mrol Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I've been reading through the BFF recently - a lot of interesting chat on there! Of particular interest is the Direct Drilling piece and got me wondering: 1. Does anyone on here have much experience of DD and the various kit used for this? 2. Are there any DD drills in 1/32 scale available - I can't immediately think of any but wonder if anyone else can? Feels like the 1/32 scale farmer should be starting to get to grips with DD/strip-till as it seems the way many are now heading in real farming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Not sure about the model front but a friend of mine does a lot of direct drilling of grass seed. I have no pictures of the drill he uses or know the make of it but it is quite a small machine that slot-seeds directly into the soil and has a row of heavy link steel chains that drag over the ground behind the drill. The drill itself is quite small, not much wider than the tractor. The old pasture needs to be burnt off before rdrilling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractortim Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Not sure about the model front but a friend of mine does a lot of direct drilling of grass seed. I have no pictures of the drill he uses or know the make of it but it is quite a small machine that slot-seeds directly into the soil and has a row of heavy link steel chains that drag over the ground behind the drill. The drill itself is quite small, not much wider than the tractor. The old pasture needs to be burnt off before rdrilling. SimTech Aitchison think it will be a nz made aitchison drill very good drills Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Not a vast amount of experience other than direct drilling grass seed with a John Dale Zero-Till drill. This uses Canadian 'Seedhawk' coulters which are now available fitted to the Vaderstad Seedhawk drill. Moore Unidrills were a popular drill around here for direct drilling turnips into stubble. Bettison were a big name back in the day too when direct drilling was the in thing. It's a fad for most. A few have stuck to it for decades, others always have a 'better' idea and go back to the plough, or min till.... Or both!! Certainly around my area if Wiltshire and Somerset you see very little. A small amount of people go straight into some stubbles with a Vaderstad cultivator drill or similar but this is NOT direct drilling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 The one in the picture on the right in the link is the exact one my mate uses. He's looking to get a slightly bigger one for his local work but keep the one he has as it fits easily on an Ifor Williams trailer for work he has drilling further away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 SimTech Aitchison think it will be a nz made aitchison drill very good drills Simple drills,but popular over here in NZ were driect drilling in common in arable and grassland farming systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Palmer Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 mrol britains made the massey 130 drill and that was a direct drill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MF-ROB Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Ive used a Moore Unidrill for drilling grass seed I would be more a fan of the old 4 furrows if you ask me love the sound of the plough turning ground over. (yes I dont get out much ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Palmer Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Ive used a Moore Unidrill for drilling grass seed I would be more a fan of the old 4 furrows if you ask me love the sound of the plough turning ground over. (yes I dont get out much ) not atall bob,i find ploughing very theraputic,dont know if i spelt that right,but seeing the field turn from stubble to soil is great,what i would like to know is how the seagulls find you so quickly,allways thought about that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Palmer Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 and here is a picture of the massey direct drill which britains released,in 1979 i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 The Britains MF drill was a grain drill really, the early Norsden drill they produced would have been more like the type of direct drill being discussed as the topic title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fendt-the deere killer Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 used to use a great plains direct drill for grass seed into stubble and wheat into stubble wicked bit of kit !! 3.5m wide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrol Posted August 22, 2012 Author Share Posted August 22, 2012 I guess I was thinking of some of the more modern machines - Claydon, JD750a, Mzuri strip till - that kind of thing. Perhaps some of these classify as min till rather than direct drill? Whilst I love the sight, smell and sound of ploughing, it does seem that maybe it has had its day as the mainstay of the cultivation regime. Rotational ploughing with min till/DD would seem a much more cost and time effective way of doing things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeere6910 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 We've used our old simba freeflow direct but not often as it takes some pull. The sumo versadrill has got a lot of work locally with the factory being close. More min til practised around us now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMG Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 (edited) The Britains MF drill was a grain drill really, the early Norsden drill they produced would have been more like the type of direct drill being discussed as the topic title. Nope, the MF130 is a true direct drill, i.e. plants the seed with minimal soil disturbance, in this case using disc coulters - though it could also be used as a traditional drill. The Nordsten was a standrad suffolk coulter drill, for drilling already cultivated ground. In the middle you have cultivator drills, such as in the past Carrier drills and now there are also strip-till drills. Given rising resistant blackgrass, fewer herbicide options and the mounting evidence that leaving blackgrass seed on the surface is the best way of getting control, means I expect more of this in the future. That's not even mentioning the cost of diesel. Edited August 29, 2012 by JMG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Palmer Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Nope, the MF130 is a true direct drill, i.e. plants the seed with minimal soil disturbance, in this case using disc coulters - though it could also be used as a traditional drill. The Nordsten was a standrad suffolk coulter drill, for drilling already cultivated ground. In the middle you have cultivator drills, such as in the past Carrier drills and now there are also strip-till drills. Given rising resistant blackgrass, fewer herbicide options and the mounting evidence that leaving blackgrass seed on the surface is the best way of getting control, means I expect more of this in the future. That's not even mentioning the cost of diesel. thanks for the info jmg,i was sure the drill was a direct drill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL FORD Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) The MOORE direct drill is still available but is also the current technology in the SUMO Versadrill. I ran a new Mk III MOORE UNIDRILL from 1981 to '98 when we packed up farming/contracting, doing all sorts of crops from small seeds like Rape, kale & swede, rape to Maize & peas.. & rape ....(" you said rape three times" "I know, I like rape!".........( see the film"BLAZING SADDLES" ha ha!!) The most unusual situation was drilling wheat into frozen ground in February where the previously-sown farm-saved seed had not germinated (DAWWWW- who didn't check THAT!!!?) and the farm avoided having to re-plough and sow when time was of the essence and the residual herbicide was left undisturbed..... it worked so well the farm bought their own MOORE the following year! According to the recent Farmers Weekly articles it seems it is becoming more and more popular due to the great cost saving in establishing a crop, which is why I bought one over 30 yrs ago. I could stay here all night talking about the pros and cons of all the different machines, but obviously Sam Moore got it right all those years ago when he left the MF drill design team in the mid 70s to make his own "Unidrill". Edited September 10, 2012 by NIGEL FORD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Was there not government grants towards direct drilling back in the seventies? I know a chap who worked for a contractor running Bettison drills in the 70's/early 80's on behalf of a farming supply company, possible Wiltshire Farmers? I'm sure it was part funded in some way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIGEL FORD Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Could have been a tie-up with ICI as "Gramoxone" (paraquat) weed killer was new then and the destruction of the greenery before direct drilling was usually by this chemical as Roundup was still in its infancy in 1973. I certainly don't remember any gov.grant being available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Could well have been this then, Nigel yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CX820Joe Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 where I used to live the fella that farmed most of the land had a Bettinson DD drill - I think at one time he'd used it in conjunction with disc harrows but eventually went back to ploughing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 No one system seems to fit a farm out right,most smart farmers here do abit of every thing.The managment to 100% direct drill your farm is alot higher than to plough the place from one side to the other witch also tends to put people off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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