Please clear something up: drill vs seeder and no till vs worked ground

[Laminarman]

Forgive my ignorance but I'm doing some research for a possible purchase in the spring. I do mainly food plots and time/energy..etc means I may spring for a no till drill. Plowing my thin rocky soil, discing, fertilizing/liming then discing, broadcasting is getting very old. I have some erosion issues on the hilltop and each time I plow it gets worse (crown of a hill and windy so wind and water erosion sweeps soil away.) But I'm still researching this and looking at Kasco for a few reasons: my tractor will handle it (TC40DA) and my volume is modest (5-10) acres per year, and more affordable than say Great Plains drills. Looking at the Beaver Valley Supply website which has a good comparison chart says the Vari Slice unit is a "seeder" but will plant in either worked or unworked ground. Am I missing something? If it's unworked ground isn't it by defnition ONLY a drill that will work? To further my confusion, I see old JD "grain drills" for sale for near $1,000 to $2,000 but they are NOT no till drills, I think they just "drop seed." Any clarification would be just awesome as I keep researching if this is worth it. No, I will not make money at it or recoup my investment for some time, but I'd also like to plant row crops and corn and donate a whole ton of that yearly to my church or other food kitchen to feed others. I can afford that much for others but would like to do it rather quickly as I still work too many hours at my real job. Thank you!

[TripleR]

We recently sold our Great Plains No Til drill, but we used in worked and unworked ground.

[Laminarman]

We recently sold our Great Plains No Til drill, but we used in worked and unworked ground.

I would expect a Great Plains No Till to do that. Wondered why something that said it was a seeder only would do unworked ground. I wish I had the tractor and funds for a GP drill.

[SSdoxie]

A seader drops the seed on top of the ground and is then work in, covered by the cultipacker. A drill drops the seed precisely in the groove left by disc blade and is then covered by the cultipacker, leaving the seed in very close rows. A no-till drill would have the set of angled disc blades to loosen/work the soil, then another set of blades to cut a small groove for the seed, then the cultipacker to cover it over.

[Laminarman]

A seader drops the seed on top of the ground and is then work in, covered by the cultipacker. A drill drops the seed precisely in the groove left by disc blade and is then covered by the cultipacker, leaving the seed in very close rows. A no-till drill would have the set of angled disc blades to loosen/work the soil, then another set of blades to cut a small groove for the seed, then the cultipacker to cover it over.

I see. I'll have to look closely at the units from now on. Looking for a used Kasco is almost fruitless. Nobody seems to sell them.

[TripleR]

I would expect a Great Plains No Till to do that. Wondered why something that said it was a seeder only would do unworked ground. I wish I had the tractor and funds for a GP drill.

Yeah, they are expensive and require a lot of power to pull.

[flusher]

Those old JD drills are not no-tills. Generally, the seller buys an old 10-ft wide drill for $200 or so, cuts it in half, adds a new axle/wheel assembly to each half, and sells each 5-footer for $2K or so. Nice profit for not a whole lot of work. I know since a few years ago I restored a pair of 10-ft Minneapolis Moline P3-6 drills (20 drops, single disc openers). Easy, fun project.

Like you the soil on my 6-acre hayfield is thin and gravely (I've moved the larger size rocks by hand, a job you have to do each year as more rocks are brought to the surface by discing). Kasco no-tills are nice, but pricey IMHO. I'll stick to the disk/drill method. If you can afford it, I'd get the Kasco.

Good luck.

[Copperhead]

The guy who rents our farm ground and several other farms does ONLY no till farming year over year. No till is so much better for erosion control and less passes on a field. I wonder why more farmers haven't gone no till. Crop yields are on par with everyone else in the area that is using low till methods.

[TripleR]

The guy who rents our farm ground and several other farms does ONLY no till farming year over year. No till is so much better for erosion control and less passes on a field. I wonder why more farmers haven't gone no till. Crop yields are on par with everyone else in the area that is using low till methods.

We loaned our renters our No Till drill several years ago and they subsequently bought a big one, they No Till some and some they don't;; great for wheat beans, no field burning or working it up. It saves a lot of time and fuel.

[idaho181]

Lewis County FSA average is 66 bushels per acre. I'm doing 83.5 Bu per acre. No till for the last 8 years.