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flexicoil 2320 cart. Wavy seed distribution.

5K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Northern Farmer 
#1 ·
I use a tow behind ground driven metering system flexicoil 2320 air seeder behind a caseih pd500 air drill. I get a bunched or wavy seed pattern behind the drill. Even across the width of the drill, but high density for about 10’ of seed row and low density for about the same distance. When the crop emerges it looks wavy. Why is this? Is something wrong with my metering system? Is it air related? Thanks for your input.
 
#3 ·
I never had that problem with the one I had so I can't comment from experience and as was just said about running too slow a fan speed may be the problem or part of it. What I was curious about is the metering roll courseness you were using for the given seed type/size you were seeding and seeding rate would be the other aspect of this. What I am curious of is lets say for example you were using an extra course meter roll and in order to put on a relatively light amount of small seed the meter would have to turn very slowly and with that would come a somewhat uneven flow vs a less course roller that would have to turn over somewhat faster and even out the flow rate. Its been some years since I was using one but it does show meter roll RPM ?, also does that RPM seem fairly steady.
 
#4 ·
What are you seeding and what rates? What meter rollers are you using? What fans speed? Air flow sensor numbers? When you hand crank it, does the meter turn fairly smoothly and consistently? The pattern you describe points to the metering in my opinion, but air flow could be part of it.
 
#5 ·
Fine meter roller in wheat and barley 120-130 lbs per acres in wheat with 80 lbs of starter like 11-52 or 40 rock. Fan speed shows steady and the velocity I keep around 5100. I want to say this is within the range the manual suggests. Maybe I ought to speed it up a bit and see if it fixes it.
 
#10 ·
There are two one way clutches in the meter gear box. If one is slipping, it would only rotate the meter half the time, probably would look wavy. Hand crank and watch. the meter should never quite stop as it speeds up and slows down.

Or as others said, if turning much too slow trying to meter a small quantity with a big roller.
 
#13 ·
I had one of the engineers from flexicoil ride along with me one time and she said there is supposed to be a little bit of mixing and smoothing action going on in the tubes on the way to the drill, she said too high of a fan speed could lead to this tiger striping because the air is blasting it through too fast. We have removed the outside row tube and hold the end of the tube level with the frame pointing straight up, run some seed through the system...... whatever comes out of the tube should soot up about 18” above the frame. Our fame speed is usually 4400 rpm.
 
#15 ·
Had our seed metering gearbox pack up on Sunday, as Jvw said one of the clutches was slipping, our rate in the cab basically halved,a few hectares of barley got seeded like this hoping it would ‘fix itself’ so be interesting to see how it looks when it comes up
 
#16 ·
House, I am wondering then if you noticed your seed rate being much lower then what your target was, another words could do many more acres on a tank of seed. If that is not the case, then I would think that would not lean to a lack of tank pressurization or slipping clutch issues. Thought I would throw that out as I don't recall it being said the seed volume used was in question.
 
#17 ·
This is my second year with this cart. Yes, last year my cart seeded 10 lbs lighter than my calibrated target rate. This year, I replaced the meter wear plates and and did a field check walking along side the machine to count the crank revolutions for a quarter acre. This gave me some semblance of confidence that my stationary calibration was somewhat accurate. Now it’s seeding about 5 lbs lbs heavier than my targeted calibration of a 125 lb barley seeding rate.
 
#18 ·
162644

So, this evening I started working on this. I found that my lid had some surface rust that was causing some air leak. This was in multiple places on the rear tank. In the pic you can see where dust was sneaking through on the seal. I cleaned up the rust and flaky paint with a wire wheel and repainted. Could this have been my problem? I suppose I’m going to have to start using petroleum jelly on the seal to help it seal air tight?

I did buy the clutches so I will be working on Putting those in tomorrow.
 
#20 ·
Well from what you say it seems the seeding rate is not way under what you set it at so that certainly has me stumped in the case of either a clutch issue or too much air leaking out the tank lid. In theory quite a bit less seed should be used if either of those were issues. So much for my bright ideas !. In saying that, that doesn't mean you don't have a clutch or sealing issue. As to what the setup is like in that tank, I guess it has been a while since I last was in one of those tanks as I was having a hard time visualizing what the setup was like but the square pipe is familiar. In any event you felt the air flowing out both of those pipes and a pretty good air flow so I can't see that being a problem. The lid leaking, very good question as to how much leaking around the seal it can take before it would be enough to cause an issue but in reality you shouldn't be feeling any air with a good sealing lid. I suppose those rubber seals can get firmer over time but I never replaced any of them on my unit and also never had any rust on a lid. How is the clamping force of your over center lever as I would do what you are doing painting on the lid and then see if you think the lever needs a bit of tightening to give a bit more clamping force. Then run the fan at the speed you have been using and feel around the lids, then crank up the fan to 5000 rpm for example if your tractor can and test again as the higher the fan speed the more air pressure gets developed pushing on those lids. Hopefully I haven't been the cause of you chasing your tail too much, at least you now know to check those air tubes for air and the tank lids that they are holding. Always wipe all seed/fert/dust etc off the seals before you close the lids to give it the best chance possible to seal ( and I imagine you have been ) . Like had been brought up as well, maybe fan speed is causing a slugging effect, again never had that happen with an air drill but I have seen a neighbours crop look like you describe with thin and thicker area's all down the row of plants and was not this brand of tank but there was some reason for it although I never heard what the issue was.
 
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