Years of fettling his establishment system to improve soil structure, ease workload and tame grassweeds have culminated in Simon Caley’s most recent purchase of a Horizon toolbar drill.

The 8m MDSX is third in a line of low disturbance seeders to take residency at Old Farm, near Hull, after a move away from the soil churning ways of a Vaderstad Rapid.

See also: How Essex farmer adapted one cultivator to do four jobs

First on the scene in 2018 was a 4m trailed Horsch Avatar, which was simple to set up and made for an easy transition to the new establishment regime.

But no sooner had he and driver Ben Blanchard mastered the tool, the limited adjustment of coulter and closing wheel pressure left them wanting more.

In contrast, the separate hydraulic and air systems for setting up coulters and closing wheels on a DSX row unit provide endless entertainment for those that like to tinker.

“Soils on this farm range from heavy clay to light sand and they’re mixed up like a marble cake in each field,” says Simon.

“So, the ability to quickly make fine adjustments to drill setup helps us do a tidy job.”

On top of this, the way each coulter follows the ground at the same pressure, whether it’s riding over a lump or sinking into a hollow, ensures seeds are placed at precisely the same depth.

Mounted vs trailed

The Horizon row units ticked all the boxes, so the only quandary was selecting the type of drill these would be fitted on – trailed or mounted.

Perks of the former are that they’re easier to hook up and can carry more seed. Yet, they’re considerably more expensive than a mounted machine, less manoeuvrable and have big wheels that can pad down wet ground.

Another tick for the link-arm carried model was that the front hopper could be used with his Weaving tine drill toolbar if conditions got really unpleasant.

“The real clincher was that I could get an 8m mounted machine with front hopper, which would fit in with my developing CTF [controlled traffic farming] system, for a similar price to a 4m trailed,” says Simon.

The only problem was the firm hadn’t launched a model that big when he was in the market last year, so he initially settled for a 6m, upgrading to the 8m this season.

This has a three- rather than two-part frame, allowing it to fold to less than 3m for transport without the risk of its wings clobbering tree branches and phone lines.

Optional extras include a weight transfer system, which levers against the underside of the tractor’s link arms, giving an extra 800kg of force to help push the coulters into the ground.

The design of this has been tweaked so that it’s better integrated into the drill’s frame, reducing the distance the machine is pushed back from the tractor.

In addition, it came with 300kg worth of wing weights, which can be added to give some additional force (not required as yet), and extra stabilising wheels to help guide the wings over undulations.

Coulter spacing is the wider of Horizon’s two offerings – 25cm rather than 22cm – which provides more opportunity for inter-row hoeing.

Having successfully trialled a camera-guided hoe this year, one could be on the shopping list for next season.

“It’s another tool to help us get the better of blackgrass and I think it could make a significant difference – particularly if we go through twice to take out a second flush,” says Simon.

Front split hopper

Complementing the rear setup is a matching Horizon FT2200 split front hopper, complete with twin metering systems.

This can be rigged up with separate feeds to the left and right wings, allowing them to be shut off separately to avoid large overwraps at headlands.

Or they can be piped to alternate coulters, so that large and small cover crop seeds can be metered separately.

Simon opted for the Horizon hopper over a Horsch equivalent, largely because it came in cheaper, but the concession is that it doesn’t have the option of press wheels.

The entire weight is transferred to the front wheels of his John Deere 6215R as a result. However, the fact that these are shod with 710/60 R30 tyres means they carry it perfectly well.

Even chunkier 900/60 R38s are run at the rear, giving the whole outfit pond skater levels of float.

Some till

Despite the MDSX’s no-till credentials, almost all ground at Old Farm is treated to some form of tillage before it passes through.

“I’m always striving to do less cultivation, but this can be challenging land and I don’t have the minerals to do nothing.”

As a bare minimum, all fields get a pass with a Grange low-disturbance toolbar to pull out compaction and let the air in, sometimes with the Cambridge rolls in tow to consolidate the surface.

In contrast to those who like to deep work their tramlines, Simon lifts the legs when passing over them.

“As they’re in the same place every year I want them to stay solid so they carry the kit better in the wet; but I do like to work ground to the side of them so that water drains away.”

A Vaderstad Carrier fitted with Crosscutter discs and Guttler Super Maxx tine cultivator are also on hand should some tilth need generating, both of which leave a finish that the DSX will happily work into.

“We wind the coulter pressure off a bit, but it deals with worked ground well, particularly if we roll it first.”

There’s also a plough in the system, which turns over about 40ha of the farm every nine years for vining peas.

In a typical year, these are joined by 160ha of winter wheat and 40ha apiece of spring barley, winter linseed, oilseed rape and SFI mixes, most of which are rotational legume fallows.

All of the above are put in the ground by the MDSX, including cover crops before spring cereals and catch crops between peas and wheat.

Driving it

In most conditions, Ben drives the drill at 8.5kph, which allows him to make decent progress while keeping soil disturbance to a minimum.

At this speed, the angled discs barely leave a mark, but pushing it on faster can cause it to start breaking up the surface.

“That’s another benefit of having an 8m machine – we can cover the ground quickly without feeling the need to drive faster than we should,” says Ben.

Despite the width, the drill takes very little pulling, with the 2015 John Deere 6215R in standard state of tune being well on top of the job.

It’s nicely balanced too, so it handles well even when the drill is lifted and the front hopper is empty.

One quirk of the front metering and rear coulter configuration is that it takes time for seed to make the journey.

As a result, Simon and Ben have set the section control so that seed delivery is switched automatically, with the metering units kicking in six seconds before the coulters hit the ground.

“This is just long enough for it to deliver a full seed rate straight away so we don’t get any thin crops at the start of a run,” says Simon.

Another standard feature on the MDSX is D-Cup diffuser cyclones, which release air from the pipes so that seed drops via gravity, preventing it bouncing out of the slot.

The only downside is that these aren’t compatible with blockage sensors.

As a DIY workaround, the pair have tucked lengths of string into the diffuser caps – soon to be upgraded to ribbon – which fly vertically when there is sufficient air flow and drop if there’s an obstruction.

“They’ve come in handy when planting home-saved spring oat seed, which can have short bits of straw that lodge in the distribution head,” he notes.

Consistent yields

As for crop yields, these have remained fairly consistent since the Vaderstad days, with seasonal variations making far more of an impact than the type of seeder.

But soil structure has improved, crop establishment is more even and grassweed populations do seem to be declining. Plus, the reduction in cultivations has cut fuel use and saved labour.

“The aim is to keep cutting back the amount of soil movement, but every season is different and I think we’ll always have a selection of tools so that we can give the ground what it needs.”