[SWFarmService]

I know this sounds dumb at first thought but it keep circling in my head, I am in southwest north Dakota and we average 14" rain. I run a twin row planter on 30s and it has been a huge improvement over straight 30s because of the canopy in the dry cycles, I variable rate from 18,000-38,000 seeds average about 25,000. We are trying my custom cutters flexxfinger pans on a fd-75 40' macdon and it got me thinking that if I used my seedmaster drill on 12" spacing and ran 32,000 average seeds would the erroatic spacing be such a big deal with the better use of space and a better conopy or would it be similar to what I already have, givin the idea that I could harvest it with this header I think I am going to try it. I want to hear your opinion, tell me if I really did lose my mind or if there would be some merrit here. Thanks guys

 

[catpower400]

Corn spacing is VERY VERY critical. With the yield loss you could buy the correct equipment. Just my .02 cents but I would never plant corn with an air drill.

 

[SWFarmService]

I just don't know if it would be as critical in the 12" vs 30", I currently have a yp2425tr great plains and it is 22" and then 8", I am very happy with the yield bump but I want to increase my pop with the little rain fall we get

 

[SWFarmService]

What part of ND you in catpower?

 

[doorknob]

I know this sounds dumb at first thought but it keep circling in my head, I am in southwest north Dakota and we average 14" rain. I run a twin row planter on 30s and it has been a huge improvement over straight 30s because of the canopy in the dry cycles, I variable rate from 18,000-38,000 seeds average about 25,000. We are trying my custom cutters flexxfinger pans on a fd-75 40' macdon and it got me thinking that if I used my seedmaster drill on 12" spacing and ran 32,000 average seeds would the erroatic spacing be such a big deal with the better use of space and a better conopy or would it be similar to what I already have, givin the idea that I could harvest it with this header I think I am going to try it. I want to hear your opinion, tell me if I really did lose my mind or if there would be some merrit here. Thanks guys

I'll figure out a way to buy a bag of seed and donate to you if you try this and keep me informed on how it works. I like the idea and I too feel it can work as long as you can get the depth control you need with your drill, and cover the seed proper. IMO.

For years, "here", I had used my deere 1590 to plant corn at the duck lake for duck food. 15" spacing, and did'nt even do a very good job of covering the seed. It grew fine. Now sure, I may have gotten a couple bushel higher yield (as if it mattered for feed) had I used a planter, but since I dont raise enough corn to justify a planter and the cost to hire it would not be offset by the yield increase, I was more than happy with the drill planting job. At least if you can try it on a small scale for the first year, you will learn what you need to make it work, or know enough to not do it again.

The one time I did grow grain corn as an experiment in 2009, I hired the planting. I also hired the corn topped with a sweet corn topper to aid with harvest since I had no access to a corn head and had to use an old rigid platform head.

Keep thinking outside the box. Never give up.

 

[mbfarmer]

We tried it and weren't satisfied at all. Not only was the spacing very poor but the emergence was terribly uneven. I don't think anyone who has planted corn with a planter would satisfied with the seedmasters. That was our experience.

 

[Neufeldt]

We have planted corn with a Seedhawk but it was for grazing. Emergence wasn't bad, stand was uniform and our forage yield was comparable to planter corn. We are in central Sask. so grain corn is not a realistic option.

 

[Andrew_D]

Do you have the on frame seed tank? Seedmaster has been working on a corn meter for their units. I saw it in the field the first year and wasn't impressed with the spacing in the field (although it is better with their on-row meters than any manifold system out there) but you might be able to try that. Owen at Seedmaster has been doing trials on their research farm comparing the SM drill and a corn planter. I believe they have just been doing 30".

I know that around here when guys first started growing silage corn, they were using air seeders and figured it was OK - not great, but they weren't growing for bu/ac, so what the heck! Once they switched to planters, they won't go back. Higher t/ac with a planter.

Andrew

 

[mbfarmer]

Yup two extra tonnes per acre time and time again here.

 

[nddurumman]

It can work. we have done it with a SDX40 and planted twin rows with it. We also have had a flop doing it with the air drill. we had the air pressure set for small grains and cracked the corn seed in the manifold. The corn seed was also very dry. I will use the planter from now on. Seed costs are to high to screw it up.

 

[dschill]

If you were growing conventional corn at 75-100 per bag it could work. Not with 250$ a bag seed. You need 40-50% more seed through drill to equal yield from planter. $35 extra seed per acre buys a-lot of planter

 

[SWFarmService]

Andrew I don't have the on board box but have been considering the small Gandy box looking thing they put on the front of the toolbar for canola, I would think meters would be interchangeable, if you ever read that little seed master flier they send out they have had a few articles on Doug Fitterer, he had one he bought new on 30" spacing with on board box he used for corn a few years, spacing was nothing special but reasonable, and the emergence was very comparable to a planter with 1.5 depth. I am thinking imperfect spacing wouldn't be nearly as important in 12" because of the larger foot print it would have to grow in. Thanks guys for your replies, very much appreciated, please keep em coming!

 

[Andrew_D]

Andrew I don't have the on board box but have been considering the small Gandy box looking thing they put on the front of the toolbar for canola, I would think meters would be interchangeable, if you ever read that little seed master flier they send out they have had a few articles on Doug Fitterer, he had one he bought new on 30" spacing with on board box he used for corn a few years, spacing was nothing special but reasonable, and the emergence was very comparable to a planter with 1.5 depth. I am thinking imperfect spacing wouldn't be nearly as important in 12" because of the larger foot print it would have to grow in. Thanks guys for your replies, very much appreciated, please keep em coming!

Yes, spacing wasn't perfect, but was still OK. When trying to blow a corn seed through 50' of hose, there is going to be some bounce to mess things up! I have been seriously looking at a Seedmaster drill, but 10" spacing is borderline too wide for me! If they made a 7.5" machine, I'd order one! Love the on-row metering idea though!

Andrew

 

[MNfarmer85]

Yes, spacing wasn't perfect, but was still OK. When trying to blow a corn seed through 50' of hose, there is going to be some bounce to mess things up!

Same reason a center fill corn planter still has meters on every row. We have only ever used a planter for corn since that is one of our 2 main crops. If you are trying out corn for the first time you could make an air seeder work, but keep in mind the results won't be as good as what a planter does.

Here in the corn belt even emergence is a must, any plant that comes up 2-4 weeks later might as well be a weed, it's going to be too far behind the others to compete and just soaks up nutrients but won't make an ear.

 

[nddurumman]

We're you running that header on a S77 combining sunflowers south of Regent? I don't think what you want to do is crazy. Doug did it and had good yields it was just hard to look at the plant spacing and be happy. One thing about any of the para link hoe drills is they do a good job of seed placement and blacken the soil.

 

[farmer 4 ever]

Good friend of mine is planting 15" rows with a planter with good success. Don't know about the drill though... What you could try also is keep your twin row and plant in between your first pass. I know someone who does that by offseting the hitch 15" with a cylinder on his 3 pts hitch so he always drives at the same spot. Could be a good way to see if narrower spacing would work good with better precision than a drill.

 

[mbfarmer]

Same reason a center fill corn planter still has meters on every row. We have only ever used a planter for corn since that is one of our 2 main crops. If you are trying out corn for the first time you could make an air seeder work, but keep in mind the results won't be as good as what a planter does.

Here in the corn belt even emergence is a must, any plant that comes up 2-4 weeks later might as well be a weed, it's going to be too far behind the others to compete and just soaks up nutrients but won't make an ear.

Anything that comes up 2 days later is a weed.

 

[SWFarmService]

That's us with the Gleaner, the pan system works great, it seems slow but it is a 40' on there, the rotor belt twisted but it has 1100 sep hours on it and it cut a lot of milo and flowers in South Dakota, I was really unsure of trying this system but wow, it really eats up the trash and zero header loss, less than a bushel out the rear, we started out with bolth machines but I parked the corn head.

 

[SWFarmService]

And yeah we cut Mikey's flowers with it, there is some trick to getting the reel set just right but works good
Who am is speaking with durum man?

 

[kirschenman]

Forgot about this thread until this planter came across Kijiji.

Great Plains Precision Canola Planter 40 Feet | farming equipment | Red Deer | Kijiji

Its got row units on 10 inch spacing. Would be no way you would be able to run row cleaners on it and trash clearance may be an issue depending on the residue. But Great plains obviously can build a narrow row planter. This on on 10 inch. The twin rows come in at 8 inches between the twins with their heavier opener. Even if you could get a planter built on 8 inch twins with 16 inches between you would be getting into that average 12 inch row spacing with some room to clear residue to.