Building a No-till Drill

[blackcowz]

I've been looking at how to reseed some drier pastures without ripping up the ground. In some areas around here, completely taking out the old growth gave some of the old grasses a chance to come back tender and green, and the new grasses are really coming on. However, that is a relatively low and well watered area where some of our better pasture was located. A lot of land would up and blow away if I tore it up and then had to wait a couple weeks on the grass. I can go to a local auction a pick up a regular drill pretty cheap, but a no till pasture drill is a little pricey for my budget. However, I read today how you can change your pressure springs, coulters, and use something other than drag chains to relay the sod and cover the seed. Any ideas if that'll work? What type of springs/coulters to use? Also, I am stumped on what I can use to cover the seed and relay the sod properly. Thanks for input.

 

[EAT BEEF]

R u a good welder? I have often thought about doing something like that,but by the time I built it I think I would have more money in it than I could get out of it.Do you have a link to the info you mentioned? I would like reading it.Does your FSA office have a drill you can rent? NRCS had then in Ohio,but not in Oklahoma or at least this part.I have drilled wheat and rye into sod w/a conventional drill and done pretty well if the ground is damp.

 

[dun]

Springs/colters, etc. won;t do diddly if the drill doesn;t have the weight. I used to use an old JD FB that I converted over to disk openers and it did ok as long as the sod was pretty wet, otherwise the whole drill would lift off the ground. I set up a drag with some heavy truck tires hooked to the back and it closed up the sod well enough that I got good stands.

 

[novatech]

I have seen seed boxes on top of renovators. The old Pasture Dream no till did not cover but had a spoked, or smooth wheel at the rear that packed the seed in the bottom of the slot. Not as accurate as the new machines because each planter did not flex with terrain. But it gets the job done.

 

[blackcowz]

Dun, I did read something in that article about having a good frame to withstand a lot more weight in order to get down into the soil. Adding weight isn't a problem, and I think I can properly beef up the frame to withstand added weight. EAT BEEF, I stink at welding. I couldn't make a straight line with our arc welder if you paid me. But my boss is incredible, and he has a MIG welder. No problems with welding there. Plus, other than the frame, there shouldn't be much to do as everything else on the seeder really doesn't need modification. The web page for that article is: http://southwestfarmpress.com/mag/farming_notill_knowhow_dr_5/
Thanks again, and I think I'll probably try something like this to modify a drill. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[john250]

Do you not have a rental available? Many SWCD's around the country rent them for less per acre than you will spend modifying something.
Don't spend a lot of money modifying something which will do a poor job. The seed is going to cost you serious $, and you can't waste.

 

[blackcowz]

Do you not have a rental available? Many SWCD's around the country rent them for less per acre than you will spend modifying something.
Don't spend a lot of money modifying something which will do a poor job. The seed is going to cost you serious $, and you can't waste.

Well, I've been looking, and my seed company has some for sale, but not for rent. Not even our co-op has one I could rent. (County Extension don't got one either.) Seed isn't huge concern, as I can buy outs for a little less than $0.20 per pound and I bought a lot of good native grass for a discounted price at $3 a pound. I myself would rather own the machine anyhow, and I think I could make it work, provided I get good down pressure and a heavy drill. Thanks for the info though!