Check that beet drill for an easier season
17 March 2000
Check that beet drill for an easier season
What checks and adjustments
should be made before setting
up the sugar beet drill for the
coming season? Andy Moore
takes some tips from
Tony Brett of Kverneland
REDUCED plant population, lower yields and a rise in undrilled area are just a few of the consequences that can result from an incorrectly set or badly maintained sugar beet drill.
So time spent checking the drill before the season will go a long way towards achieving optimum drilling performance in the field.
Kvernelands seeding product manager Tony Brett, explains: "Accurate seed placement will depend greatly on the working order of the drills running gear.
"Start by checking the tyre pressure and condition of the land drive wheels. An under-pressure tyre will provide less traction and lead to irregular seed spacings."
For the next port of call, Mr Brett suggests inspecting chain drives for correct tension and signs of wear. "Most drills are equipped with an adjustable tensioner for the main drive and gearbox and this may need to be altered. Incorrect tension will inevitably lead to chains slipping or riding off their sprockets," he says. "Other chain drives, on the sowing unit for example, may have an automatic tensioner so they generally look after themselves, but still need checking."
He also advises ensuring automatic tensioners maintain chain tension as each sowing unit floats over ground contours. "With the drill raised on the three-point hitch, lifting each sowing unit will show if correct chain tension is maintained and also indicate any slack in the pivot points."
For adjusting seed placement, mechanisms vary across different makes of drill. Chain driven precision models comprise interchangeable seed placement discs or wheels, together with the facility of changing sprockets manually or using a lever-operated system.
With the required drill spacing in mind, for example 18cm (7.2in), the operator can refer to the manufacturers chart inside the drill handbook which will show how to achieve the setting by changing discs and/or sprocket ratios.
To ensure accurate seed placement with disc or wheel delivery systems, Mr Brett suggests dismantling the unit and checking for wear.
"With the disc removed, each cell, or seed placement notch should be tested for wear using a pin gauge supplied by the manufacturer. "If the large end of the pin gauge passes through the cell – it is worn and may pick up two seed pellets – leading to double seeding," he says. "Depending on use, most discs or wheels will last about 750ha (1850acres), but a shiny edge inside the cells will indicate early signs of wear.
When refitting the disc, it must be fitted the correct way round so the cells face into the collection point, failure do so will result in no seed delivery from the sowing unit."
In terms of drilling depth, adjustments will vary mainly according to climate and soil type. In heavy, cloddy soils, Mr Brett recommends an average drill depth of 2.55cm (1in), while in lighter soils, seed can be drilled shallower.
"In some situations it is better to drill deeper so the seed has more moisture for germination and is less vulnerable to frost and rodents," he says.
Depth adjustment mechanisms vary across manufacturers, such as crank handles or pin and hole systems and are designed to alter front press wheel height. Such mechanisms, he says, should be set to ensure sowing units working inside tractor wheel marks are set to an equal depth as the surrounding units.
In addition to drilling depth, Mr Brett advises checking coulters for wear.
If the profile at the base of the coulter is rounded instead V-shaped, the coulter tip will need replacing. Ceramic tips can increase coulter life, but are liable to stick with soil in certain conditions, he says.
"Other components to check for correct adjustment, is height of clod deflector plates (about 1cm above ground), position of track markers and choice of rear press wheels." *
Above: Out of the shed and ready to go… Time spent checking and setting up the sugar beet drill will help maintain yields, plant population and drilled area. Right: Seed placement cells on the delivery disc can be checked for wear using a pin gauge supplied by the drill manufacturer.
Lifting each sowing unit will reveal any play in the pivot points and indicate if chain tension is maintained during arc of travel.
Accurate seed placement depends greatly on the working order of the drills running gear, says Tony Brett of Kverneland.