[GleanerFanatic]

What would be your best recommendations for a no till hoe drill for a guy that’s just starting out? I’m not looking for anything fancy, just a good, solid, reliable drill that will get me going. I can probably only handle 30-40 ft wide, and preferably 12 in spacing.

 

[Slewis]

I started with and still have a red concord, 32' 12" spacing 3 rank. Has a diesel motor that runs the fan. I've learned a lot from it and would do it again, but it is not as low maintenance as I thought a hoe drill may be. Stay on top of loose packer wheel bearings before seeding and it holds together well. Also keep a mounted spare tire handy and you won't have to run to town in the middle of the day if you lose one. If you neglect them you'll be stopping at inopportune times. I seed fall and spring wheat with it, it will go through 120+ bu stubble if
managed properly. I think 12" is a little wide for spring crops but I've still had record yields with it. Neighbors crop was better though ha. Seed it shallow and pray for a rain, it's served me well.

 

[combine&cowguy]

I second a Concord. I started with a red Concord and am still using it 5 years later. Mine is a 3310 4 rank with disk levelers on the rear two ranks. The frame is very well built. I’d call it heavy duty. And behind it I pull a 2300 cart.
Depth control seems to be very consistent if set properly as well as uniform across the entire width of the drill. I seed wheat and soybeans at 7mph and never have had an issue, but that’s seeding into worked ground.

As Slewis said, do proper pre-season maintenance and you’re set to go with a Concord!

What crops will you be seeding and what type of openers will you be using?

 

[CRToney]

Large number of FC5000 39 ft air drills out there to be had. Probably the most popular hoe drill built. With a C shank drill the number of different openers will blow your mind.

 

[GleanerFanatic]

I second a Concord. I started with a red Concord and am still using it 5 years later. Mine is a 3310 4 rank with disk levelers on the rear two ranks. The frame is very well built. I’d call it heavy duty. And behind it I pull a 2300 cart.
Depth control seems to be very consistent if set properly as well as uniform across the entire width of the drill. I seed wheat and soybeans at 7mph and never have had an issue, but that’s seeding into worked ground.

As Slewis said, do proper pre-season maintenance and you’re set to go with a Concord!

What crops will you be seeding and what type of openers will you be using?

I will be growing mostly wheat. I’m new to all the different types of openers, but my thoughts were to go with some type of minimum disturbance opener.

 

[bob123]

atom jet 3/4" openers have worked well for us in notill. on a case atx700 drill

 

[CRToney]

I will be growing mostly wheat. I’m new to all the different types of openers, but my thoughts were to go with some type of minimum disturbance opener.

Single or double shoot openers are available. Atom Jet, Dutch, BTT and VW MFG all make a wide variety to meet your needs and soil type. I have VWFC10 single shoot openers along with their Stealth bodies on my FC5000 with 9” spacing. I spread my N, K and S in the fall. I place MAP in the seedrow at seeding.

 

[combine&cowguy]

What’s your game plan for putting your fertilizer down?

CRToney, do you put a stabilizer on your urea when you spread it in the fall? Do you work it in?

 

[ORirrigatedFarmer]

I was in your shoes this time last year. I had 20 foot John Deere 750 single disk drill, it has its place ‘no tilling into sod’ but overall was not the ticket. I looked hard at concords still kinda want one for the tire packers in wet conditions and the concord carts were the simplest. I ended up with a 45 foot flexicoil 5000 and 2320 cart primarily due to proximity and everyone says the flexicoil carts were more accurate, with better aftermarket parts availability. My two bits with flexicoil 5000 would be think about what kind of openers you want, it makes a difference what packers your want, and make sure to find the 550lb trips.

 

[ORirrigatedFarmer]

I started with and still have a red concord, 32' 12" spacing 3 rank. Has a diesel motor that runs the fan. I've learned a lot from it and would do it again, but it is not as low maintenance as I thought a hoe drill may be. Stay on top of loose packer wheel bearings before seeding and it holds together well. Also keep a mounted spare tire handy and you won't have to run to town in the middle of the day if you lose one. If you neglect them you'll be stopping at inopportune times. I seed fall and spring wheat with it, it will go through 120+ bu stubble if
managed properly. I think 12" is a little wide for spring crops but I've still had record yields with it. Neighbors crop was better though ha. Seed it shallow and pray for a rain, it's served me well.


View attachment 166765
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What are you doing for residue management to get through 120+ bu stubble with your 3 rank drill?

 

[GleanerFanatic]

What about those conserva pak drills? Are there many of those around that anyone would part with?

 

[CRToney]

What’s your game plan for putting your fertilizer down?

CRToney, do you put a stabilizer on your urea when you spread it in the fall? Do you work it in?

Yes I do, I also wait until temp drops as well.

 

[GleanerFanatic]

I was in your shoes this time last year. I had 20 foot John Deere 750 single disk drill, it has its place ‘no tilling into sod’ but overall was not the ticket. I looked hard at concords still kinda want one for the tire packers in wet conditions and the concord carts were the simplest. I ended up with a 45 foot flexicoil 5000 and 2320 cart primarily due to proximity and everyone says the flexicoil carts were more accurate, with better aftermarket parts availability. My two bits with flexicoil 5000 would be think about what kind of openers you want, it makes a difference what packers your want, and make sure to find the 550lb trips.

What are the HP requirements to pull that size of a drill in no till ground?

 

[ORirrigatedFarmer]

Burlinggame consignments in walla walla Washington has a black and red ConservaPak for sale set up with nh3 and a 1720 air cart. We pulled the 45 foot around with a John Deere 8120 weighted up with big rubber this spring. Wouldn’t want any less but had no problems to speak of. Mind you it was dry and flat irrigated ground. This fall I used my 450 versatile and it was way overkill.

 

[GleanerFanatic]

Burlinggame consignments in walla walla Washington has a black and red ConservaPak for sale set up with nh3 and a 1720 air cart. We pulled the 45 foot around with a John Deere 8120 weighted up with big rubber this spring. Wouldn’t want any less but had no problems to speak of. Mind you it was dry and flat irrigated ground. This fall I used my 450 versatile and it was way overkill.

Do you have the link for that drill? I can’t seem to find it when I look it up.

 

[Slewis]

What are you doing for residue management to get through 120+ bu stubble with your 3 rank drill?

First of all I only grow short varieties of winter wheat. I cut it with an R72, nothing special but sometimes I make sure and bump the header down a touch more than maybe I normally would in heavy stubble to get it through the combine. Then right after harvest I heavy harrow everything, has to be on a hot dry day or the residue balls more. Springtime comes and I spray and seed.

I should also should mention I'm dryland, not irrigated. I do not generally grow a lot of excess straw in my crops. Draw bottoms and some of the better ground produces a lot of straw but it is amazing how little straw is left in the spring.

 

[ORirrigatedFarmer]

First of all I only grow short varieties of winter wheat. I cut it with an R72, nothing special but sometimes I make sure and bump the header down a touch more than maybe I normally would in heavy stubble to get it through the combine. Then right after harvest I heavy harrow everything, has to be on a hot dry day or the residue balls more. Springtime comes and I spray and seed.

I should also should mention I'm dryland, not irrigated. I do not generally grow a lot of excess straw in my crops. Draw bottoms and some of the better ground produces a lot of straw but it is amazing how little straw is left in the spring.

Can you get winter wheat behind winter wheat if you can get the volunteer sprouted with that system?
If you don’t mind me asking what’s your rotation?
Winter wheat, spring wheat, garbs or canola? Reason I ask we’ve been doing more winter wheat on winter wheat the. We should but it’s been most profitable lately.

 

[Slewis]

Can you get winter wheat behind winter wheat if you can get the volunteer sprouted with that system?
If you don’t mind me asking what’s your rotation?
Winter wheat, spring wheat, garbs or canola? Reason I ask we’ve been doing more winter wheat on winter wheat the. We should but it’s been most profitable lately.

There are people in the area that recrop (winter wheat right after winter wheat). They plant Clearfield wheat after a conventional wheat, the Beyond takes out the volunteer. I'm a little dryer than the heart of the Palouse, so I go winter wheat, spring wheat, fallow. I just haven't been brave enough to try the recrop rotation for fear of the grassy weeds becoming a problem. But I do have friends that have good success with it. If the Coaxium soft white wheats work out I will be tempted to go Coax WW, Clearfield WW, fallow and should have good grassy weed control.

 

[glennw]

Do you have the link for that drill? I can’t seem to find it when I look it up.

Here is a screenshot of Ed's ad in the Growers Guide. The one mentioned by ORirrigatedFarmer is drill 3. It was sitting on the lot on the farm that is selling it last Tuesday. I don't see it online. It has been for sale for a couple years as the farmer rented out the farm and most farmers are looking at larger drills. I haven't looked at it to see what shape it is in but has a Flexicoil cart for seed plus liquid and anhydrous setup.

Also check out drill 1 as it is a Concord. Drill 2 is a locally made drill for the steep Skyrocket hills so all contained in a frame with no cart. It is a Stoess frame with a John Deere box drill metering system for the seed.

When you call Ed just know he is a colorful salesman but he knows his stuff and usually is never at a loss for words. The Conservapak drill ran in the Skyrocket hills also so any weak points should have already been found and the crop looked great the last time it was seeded with that drill. The farmer liquidated all his equipment so this isn't just a hand picked piece to get rid of.

The E-edition of the Growers Guide can be found at https://www.capitalpress.com/growersguide/eedition/

The Burlingame ad page with the drill is on page A16 or page 15 of the document. You can check out all the ads for our area.