Grain Drill vs. Grass Drill

flusher · Feb 25, 2008

bota7800 said:
We have a few unirrigated acres that I want to improve for horse pasture (to remain unirrigated) the Extension agent said to seed before April 15 and to make sure the grass was seeded with a grass drill - not a grain drill.

I looked at a nice refurbished John Deere 8' drill for sale at what I think is a very good price. If I bought it I could reseed more often rather than paying someone with the equipment.

In front of the large tray is a thin tray with smaller holes that the salesman said is for small seeds like grass. It is calibrated in pounds per acre. Is this a grass drill or is the delivery entirely different? Will this place the seed at the right depth?

Gee, I wish one of those JD 8-footers would show up are my neighborhood. I'd grab it in a microsecond.

I'm in the same boat as you--about 7 acres of pasture land that I plan to make into a hayfield. I'm looking for a grain drill with a grass box to plant an orchardgrass/rye mix.

For small scale stuff like you and I are doing, borrowing or renting the equipment makes sense. Some folks are lucky enough to live in areas where the county ag extension office has things like seeders and cultipackers to rent. Alas, not here in Tehama County. But a few of my neighbors farm hay so borrowing or renting from them is a possiblity.

However, if you're like me, you want to enjoy the complete ownership experience. Hence, the sometimes frustrating search for used equipment that still has some like left. There are plenty of usable grain drills with grass box attachments for sale on eBay and craigslist. These things are pretty heavy (10 footers weigh nearly 2000 lb), so shipping expense becomes a factor.

One thing to consider if you're buying a pre-owned drill: be careful of drills that have been stored out-of-doors. There are many small moving parts in a drill that have to work properly to get good seed metering. If the drill you're looking at has a lot of rust and corrosion, you may want to pass on it.

There's a lot of practical advice on using grain drills for grass seeding in Spencer Yost's book "Small Scale Haymaking".

bota7800 · Feb 25, 2008

Thanks flusher, I will check that book out.

The dealer that has the drill I talked about actually has 4 or 5 on his small lot. Sorry they are less available in your area. Now that I know what a grass drill looks like I will look at one seeder that he had that had not been refurbished yet. It looked kind similar but I did not look close.

I would like to keep the existing grass as I think it is good grass, just too sparse to stand up to much grazing.

I have heard the term often but what is a no-till drill? What distinguishes it from a non-no-till drill? If the book will answer these basic questions just tell me to shut up.

flusher · Feb 25, 2008

bota7800 said:
Thanks flusher, I will check that book out.

The dealer that has the drill I talked about actually has 4 or 5 on his small lot. Sorry they are less available in your area. Now that I know what a grass drill looks like I will look at one seeder that he had that had not been refurbished yet. It looked kind similar but I did not look close.

I would like to keep the existing grass as I think it is good grass, just too sparse to stand up to much grazing.

I have heard the term often but what is a no-till drill? What distinguishes it from a non-no-till drill? If the book will answer these basic questions just tell me to shut up.

Nope, that book doesn't go into no-till haying.

No-till means that the seed is planted without first plowing or discing the soil.

I'm no expert at no-till, but it seems to me that a no-till rig either has to be heavy or has to have some kind of down-force mechanism so slots can be cut in the tough turf to receive the seed. Someone will undoubtedly chime in and give us the straight skinny on no-till.

North Dakota · Feb 26, 2008

Here is an article on what I think you are trying to do with your acreage. It deals with pasture renovation and might be helpful. Hopefully you can rent the equipment you need in your area. I'm pretty sure no-till set ups are heavy and expensive.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1097.pdf No Till method

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1008.pdf Conventional method

mark.r · Feb 26, 2008

Could someone be so kind as to point out which model of seed drill on the Brillion website would be appropriate for seeding small to medium acreage (i.e. 5-20) for hay production.