Light Land Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Interesting stuff . If your variable rate drilling with K and the planter finds an area low in K and pours K down the spout the salt loading would kill the crop or give the plant a luxury uptake of K I'd of thought,you'll have to keep us posted on this interesting topic. Keep up the good work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 (edited) That is a very impressive drilling outfit Alex. However, if you say the grain tank is the same size as your old Rapid it will be empty twice as soon which means double the amount of refilling. This will take up a lot of your time or are you not to worried? How much would one of these babies set you back, 150k? I do like the Horsch drills and their system but this machine will have an awful lot of maintenance as well I'd imagine. Plus all those packer wheels won't be much good in the wet? At least with no till there will be more crop residue on top so hopefully not as sticky. Will you be mounting a second GPS receiver on the drill then for the steering axle? Another nice video of a UK example in action. Very similar to your outfit actually: Edited March 3, 2015 by Niels 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Interesting stuff . If your variable rate drilling with K and the planter finds an area low in K and pours K down the spout the salt loading would kill the crop or give the plant a luxury uptake of K I'd of thought,you'll have to keep us posted on this interesting topic. Keep up the good work. I think our forward speed maybe cut a little allowing for variable rate metering to make adjustments, its all going to be a learning curve and not going to be right first time but hopefully as we build up a picture of info year on year we will see and improvement I'm hoping! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 That is a very impressive drilling outfit Alex. However, if you say the grain tank is the same size as your old Rapid it will be empty twice as soon which means double the amount of refilling. This will take up a lot of your time or are you not to worried? How much would one of these babies set you back, 150k? I do like the Horsch drills and their system but this machine will have an awful lot of maintenance as well I'd imagine. Plus all those packer wheels won't be much good in the wet? At least with no till there will be more crop residue on top so hopefully not as sticky. Will you be mounting a second GPS receiver on the drill then for the steering axle? Another nice video of a UK example in action. Very similar to your outfit actually: The tank is slightly bigger than the vaddy and will ultimately mean more fill ups and messing around with seed and fert but we have had and auger fitted for ease of loading and hoping to run a chap along with the drill in a handler and trailer for loading. Less maintenance on this than the rapid and i believe this will go in conditions the rapid wouldn't, front packers firming the ground ahead and far more space around the coulters for soil to flow, no drill is a wet weather drill but our theory is if its that wet you shouldn't be out there full stop, with any luck we will beat the rain with this bad boy, if it needs we will look into a 6 meter power harrow combi and dare i say it a plough, but thats if things get desperate, id prefer to go at night on frosts and with CTF we will have firm lines of travel, all good! Second GPS true tracker already there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Well said Alex, how much rain do you get more or less? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Here is a table of average days per month with rainfall 700mm (28inches) is our yearly average precipitation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Glorious 2 days of spring like weather, some frosts overnight and temps warming up during the day accompanied by drying breezes have allowed field work to re start, ground being ripped up ahead of spring beans, fert being spread on wheat now, Mark has been out topping Selvinge cover crop off ahead of Orchard Contractors spreading in a week or two before going into spuds. We also had the new Richard Western bowser delivered today, bit the bullet and bought one which will really improve sprayer effiency over the far afield blocks of land contract farmed espically with the move over to liquid N 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Here is a table of average days per month with rainfall image.jpg 700mm (28inches) is our yearly average precipitation Same as here Alex, interesting. Nice looking tank,be helpful for fire safety as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 The Oakley Farms growers meal tonight at Frogmary Green function rooms, local farmers involved with Oakley are invited to a bi annual meal as a social get together, usually before spring kicks off and again after harvest is in the bag and all drilled up. Tonights attendance included Tony House, Peter and Chris Speak, David Osborne, Nick Bragg, Joe Broughton, Robert Vaux, Paul Longman, Juilan Gillard and Stew Elliott, company expenses! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Monday 9th March First day out with the big Horsch today, over at Nick Braggs, Frogmary. Drill performed very well after all morning inevitable teething troubles getting the auto shut off calibrated and talking correctly to the in cab screen, and surprisingly the variable seed and fert rates seem to be working. Still managed to get 120 acres of beans into the ground in reasonable seedbeds, dry on top and very moist underneath, i think this rig is going to take some beating round our parts, hungry output and works a treat on the Challenger. Chris was behind the wheel and he really proved himself today with knowledge of operating a similar drill before without the gadgets. However its hungry appetite has created another problem that i really should of seen coming, constantly needing seed and fert we are running a chap along side chris with the JCB and tractor and trailer carting it around which is fine not a problem however this time of year we are also spreading fert and compounds onto other crops in which the spreader needs loading, not a problem today as Phil is spreading locally and can use the forklift in the yard to load but later in the week when he is due out further a field is going to cause a problem with only one JCB, i rang Smarts to try and hire a second JCB for a week and they were very un helpful so they have hammed the final nail in the coffin, luckily a phone call to Julian saved the day with their Merlo available, thanks Orchard! However this is not really progress, efficient, cheap or having the correct tools for your business so a meeting with Dave Ashdown this afternoon has cured that problem for the future with autumn even busier for our handler! Much to Dave's delight getting one over Bernard at Smarts! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave the farmer Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 smart drill. and bowser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 alex seeing as you have the loading auger on the drill , wouldn't it be easier and cheaper? to run a tractor with a smallish tipper trailer, load it up in the yard, put a cover on to keep it dryish, and load it that way, wouldn't need much say a 8 ton marston or alikes, just park it up and away you go, lot cheaper than a second tele handler and quicker to source to maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Not really an option im afraid as id then need two trailers one for fert and one for seed, in an ideal world id like to use an 8 wheeler tipper lorry for fert but either way i still need to handle bags of seed, i can't really tip all the seed into a trailer and tip in the auger as with contract farming the farmer more than often pays for the seed so mixing up is not an option and also keeping it in bags allows you to work out if the drill is calibrated right as you know by weight of the bags how many acres you should drill before running out, i think its just quicker having a chap running out seed and fert on our flatbed with the handler in the field, also often drilling a farm in a day sometimes less he can run another trailer out to the next farm before the drill gets there then move the handler, just helps to keep things ticking along smooth, when farming 6,600 acres you can't afford to hang around, its got to be on the dot espically farming for other people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 What about a putting a bin spliter in a trailer like you see them useing in Canada to keep there huge seeders going? a Y shape insert is bolted into the trailer/bin. The bottum of the Y has a door on it just inside the trailers grain door and depending on witch way the door is fert or seed comes out the back. Unloads even so the trailer wont tip over even if more of one product is taken out. Just an idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Ah well Alex you can always practice filling up on the move from your CTF tramlines! They manage to fill planes with fuel in the sky. You are on the ground so must be do able? I think with some Guiness record attempts at drilling they also filled on the move. On a more serious note, it isn't bad stopping every now and then. Driver can stretch his legs and check over the machine. During the potato harvest when I was lifting you occasionally had to wait for trailers and I would do a little greasing up or some minor maintenance. Make yourself useful rather than looking at your phone. That way greasing up isn't a pain and you make sure everything is working in good order. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 What about a putting a bin spliter in a trailer like you see them useing in Canada to keep there huge seeders going? a Y shape insert is bolted into the trailer/bin. The bottum of the Y has a door on it just inside the trailers grain door and depending on witch way the door is fert or seed comes out the back. Unloads even so the trailer wont tip over even if more of one product is taken out. Just an idea. Nice idea Ol, worth looking into defiantly, i'll do some research Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Begs the question in my eye's why if the machinery is getting bigger and can drill wider widths then why fit a small hopper to them so you have to have an extra man on stand by to fill it? Cost of drill + extra man to keep it filled = ? how can this system be cost productive? I know it covers a bigger area per day but it involves extra costs. Shame you couldn't have a bigger hopper for it (sorry for being a pain in the rear) I think we are missing the point ever so slightly here, its not a small hopper by any means, split 60:40 the seed part of the hopper is still bigger than the hopper on our 8 metre Vaderstad Rapid so all in all accounting for the extra width its about the same. Anybody who has been drilling myself included in the past hasn't wished they had a bigger hopper? I know i did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Ah well Alex you can always practice filling up on the move from your CTF tramlines! They manage to fill planes with fuel in the sky. You are on the ground so must be do able? I think with some Guiness record attempts at drilling they also filled on the move. On a more serious note, it isn't bad stopping every now and then. Driver can stretch his legs and check over the machine. During the potato harvest when I was lifting you occasionally had to wait for trailers and I would do a little greasing up or some minor maintenance. Make yourself useful rather than looking at your phone. That way greasing up isn't a pain and you make sure everything is working in good order. I agree with you 100% Niels, a very valid point and keeps everything flowing. In the past when iv been drilling its not until you get out to load seed that you notice things, coulter blocked, following harrow needs tensioning slightly one side, as it settles into work things need changing and also for different conditions. Its a good thing! Having a chap organising seed and fert may cost a bit more but i would argue having a Challenger and 12m drill and driver parked up waiting for seed costs money and also it just makes everything flow better and assures timeliness so the crops go in the ground in the right conditions, we beat the weather and are up and away without compromising potential yield, if we messed about not doing these steps now that does cost in the long term, as well as upsetting the land owner as to why its not in on time and in turn sacrificing yields. Of course yield is a relative matter and many other things have an influence but i believe it has to start off right, if you don't do that right why bother? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 you bet me to it ol :laugh: I have seen that used up Suffolk way, for smaller drills than your alex, long time ago mind as now I am well away from it . sure a trailer converted to something like that would work out cheaper, wouldn't even need the tractor to stay on site, just drop it off, 1/2 tipped on the headland ,certainly worth looking into it, especially if the big rigs over yankie land use it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catkom3 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Pardon me being a wee bit pedantic here but,why would you use a forklift of all things to lift a big to fill an auger,would it not be simpler to fill the hopper directly with the forklift,!!,personally,I'd fit a Hiab,( other knuckelboom's available ) on the Horsch and cut out the forklift / auger, Regards Joe. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Pardon me being a wee bit pedantic here but,why would you use a forklift of all things to lift a big to fill an auger,would it not be simpler to fill the hopper directly with the forklift,!!,personally,I'd fit a Hiab,( other knuckelboom's available ) on the Horsch and cut out the forklift / auger, Regards Joe. Well let me justify this Joe, when the pic was taken it was in the yard before the first outing, the JCB was busy loading fert out in the field for our spreader, so the forklift was used, the auger was fitted for instances like this, it also will not quite reach the centre of the hopper because the hopper opening is quite restricted and relatively narrow tge forklift mast would hit the side of the tank before the bag reaches the opening. This also was a good test to make sure the auger worked. This allows use complete flexibility, normally we would tip the bag straight in the hopper with JCB as its quicker, but when drilling locally and a yard fill up is needed and no JCB we can still load up with the forklift and auger, best of both worlds, try to think of every scenario when ordering a model to cater for the needs of the business, supposed to be well thought out!! If i went down the route of loading by bulk lorry or trailer like some have suggested i would still need an auger. Nice idea on the Hiab for complete self sufficiency though, not sure it woyld be stable enough on the drill without legs fitted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 you bet me to it ol :laugh: I have seen that used up Suffolk way, for smaller drills than your alex, long time ago mind as now I am well away from it . sure a trailer converted to something like that would work out cheaper, wouldn't even need the tractor to stay on site, just drop it off, 1/2 tipped on the headland ,certainly worth looking into it, especially if the big rigs over yankie land use it Glad i'm not the only who's seen them. Mine is planned for bringing two types of bulk fert out from the depot to save a trip then like you say just tip it up out on the farm and take from it what is needed, come harvest time it's just lifted out so you can take grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catkom3 Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Figured you would have all options covered Alex,The Hiab might be something Horsch etc might try. Regards Joe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I don't think the construction of the drill is strong enough to take a crane of that size. Would also add a LOT of weight. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakley Farms Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) Well today allowed me to get out the office and travel round the estate looking at crops and progress, beautiful day with the birds singing, daffodils coming into flower in glorious sunshine, spring has finally sprung and i was glad to be outside. Things are going swimmingly, perhaps a little too well? The rape has now had sulphur and nitrogen, winter barley has had 70kg of N to maintain tiller and ear survial, now Phil is working his way around the wheats, another week first dressings will nearly be complete thanks to the kind use of Orchards Merlo making this possible. Chris is getting on well drilling spring beans with 440 acres now in the ground at Frogmary and Yeabridge, nextdoor at Wigborough tomorrow. Its looking like i will be putting in a shift with the mighty Horsch on Sunday and if stays dry all 1,200 acres will be done by next Tuesday, a record spring drilling campaign at Oakley but im not speaking too soon! Looking at wheats with Sarah Symes our agronimist today with T0 sprays planned for the end of the month, we looked at the difference between early and late drilled crops, later drilled included Speaks ground for cultural stale seedbeds and Atherstone after potatoes and the results were shocking, looking at tillering, early drilled managed 750 tillers/sq m where as late drilled only managed between 300-500 tillers/sq m. We linked this back to GAI and ADAS and worked out earlier drilled wheat contained around 30kg Nitrogen/Ha and later drilled was only 5kg N/Ha which suggests to me by delaying drilling we are losing up to 25kg N/Ha! Now going forward this is simply not sustainable or keeping Carbon usage down and also goes back to the point i made earlier in the week about timeliness and not hanging around when getting crops in the ground and some thought how having a chap loading the drill and organising seed was expensive but this really does put things into perspective as later drilled crops are going to incur greater fertiliser costs. That is the cost of messing about and drilling date, some farmers stick it in far too late by not being on the ball, or not having there finger on the pulse and don't realise how much this hampers potential yield and extra cost. Many have said on such a scale as Oakley it can't be improved, i beg to differ and constantly improve, of course there is only one thing that can stand in our way and that is the classic British weather but at least we are ready to go with the tackle and team as soon as conditions allow to try and achieve the best results we can for our land owners. Its all about attention to detail and running a smooth professional operation. Edited March 12, 2015 by Oakley Farms 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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