Seeders Brillion Seeder

[myyaz33]

Just acquired an older Brillion seeder and wanted to see if anyone can identify the model. I can't seem to find the model only the serial number. Seed boxes are in good shape and it appears to have been greased often looking at the buildup. Other than that don't know much more about it. It is a 5 1/2ft model and I can make out it does say Sure-Stand on it. Hoping someones has had some experience with one like it. I plan to call Brillion on Monday to see if I could locate a manual for it too.

 

[art]

What does it have for seed agitation? Is it brush like? Brillion has built landscape seeders for years and the paint shows it's age. The twin hoppers are for different types of seed.

 

[myyaz33]

No brushes. You can kinda see the agitator in the one box from the picture.

 

[art]

Normal grass seed units have brushes! What you have is for field duty, I'd have to look in the books but I don't think that model is built today or at least we haven't stocked such a unit other then for grass seed at that width.

The set up you have looks to be the same as the agriculture units. The only difference would be the width. I'm not sure that an early unit might not have been built for grass seed that used the parts you have but today they use brushes.
IT would be quite trying to seed a 100 acre farm field 5' at a time!

 

[radman1]

I have a newer Landpride 6' seeder designed for grass and it doesn't have any brushes. My landpride has small rotating metal paddles on a 6' rod to stir the seed. It looks like you also have a "rolling cage" type paddle which my landpride doesn't have. Is that correct? I don't see why it couldn't be used for grass seed.

 

[myyaz33]

radman1 - Your description is much better. Rolling cage type paddle is what mine is as well. I think it would work fine for grasses. Hope so, that is why I bought it.

art- the only field duty will be some small food plots. unless I get real bored.

 

[myyaz33]

Contacted Brillion and they forwarded me a pdf copy of the parts list and user manual for this old seeder. How is that for service?

Seeder is older than some of you old farts on the forum... Tried it out and everything works as it should.

Anyone care to input what something like this sells for in their area?

 

[sixdogs]

Yours is a "typical" Brillion seeder and , surprising as it may seem, shares many parts with the current model. There are "older" Brillions and "newer" Brillons with the biggest difference being that the older has needle bearings in the hubs and newer (1980's?) has roller bearings.
Yours is an older model that I think someone converted to 3-pt hitch but that's OK. Might be factory. The small box has a precise metering system for small seeds such as timothy or uncoated alfalfa and will meter with surprising accuracy. The bigger box is a drop type box and will handle fluffier stuff like rye or lawn seed or whatever with precesion.
I would rebuild this seeder and keep as a family heirloom. Buy all new needle bearings, drive chains and fix or replace any damaged tin. Lube up those small box meters, clean up the old welds and repaint. The red is IH red and the green is JD green. Line up the packer wheels so the rear wheels "split" the groove made by the front wheels to cover seed correctly.
The seed metering chart is probably online and the four page "owner's manual is mostly the same for all models. Yours is likely a "Sure Stand." You should actually meter the seed in a test before a big job--all you do is lift off the ground, fill with seed and turn gears with a wrench.
I would not be afraid to seed up to maybe 50 acres with this seeder since it goes really fast. Other seeders such as landpride--I have owned them all--and they are close--but lesser-- copies of the Brillion but the Briilion seeder is the standard by which all others are judged. There are a lot of these machines around and sometimes they go cheap.
In the midwest it could go for $450 to $650. A new six ft model is almost $5,000. And, brushes are only used for some lawn seed specific units because some feel they meter grass seed (only) better.

 

[myyaz33]

sixdogs- Thanks for the great supporting information on my new seeder. Could you or someone also clarify whether or not the front & rear packer "wheels" move independently or they move as one? Hopefully I have made enough sense.

 

[flusher]

Yours is a "typical" Brillion seeder and , surprising as it may seem, shares many parts with the current model. There are "older" Brillions and "newer" Brillons with the biggest difference being that the older has needle bearings in the hubs and newer (1980's?) has roller bearings.
Yours is an older model that I think someone converted to 3-pt hitch but that's OK. Might be factory. The small box has a precise metering system for small seeds such as timothy or uncoated alfalfa and will meter with surprising accuracy. The bigger box is a drop type box and will handle fluffier stuff like rye or lawn seed or whatever with precesion.
I would rebuild this seeder and keep as a family heirloom. Buy all new needle bearings, drive chains and fix or replace any damaged tin. Lube up those small box meters, clean up the old welds and repaint. The red is IH red and the green is JD green. Line up the packer wheels so the rear wheels "split" the groove made by the front wheels to cover seed correctly.
The seed metering chart is probably online and the four page "owner's manual is mostly the same for all models. Yours is likely a "Sure Stand." You should actually meter the seed in a test before a big job--all you do is lift off the ground, fill with seed and turn gears with a wrench.
I would not be afraid to seed up to maybe 50 acres with this seeder since it goes really fast. Other seeders such as landpride--I have owned them all--and they are close--but lesser-- copies of the Brillion but the Briilion seeder is the standard by which all others are judged. There are a lot of these machines around and sometimes they go cheap.
In the midwest it could go for $450 to $650. A new six ft model is almost $5,000. And, brushes are only used for some lawn seed specific units because some feel they meter grass seed (only) better.

So these Brillion devices are really fancy drop seeders that compact the soil (front cultipacker), drop the seed and then press the seed in with the rear cultipacker. Aren't they also referred to as "full stand" seeders as opposed to a row seeder like a grain drill?

How does this type of seeder compare to a grain drill (with grass box) as far as germination efficiency? Is the Brillion more seed-germination efficient than the broadcast/cultipacker method?

 

[sixdogs]

Front and rear wheels move independant; they just are wheels with a shaft that is maybe 1/16th smaller diameter.
The front wheel packs the soil and forms a groove where the seed is dropped. The rear wheels need to be adjusted so they "split" the front grooves and push just a little soil on top of the seed.
For grass and alfalfa this is the ticket if you have a fine seedbed. People drive by my alfalfa or lawn and remark how beautiful it is.
I don't know much about the other seeder but think it is more used for grasses and grains. Have seen some with a meter and drop arrangement like the Brillion so it must work.

 

[Bob_Young]

I seeded alfalfa for the neighbor a few weeks ago with a unit like that. It was a pull-type Brillion Sure-Stand. It was about double the size of your unit....had left side and right side seed bins and they each had a baffle inside. Looked like two of yours mounted side by side. Same arrangement inside the seed compartment. Was seeding coated alfalfa from the rear compartment. Didn't use the rolling drum compartments. He was using it to reseed some hayfields that had gotten a bit sparse....the fields hadn't been turned up or anything.

Had wheels mounted on stub axles that would carry most of the weight for road transport. The rear roller still ran on the pavement during transport. To get the transport wheels on/off you had to run the front roller up on a 4x4 to get the weight off the wheel. Once you got it configured, you backed it off the 4x4. With your 3PH arrangement you wouldn't need to fool around with this.

The neighbor like the way it seeded but thought it was kinda slow. The seed bins didn't feed evenly. Seed would pile up in the bins toward the center of the seeder while the outside ends would run dry. If you kept it nearly full it wasn't too bad. If trying to run it out, you had to stop and redistribute the seed in the bins quite often. Had a lever on the unit's left end that could be used to turn off/on the seed flow via a rope to the tractor. Worked about half the time. Again, your 3PH hookup negates the need for that.

Seemed like a sturdy old unit. Glad to hear there are a lot of them still around.
Bob

 

[kdm004]

I have a repair parts catalog for that seeder do you want a copy just let me know and I can send it in a file for ya . thanks Kirk and your looks better than mine and mine works great I paid 175.00 canadian for it .

 

[diyDave]

I see this is a very old thread, but here's my $.02. It is a very versatile seeder, can seed lots of crops, value in central MD is somewhere between $600 and $1200. To answer the question about the packer rings, yes, the back gang "floats" with respect to the front one. When properly aligned, the rings on the back should be slightly offset from those on the front(left to right offset). Both gangs should be just tight enough to allow individual rings to skid, should you hit a rock. You adjust the gang, by sliding the end clamp(s) in, and tightening the hex head capscrew , kinda like tightening a hose clamp.

 

[myyaz33]

I have decided to sell this Brillion seeder as i can't seem to find time to restore it. See the private party forum ad for info.

 

[E Bush]

Just acquired an older Brillion seeder and wanted to see if anyone can identify the model. I can't seem to find the model only the serial number. Seed boxes are in good shape and it appears to have been greased often looking at the buildup. Other than that don't know much more about it. It is a 5 1/2ft model and I can make out it does say Sure-Stand on it. Hoping someones has had some experience with one like it. I plan to call Brillion on Monday to see if I could locate a manual for it too.

I would like to know more about your BRILLION "typical" seeder, I have found one just like it. I plan to do some slight modification and attach it behind a rotor tiller for food plots! I would like to find pdf also. How do you like it? any down falls? ect.

 

[myyaz33]

I sold it last year. I might still have the manual somewhere but it might take a bit to find. Placing it behind a rototiller in my mind would not allow one of the seeders shining qualities which is that it seeds fast. To each there own.

 

[E Bush]

How was the performance?

 

[schmism]

Placing it behind a rototiller in my mind would not allow one of the seeders shining qualities which is that it seeds fast. To each there own.

whats the point of fast seeding when you have to cover the ground twice instead of just once?

by way of physics i dont care how fast you can do the second pass, it will ALWAYS take longer than just the first pass.

 

[sixdogs]

I sold it last year. I might still have the manual somewhere but it might take a bit to find. Placing it behind a rototiller in my mind would not allow one of the seeders shining qualities which is that it seeds fast. To each there own.

All of the manuals are now online at the Brillion website. You have to fool around in the "archive" section for a while but all the parts and operator manuals appear to be there.