[CNHMOFO]

Just wanted to know what is the true benifit to going with a parralink drill??? Yield?? I know that you get better seed placement, but is there any data to prove that a seedhawk give a better yield than a flexi-coil 5000?? or a Bourgault 5810??? I have watch the performance in our area this year and I see guys pulling, Heavy harrows, diamond harrows, and vertical tillage units in front of their parralinks to be able to seed. What ever happened to the whole concept of ZERO tillage?? I just does not make any sence to me, Why would you want to go and buy a unit that forces you to add another operation to the seeding season??

What are your thoughts??

 

[Fixx]

Well their are several reasons we went with a 3320 xtc with the midrow banders. I believe it has better trash clearance than the seed twins. the mid rows cut the sraw and it does not have a trailing shank for it to catch on after it releases from the first shank . if I new how to post pics I could show you some real disasters from seed twins. it has pretty dam good seed placement . you are not ripping the **** out of the ground trying to deep band the nitrogen [dutch paired row found on several brands of air drill ... 5000.]3320 has a narrow seed opener.. 3/4 or1". I like safe placement of nitrogen fert ...midrows. xtc is fairly easy to adjust depth if needed. easy depth adjustment of depth on midrow 3s. it contours really well ... never turn around to seed along a washout or a steep ass hill. the frame is built like a brick **** house and have not seen any cracking yet. the drill matches to a real good tank ..... never worried about leveling of the drill. can adjust the packing pressure . if our land was like a table top im not sure an independent opener drill is worth it but it sure is nice. we did have some trash issues where the wheat went down last yr but what drill doesn't?

 

[Fixx]

I believe the midrows cutting the straw gives it an edge in trash clearance over a 5000

 

[tswanson]

In general I don't think guys with independent opener drills have to do anymore work ahead of the drill than anyone else. I also don't think yield is any different in most crops between these drills and conventional drills. I bought our Contour drill for two reasons. I was always fighting to get seed depth level across the drill we had and really like the idea of setting depth on each shank. I also never want to fight with trying to change packer gang bearings and recapping packers. What a nightmare that can be. If you like the job your machine is doing then don't worry about what other machines are doing. I like my drill, but it's far from perfect.

 

[West Central]

We use a 3320 xtc because we seed alot of canola and specialty crops. Our land isn't all flat. We seed all our durum with a 5710 to try to get it in a little earlier. Have seeded wheat side by side the 3320 and 5710 same day and saw no yield difference in fact could not tell where the line was entire year. It was wet tho that year... If all we seeded was cereals a 5710 would do fine. Years ago we seeded canola with 5710 and had great crops but with the 3320 it is even all year and can get better timing on swathing and spraying. We believe even if we get 2 or 3 more bushels out of the paralink it's worth it over time it adds up. Also when really wet we can get in fields seeding faster than the 5710 with rubber packers. Also pulls easier. We harrow everything in fall but for more reasons than because we seed with a paralink the following spring such as leveling getting some dirt on weeds to germinate faster and to warm soil faster in spring. The time for straw management is during combining so we harrow for other reasons than that. I consider the 5710 the caddilac of drills and the paralink the rolls Royce. Does a guy need a rolls Royce?.. No but sure is nice to fn drive.

 

[doorknob]

ZERO tillage with a 5000? Or for that matter any tine based opener. Hmmm,....guess I need help understanding that part.

 

[sneeky]

There was a seeding trial done in Aus in 2012. I believe the Seedhawk had the best end yield compared to 8 other machines. What was really interesting was all the tyned machines beat all the disc machines in yield.

 

[victory]

maturity

Much more even crop if the seed depth is all the same. Easier timing for spraying, fungicide treatment and harvesting.
If you have table top land, then a paralink might not be necessary.

 

[lentilgrower]

For us the parlink works alot better in the hills. They don't bit in when you crest the hill and seem to pull easier than our 5000 did. The first year demo I did then independent opener drill had 3 to 5 days faster emergence than our 5000. Ended up being a late harvest so we were not able to check yeild difference which I am sure there was none but in a dry year there probably would be. I think in our land they are worth the extra money to get all the hills even with the rest of the field.

 

[Blue Oval Man]

Been thinking about a new seeding outfit for next year and after watching all the neighbors around me with there 3320's and the trash clearance problems, in all stubbles, I ruled it out. I was able to seed 40 more acres in a day with my 43' Deere disc drill than the 66' paralinks, and had a much cleaner field finish. Can't tell any difference in time of germination either. Will be looking at the Pillar disc drill for next year.

 

[Fixx]

I have also noticed that in the two crops we have seen emerge that the 3320 def seems to emerge at least 2-3 days ahead of 5000 drilled crops . our wheat this yr was 4 leaf and starting to tiller and the wheat across the fence was 3leaf only and had been seeded 3 days before ours . hense we are done spraying wheat as of two days ago and the 5000 crops are still being sprayed

 

[Fixx]

Been thinking about a new seeding outfit for next year and after watching all the neighbors around me with there 3320's and the trash clearance problems, in all stubbles, I ruled it out. I was able to seed 40 more acres in a day with my 43' Deere disc drill than the 66' paralinks, and had a much cleaner field finish. Can't tell any difference in time of germination either. Will be looking at the Pillar disc drill for next year.

we never had plugging problems with our 1895 either but when you had any amount of staw it would hair pin like a mofo and blow the seeds on top of the ground .... dry conditions and minimal straw it did a good job

 

[gopherchoker]

Have a seedmaster and hawk. Trash isn't an issue when you seed between the rows. the only time we till is to knock down cattails

 

[BrianTee]

Marketing is a powerful thing. Why sell a single pivot when you can sell 5 miles of hydraulic hose, 65 rams, and 4,000,000 needle bearings for $200k more. Custom seeding today with a drill made in 1998. True zero till, no trash problems, can seed in 4 foot tall wheat straw, doesn't pull out rocks. My, haven't we come a long way in 17 years!

http://t.co/q00XG6RNte

 

[West Central]

Marketing is a powerful thing. Why sell a single pivot when you can sell 5 miles of hydraulic hose, 65 rams, and 4,000,000 needle bearings for $200k more. Custom seeding today with a drill made in 1998. True zero till, no trash problems, can seed in 4 foot tall wheat straw, doesn't pull out rocks. My, haven't we come a long way in 17 years!

http://t.co/q00XG6RNte

No one would hire you around here to seed their canola.

 

[BrianTee]

Just wanted to know what is the true benifit to going with a parralink drill??? Yield?? I know that you get better seed placement, but is there any data to prove that a seedhawk give a better yield than a flexi-coil 5000?? or a Bourgault 5810??? I have watch the performance in our area this year and I see guys pulling, Heavy harrows, diamond harrows, and vertical tillage units in front of their parralinks to be able to seed. What ever happened to the whole concept of ZERO tillage?? I just does not make any sence to me, Why would you want to go and buy a unit that forces you to add another operation to the seeding season??

What are your thoughts??

I wouldn't hire me either to seed canola , given the new conservapak, hawks, masters etc do a better job then a 20 year old design. Changing over to Pillars, so now would you hire me?

Its an extremely valid question, does a paralink, with quantifiable data, YIELD better then a single pivot. Does the bourgault with jacks and hoses and needle bearinged paralink Pillar design yield better then a single plastic bushing lined Pillar Lasers built opener pulled by a spring? Also the question about zero till unanswered, as all the 'activity' and the look of the almost black field on most of these units bring the entire category to direct seeding and absolutely not zero till. Maybe zero till doesn't work as good after all. Its why we are giving up on the Barton, the seed takes too long to come up, ground stays too cold - as long as we have wet cool weather.

Its a fascinating question.

But the original question remains unanswered, is yield better.

 

[wetfarmer]

I always felt that a disc drill provides a much nicer stand and a much easier to handle stand for timing fungicides and such but that moving a little dirt with a shank provides a little more grain in the end. We are not zero till country by the way, So if a drill can move a little dirt , place seed well and at even depth , then it might be the best of both worlds.I know what people mean by having to work land ahead of some machines. The low disturbance machines require more planning ahead on fall tillage issues than something that does a little straightening out in the field. I have dutch paired row right now on a Deere and an older sdx disc drill. I have had planters , JD disc drills and a bourgault with 3/4 inch openers . Some springs I wish I still had them all because there is a circumstance where they all are the best choice. We have no hills but I can see where a conventional shank machine would be frustrating in the hills. They are bad enough through ditches. After owning and using all these planting/seeding implements I can't say say that there is one that is the best. I'm still searching for that one. The 3/4 inch opener was close but I don't want mid rows and it leaves the fertilizer issue unsolved.

 

[SouthernSK]

So true wetfarmer.

 

[w-mFarms]

we run a planter and a shank machine (case ih atx 4010)
when its wet and muddy we run out with the planter and put in our beans and corn, once its dry we go out with the shank machine. The problem with our shank machine is the uneven depth and not able to seed into our drains, it will just leave the seed on top.
With our shank machine we blacken up the soil which will give a better yield result over a disc drill. The uneven stand in canola makes you wanna pull out your hair sometimes. But once the combine goes in it is still good.
we often thought about trading to a disc drill. But my friend went from a concord to a jd disc drill in 2011 he said the yield monitor showed 0 yield difference where the 2 seeders met in the middle of the field. the stuff seeded with the disc drill looked nicer and more even all year he said.
The nice thing about the disc drill is that you don't bring up mud and will maintain your even seed placement compared to a hoe machine. I just feel that you will need 3 different seeders for every situation.

 

[primer]

I went to a Salford 525 from a Bourgault 5710. In the last 10 years, we've been getting more rain than ever before. Our yields are consistently up 40 to 50% and on occasion are near 100% more. As a side effect, I have way more straw to deal with as well as poor results from my 5710.

I switched because I've lost way too much germination from improper seed depth and surface sealing from the steel packers. When conditions were perfect it was fine, but we've had less than ideal conditions.

So far this year, my new drill gave excellent germination where I didn't screw up and I pulled it through conditions that I wouldn't have with my 5710.