannot get a crop of carrots of heavy land???

 

[herman]

Anybody who can combi drill direct into ploughing does not have heavy land. Far from it in fact. Heavy land 'never' ploughs over lovely. It slabs over and then needs multiple passes with various pieces of equipment to get a seedbed.

Not always correct, it depends how the land ploughs up. We have some blue clay that can be evil If it's too wet or too dry.
Last week it came up perfect and I followed the plough and made a excellent job in places and a slightly poor job in others.
Now it's in and the rain has passed through it , if it was any finer or rolled it may be a slop or capped.
Had plenty of fym, compost, and sewage that is starting to help structure.
We have some excellent souls and some extremely bad ex opencast land that you couldn't call farmable in places, probably we have it because nobody else wants it !
If you are sensitive and don't abuse the land it does improve and yield with a lot of TLC

 

[Flintstone]

Ex-linseed ground finished now.
Into ex-bean ground now. Should be wrapped up for the year by 10pm.

Saki @ 190 kgs.
I don’t want to sound like a zero-till fanboi, but there’s no way this block would have drilled the day after 110mm when I had a cultivator.

Loving the Claydon still after six years

 

[Wombat]

Nothing like building it a few days before u need it after work

Before anyone says anything it’s just for layout on that floor before I move to somewhere better to weld, the other main plates need to go on to form the other side of the linkage brackets and the time holders are just laid on for a rough spacing check, just for all the arm chair critics.

 

[4course]

having thought we had missed the worst over the weekend just drying a tad this afternoon and sun breaking through about 3pm and then from what appeared to be a blue sky fecking torrential ,been and had a look not pretty but its all chitting ,remarkably soaking in and down though will have pushed us back another day or two we do not need or want another drop anytime soon

 

[YELROM]

Nothing like building it a few days before u need it after work

View attachment 912082

Before anyone says anything it’s just for layout on that floor before I move to somewhere better to weld, the other main plates need to go on to form the other side of the linkage brackets and the time holders are just laid on for a rough spacing check, just for all the arm chair critics.

What legs are you using?

 

[JCfarmer]

What legs are you using?

Shuuuuuush, he's too busy welding and making things like a drill to be called ' The Wombat' to rival TRYITON.
My guess is Weaving sabre tine legs.

 

[Wombat]

What legs are you using?

Weaving sabre tine, couldn’t have been more helpful, top guys to deal with

Tried a few others and they wanted to just sell me a drill not the tine so there loss of an easy 3k

 

[Flat 10]

Ex-linseed ground finished now.
Into ex-bean ground now. Should be wrapped up for the year by 10pm.

Saki @ 190 kgs.
I don’t want to sound like a zero-till fanboi, but there’s no way this block would have drilled the day after 110mm when I had a cultivator.

Loving the Claydon still after six years

View attachment 912073

View attachment 912074

Well you do but the results are incredible from your pictures

 

[Manny]

Ex-linseed ground finished now.
Into ex-bean ground now. Should be wrapped up for the year by 10pm.

Saki @ 190 kgs.
I don’t want to sound like a zero-till fanboi, but there’s no way this block would have drilled the day after 110mm when I had a cultivator.

Loving the Claydon still after six years

View attachment 912073

View attachment 912074

That soil has a far % of stone. We've only had 85mm of rain in the last few days but there is no way anyone around here could drill. Old pasture is only just holding a tractor feeding cows and your still making a good mark then. Best of luck to you.

 

[Flintstone]

I used to get bored of hearing people talk about soil structure etc. I cynically thought it was just a way for Steve Townsend to sell drills back in the late 90’s.

We struggled to get drilled up 10 years ago in a wet autumn when we had a Disc Cordone and a Horsche CO8. I decided there had to be a better way with the weather being our enemy at times.

I now understand my soil better, and I know that the less I do to it, the more it gives back in terms of flexibility and yield.

I haven’t used a cultivator since 2010 and I can’t see why I’d ever need one.
As an aside, I’ve just finished autumn drilling, so I’m having a cold one out of the JD fridge at 00:30 to quietly celebrate while I’m locking up in the yard.

 

[Brisel]

How did the contract drilling work out that you did locally last autumn? My old place in Dorset averaged 3.8 t/ac wheat yield on similar soils to yours with a Claydon.

 

[JACK F]

Found exact opposite when I ran a claydon. Had an autumn where caught a huge thunderstorm of around 75mm. Had fields next door to each other, one ploughed and power harrowed, one stubble for claydon. Ploughed field drilled nicely several days before claydon field and yielded 10% more at harvest. Heavy ground and would not dry as quick with out just cutting slots with claydon drill. Ploughed ground seemed to drain much better and drilled lovely. Same issue in spring with cultivated ground letting tine drill run several days before stubbles for claydon. Still use it for osr but after 5 years using across part of the farm for cereals went back to doing all with cultivations and weaving tine drill.

 

[David.]

There is a Claydon hereabouts, it plants a fair bit of contract ground, including a local farm that has always been ploughed etc.
Only comment I can make is that the slightly yellow soiled tricky field that faces me now seems to need three attempted drillings each year to secure a crop.
Same old story I think, nothing yet made is absolutely ideal for all conditions.

 

[Northern territory]

Seem to be selling like hot cakes at local dealer.

 

[nick...]

Had a look round this morning

winter barley been in 15 days.ploughed and combi drilled

barley again been in couple weeks now.drilled after what was rape.short disced and combi drilled

this wheat been in 10 days.ploughed and combi drilled.justdone a round on headland to make room to get a bag in drill before heading of to another farm.got to say all fields look better in real life than in pictures
nick...

 

[DRC]

Not always correct, it depends how the land ploughs up. We have some blue clay that can be evil If it's too wet or too dry.
Last week it came up perfect and I followed the plough and made a excellent job in places and a slightly poor job in others.
Now it's in and the rain has passed through it , if it was any finer or rolled it may be a slop or capped.
Had plenty of fym, compost, and sewage that is starting to help structure.
We have some excellent souls and some extremely bad ex opencast land that you couldn't call farmable in places, probably we have it because nobody else wants it !
If you are sensitive and don't abuse the land it does improve and yield with a lot of TLC

This is what’s happened here and my neighbours land this year. Never seen it turn over so well. Even the bits that normally need twice over with something , have gone in well.
It doesn’t mean you don’t have heavy land.

 

[Renaultman]

I think maybe some have to give consideration to the fact that, not only is plough/combi well established but most have good experience in how to make it work. Whereas a lot of other methods are less popular and a lot of us have less experience with them. As has been said, virtually nothing works every time but the plough combi is possibly the closest but as it is also probably the most expensive, unless you are doing a serious amount of passes.

 

[APJ]

Also with trying a new system of drilling you really need to want it to work and get to understand how to work with a new system, we had our first combi in the early 80s then moved to a min till system in 2000 but still drilling with a combi, now made the switch to a sabre tine drill and less cultivation’s and think we have a more weather proof system than ever before also with the potential of sowing 80/100ac a day weather is less of a concern than before. Now with our target autumn planting done in record timing and crops emerging we are very happy, if it drys up by the end of October we will probably direct sow some more wheat that was earmarked for spring sowing.