[Farmer Roy]

Hi
just wondering if anyone has done the journey from planting with tynes to discs then going back to tynes in their zero till experience

I farm on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales, Australia ( between Gunnedah & Quirindi )

I'm mainly asking about winter planting of cereals etc, have used double disc planters exclusively for summer row crops for last 20 yrs and believe they are the way to go in soils / environment
However, I'm finding that as our soils are becoming softer / fluffier it's getting increasingly difficult to keep discs turning when planting in the cool / damp autumn / winter period, so am seriously considering going back to a converted chisel plough or something like a Flexicoil 820 for winter crops

Started 20 odd yrs ago with a Rogro Groundhound ( parallelogram gauge wheel / tyne / presswheel ) which got a crop out of the ground in all conditions, but was a nightmare with maintenance. Went to a Gyral Agboss ( tyne cultivator ) which did a good job & was simple to operate, but with contracting work it was a bit wide for transport & I did manage to snap the pull & the main frame in separate occasions ( shoulda bought a Penetrator ! ). Currenrtly have a Serafin double disc unit on 250mm spacings & another toolbar with Abati single disc units on 333mm spacings. Both these do a good job when the soil is dry & firm, but tend to 'bulldoze' rather than turn in soft damp soil.
Been getting so frustrated here ( hav'nt had a lot of rain, but little showers and a lot of foggy mornings which keep everything moist, can only work from say 11am - just on dark, then everything stops ! ) lately that I've ditched the discs & have set up an old Trashworker with Keech points and am using that

Anyway, long story.
Not asking for advice on how to get discs working, am actually more interested in going to a simple low maintenance system that will work in all conditions, from moisture seeking to wet winters

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Apologies to our North American friends who aren't familiar with machines I'm talking about

 

[lanwickum]

I have done it. When I have an extra $500,000 I may go back another type of disc or precision hoe. I had a flexicoil 6000. Have a flexicoil 5000 now. 40ft is just to small for me.

 

[Farmer Roy]

When I have an extra $500,000 I may go back

yeah
a bit hard to justify that much money, I reckon I'd rather put it into buying more country, or grain storage infrastructure etc

 

[AA2188]

Have a NDF 550 for two years I use Tyne as we'll in clay soils now thinking sell NDF chem is not as good as Tyne this year I wish I sow all crop with Tyne but run a boss unit on ndf bar and did better job

 

[ausmac]

I thought that the 300 grand that a NDF is worth enabled chemical incorporation and the do pretty much what a tine will do plus do what a disc is good at ? You have made mind up Roy sell the disc bar and buy a tine machine.

 

[Farmer Roy]

umm

chemical incorporation isn't really an issue for us yet, we generally don't use any pre sowing pre-emergent chemicals in our winter programme, we've managed pretty good grass control by crop rotation so far

yeah, my mind is made up, just interested if others have found the same thing, or if our soils are unique in this regard

as for a 300 + grand NDF, I don't think the returns are there in farming for that sort of capital expenditure , I certainly don't like over-capitalising on items that devalue so quickly

but that's just me


Current NDF seems to be the pick of discs as far as working in all conditions, but man, are they HEAVY

 

[Auscocky]

Roy, I've got a Flexicoil 820 and my neighbour has a Morris disc seeder. Ours strikes are pretty much the same, bearing in mind that you don't have to try too hard to get wheat & barley up. Our farms are undulating with contours so ground following seeding in relevant. We both get good germination. The differences as I see it; his country is nice and flat when he plants, mine has furrows. He doesn't dig up stones, I do.
But, If we get a heavy shower, his sheds water, mine flows into the seed bed. He has 4 rotating components/grease points per row unit, I have none. He has a lot more steel to drag around.
But come canary, millet and canola (if we ever grow it) I'm behind the 8 ball.
It is all relevant to you're conditions too. Sounds like your country has changed and now favours tines. For me, I know a tine machine will plough out moisture, but the grief a disc machine can cause makes me stick with the tines.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Hi Auscocky
no rocks here so no issues with that. Yeah, not too hard to get wheat n barley up, half the time you could do a good job here with a forked stick !
Agree that tynes do plough out moisture, ONLY use a double disc planter for summer crops - sorghum, cotton, sunflowers, etc
However, during winter crop planting it is either dry & we have to go moisture seeking deep, or its wet - neither of which is really ideal with a disc
We do grow a bit of canola, but not every year. Main winter crops are wheat, chickpeas & faba beans, as you say, not too hard to get up
Agree, I really like the simplicity of tynes

cheers

Roy

 

[madsnake]

For simple and ground following be hard to go past a 820 flexi coil on 650lbft tynes. I'm still working on ideal sowing boot for ours. Way I see it in vic mallee traflanes cheap and works why not use it, disc has no way to level up rough paddocks and running cost per ha are way higher. Next door have a 3 year old Khart it covers ground quick but they have lost traflane so lots of group a and b in crop all more $, the colters are stuffed after a year, about 1/4 of the acres per row of what our knife points do and they have more erosion as they use a disc chain to level rough paddocks then no clods from tynes to protect crop when young.

Very different environments I know.
Madsnake

 

[Farmer Roy]

Madsnake
a friend of mine ( on similar soil to me ) is running an 820 with the Flexicoil Stealth boots / points, he happy with that setup, but yes, different soils / environment to you I suppose

 

[AA2188]

Ndf is very heavy I know on soft ground and hairpins in wet but does a good job when dry because it does not sink cuts straw and moves dirt for chem but brought ndf sow into moisture