ERT 453 DESIGN OF MACHINE SYSTEM IN BIOSYSTEM

ERT 453 – DESIGN OF MACHINE SYSTEM IN BIOSYSTEM LECTURE 7 >> CROP PLANTING

SESSION 2012/2013 COURSE OUTCOME CO 1 Ability to ANALYZE (C 4) specialized components and EVALUATE (C 6) mechanized systems for production, handling and processing of biological materials. TOPIC OUTLINE Seed drills, planting machines, implements for inter-cultivations. 2

SESSION 2012/2013 INTRODUCTION 3

SESSION 2012/2013 INTRODUCTION 2 Terms Seeder Planter 4

SESSION 2012/2013 INTRODUCTION Seeders and planters are essential for the reproduction of crops. Their function is metering and placing in the soil of seeds or plants or of part thereof. Thus, seeders are used for generative reproduction, whereas planters aid in vegetative propagation. However, in some parts of the world, the term planter is used for a seeder. 5

SESSION 2012/2013 INTRODUCTION Both seeders and planters, Used as solo machines, or Combinations with preceding soil cultivating machines. In some cases, combinations with fertilizing equipment also are common. Generative reproduction of crop Corn, beans, sunflower Vegetative reproduction of crop Potato, paddy rice 6

SESSION 2012/2013 EXAMPLES Row Planter The containers at the top hold the seeds to be planted. This is pulled across the field that the farmer wants to plant Seed Drill This is pulled by a tractor. It is used to plant grains and vegetable seeds. This can make different kinds of ditches that the seeds go in depending on what kind of soil there is. 7

SESSION 2012/2013 HOW LARGE SHOULD MACHINERY BE? One way to measure the capacity of a set of machinery is by the number of work days required to complete field operations. This depends on: number of crop acres, machinery operations performed, size of the machinery in use, and availability of labor. 8

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED POPULATION The number of seeds that need to be planted per meter or foot of row length depends entirely on the plant population and row widths that have been chosen according to recommendations. The main concern is deciding whether single or multiple seeding should be used. In single seed planting, mechanical planters drop seeds out one at a time along the row. . 9

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED POPULATION Small farmers who hand plant their crops usually use multiple seed planting (hill planting), sowing several seeds per hole and spacing the holes rather far apart. This reduces time and labor and also may improve seedling emergence under crusty soil conditions, but it may lower yields somewhat because of inefficient use of space and increased competition between the plants within a hill for sunlight, water, and nutrients. 10

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED POPULATION To calculate a seeding rate. Seeding Rate Desired Plant Population % Germination x % Pure Seed x % Live Seed Emergence 11

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED POPULATION For example, let’s say a grower wants to establish a stand of 170, 000 plants per acre using a 7. 5 -inch row drill. The seed tag indicates that the seed has a 92 percent germination rate and is 98 percent pure live seed. Assuming a 10 percent loss in germination due to a clay soil that crusts, what seeding rate will achieve the goal stand? . 12

SESSION 2012/2013 SEEDERS 13

SESSION 2012/2013 SEEDERS Generally comprise one or several hoppers, which contain: The seeds of metering parts, and Equipment for seed placement in the soil. The metering either aims at equidistant spacing of the seeds or restricted to feeding a stream of seeds into a conveying tube. The former case can be defined as precision seeding, whereas for the latter case, the term bulk seeding might be appropriate. Since in most cases the seeds are placed in row, the definitions of precision drilling as well as bulk drilling 14

SESSION 2012/2013 SEEDERS Precision drilling is used mainly for rather widely spaced crops such as corns, beans, sugar beets and sunflower. With closely spaced crops, precision drilling is too expensive and therefore bulk drilling is common. 15

SESSION 2012/2013 CONDITIONS FOR SEEDING METHODS 16

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH The mean area per seed with drilled crops is The product of row-spacing and the average seed distance within the row. Row-spacing varies widely with crops, climatic conditions and production technology. Precision-drilling of crops occurs mainly with rowspacing between 25 cm and 90 cm. Row Spacing Narrow Medium Widest Type of crops Peas and beans Beets and sunflower Corn 17

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH Since in humid areas the water supply allows generally for higher seed and crop densities, row spacing in these areas is closer than in dry regions. Furthermore, mechanical weed control and harvesting methods often require minimum row spacings. 18

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH Seed spacing within the row always is a fraction of row spacing, though under ceteris paribus conditions, equal spacing within and between the rows would promote high yield. However, realizing a given seed area by narrower row spacing associated with wider seed distances in the row increases the investment for precision seeding as well as for row-crop harvesting. This is because the number of seeding and rowcrop harvesting units increases for a given working width. 19

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH With bulk drilling, drilling the row spacing varies between 8 cm and 25 cm. Narrow spacing are common especially with grass, clover, alfalfa, small grain seeds in humid area. Here again average seed spacing within the row always is a fraction of row spacing. 20

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH Seeding depth needed depends very much on: Seed size, and Water content of the soil (soil moisture). The larger the seeds and the dryer the soil, the deeper the seeds should placed to ensure emergence, and vice versa. Soil cover (depth) Type of crops 1 – 2 cm Grass, clover & alfafa 2 – 3 cm Sugar beet seeds 2 – 5 cm Small grains, peas & sunflower 4 – 10 cm Beans & corns 21

SESSION 2012/2013 PRECISION DRILLING Metering of the seeds – consists of two functions: Singling of the seeds Transporting them to the furrow. In many cases, singling of the seeds is accomplished purely in a mechanical way, however sometimes the singling process is supported by airflow. Accordingly, mechanical as well as airassisted precision drills must be dealt with. 22

SESSION 2012/2013 MECHANICAL PRECISION DRILLING Singling method 23

SESSION 2012/2013 These shape & dimensions of the holes/cups depend on the seed. Too large or too small dimensions promote doubles or skips, respectively. Besides that, it is important that the seeds get to the furrow in the original sequence. A long, free falling distance from the delivery point to the furrow is detrimental; it deteriorates an originally even seed sequence. This especially applies to small seeds. In this respect, the orientation of the metering disk is relevant. Falling height decrease. Vertically oriented metering disk Inclined disk Horizontally located disk 24

SESSION 2012/2013 This explains the predominance of vertically oriented metering disk with small vegetable seed and sugarbeet seeds. However, Disadvantages of vertical disk with larger seed compared to horizontal disks can be the rather short peripheral sector available for filling. Therefore, in U. S horizontal disks still are use (such as corn). Inclined disks normally deliver the seeds at their highest point. In order to get a low, free-falling height, they often operate with a parallel rotating chamber plate in the background. The seeds pass from the singling disk into the chambers of the parallel plate, which then delivers them closely above the furrow. In most cases, precision metering requires devices that remove doubles and triples from the respective cells such as counter 25 rotating rollers, stationary cutoffs, or bushes.

SESSION 2012/2013 Speed increase, reduces the percentage of doubles. However, this advantage of inclined disks is associated with less precise singling on sloped fields. Their use is not recommended on fields with more than 10% slope. Vertical disk (outside feeding vs inside feeding) 26

SESSION 2012/2013 Generally, mechanical precision drilling requires a much closer adaptation in the dimensions of the singling elements to those of the seeds than air-assisted precision drilling. This applies especially to vertical or horizontal metering disks equipped with cells and slightly less with inclined disks equipped with cupped fingers. The cell diameters should be about 10% more than the largest diameters of the respective nearly spherical seeds. There have been attempts to avoid the need of closely adopting the hole or cup dimensions to those of the seeds. A principle used with mechanical precision drilling is as shown in the next slide figure. 27

SESSION 2012/2013 The vertical singling disk is equipped with cam-operated fingers. Within the seed supply these pointed fingers move close to the disk and respectively seize the seed. At the highest point, the seeds again pass from the singling disk respectively into the chambers of a parallel plate for delivery closely above the furrow. 28

SESSION 2012/2013 AIR-ASSISTED PRECISION-DRILLING 29

SESSION 2012/2013 Either the suction or the compression by air is used to assist in singling the seeds. For singling by suction, a vertical disk with suction holes passes through the seed supply. Excess seeds per hole usually are brushed off. At the highest point the seeds pass to a sectioned wheel, which brings them to the dropping point. Compressed air is used for singling the seeds within rather large conical cells on the periphery of a disk. The pointed tips of the conical cells have open access to the atmosphere. The compressed air removes all seeds from the cells except the lowest, which covers the hole at the pointed tip. Thus, each cell keeps one seed and transports it to the dropping point 30

SESSION 2012/2013 Air-assisted precision drilling needs less precise seed calibration than all purely mechanical methods and therefore is used extensively for irregularly and non-spherically shaped seeds such as corn, sunflower, and some bean varieties. Custom operators especially appreciate that the seed disks seldom must be exchanged when moving from farm to farm with different seed varieties during the season. The investment for air-assisted precision drilling, however, is higher because of the PTO-driven blower. The general concept of precision drilling is, that a metering unit is placed on each opener. This method allows for rather small distances from the delivery point to the furrow and thus favors the exact seed placement. However, this concept requires rather troublesome filling and monitoring of many seed hoppers. In case all openers of a machine are supplied with seeds from a central seed 31

SESSION 2012/2013 But this concept of replacing the row of small hoppers and metering units with one central big hopper and one central metering system requires long seed tubes for gravitational and pneumatic seed transport to the openers. An originally even seed sequence deteriorates substantially during this seed transport. Therefore, sometimes a central hopper provides for seed supply to the standard system of a small hoppers and a metering unit for each row. The investment for this method of two fold seed storage is high, yet it allows bulk filling as well as metering in place. 32

SESSION 2012/2013 BULK SEEDINGS No metering of the seeds occurs; instead, a stream of seeds is bulk-fed into the conveying tubes. Done by studded feed rollers, fluted feed roller or by internal run rollers. 33

SESSION 2012/2013 Long seed tubes are not detrimental to the seed sequence, since no initial even spacing exists. Therefore, instead of individual metering units–as with precision drilling–metering devices on a common drive shaft and a common seed hopper for all rows can be used. This facilitates loading the hopper in bulk. Conveying within the tubes to the openers is either by gravitational forces or in case of air seeders, pneumatically. 34

SESSION 2012/2013 The air seeders allow for rather independent location of the seed hopper plus metering devices on the one hand the openers on the other hand. Operating principle of an air-seeder system 35

SESSION 2012/2013 Thus, with combinations for soil cultivation and seeding the mass of the filled hopper can be used to load the cultivator tines. And for large machines, the seeds can be metered from a tender wagon, thus saving time for refilling. Seeds can be fed into the air stream separately for each opener tube by the respective metering devices or centrally for all opener tubes by just one metering roller. With central feeding, all seeds initially are injected into a principal blower tube. The seed-air mixture is led upwards and hits a circular deflector manifold. The opener tubes emanate from this deflector 36

SESSION 2012/2013 Injecting the seeds into the air stream with separate feeding as well as with central feeding in most cases is realized with an air pressure below normal in order to achieve suction. For this purpose, the tube cross-section at the injection point is decreased. Adjusting the seed rate is done either by changing the rotational speed or the volume of the feed rollers. In some cases, the volume of the feed rollers is adjusted to the size of the seeds. Normally, the feed rollers are driven via ground contact wheels. In the future, powering by an electric dc motor—as with precision drilling—may be important, since this facilitates the control for site-specific farming. However, varying the travel speed with this method still requires the input of a speed sensor into the control system. 37

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL 38

SESSION 2012/2013 39

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILLS In older methods of planting, a field is initially prepared with a plough to expose and break up the topsoil. This produces a series of linear cuts known as furrows. The field is then seeded by throwing the seeds over the field, a method known as manual broadcasting. Seeds that landed in the furrows had better protection from the elements, and natural erosion or manual raking would preferentially cover them while leaving some exposed. The result was a field planted roughly in rows, but having a large number of plants outside the furrow lanes. 40

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILLS Seed drills have many different types of furrow openers, which are designed for different soil types and crop residues (Table 1). A smooth, level seedbed is necessary to ensure that seeds are not planted at depths greater than 10 to 15 mm. Sowing is at the correct depth is when 5% to 10% of the seed is visible on the surface after sowing. 41

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILLS A good plant stand has 35 to 40 plants established per meter of drill row after permanent water is applied to the field. A benefit of drill seeding is that fertilizer can be applied at the same time as the seed. Manual weeding is much easier in machinedrilled crops than in broadcast crops. 42

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILLS Table 1. Suitability of furrow openers in different working conditions. Furrow opener Rotating Double disk Single disk Fixed-type Chisel Hoe Inverted ‘T’ Runner Shoe Shovel Remarks Suitable for high residue conditions. Better penetration in hard soils but wider variation in seed placement. Narrow furrow. Good for deep sowing and in friable soils. Good for stony, harder soil conditions and for deep placement. Use for reduced till in free flowing soils. Can leave open furrow in wet soils. For shallow depths in loamy non-smearing soils. For placing seed and fertilizer in separate bands. Deep placement causing much soil disturbance. 43

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILLS – GENERAL DESIGN OF DRILLS General purpose drills may be used for sowing all kinds of seeds from the size of beans to that of clover, at various seed rates and depths, and in rows at various distances apart. Most are ‘full width’ machines with a braced frame and a seed box extending across its width. The seed is delivered from this box by feed mechanisms driven by gearing from one or both land wheel. There is a separate metering device for each row. A clutch is included for putting the feed mechanism in and out of gear. The seed passes down seed tubes to the coulters, which cut grooves in the soil. The seed rate is adjusted by alterations of the gearing or of feed mechanism, while the spacing between rows and the 44

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS Studded Roller Feed External (Fluted Roller) Force Feed 45

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS Flexible fluted roller force feed, used in conjunction with movable gear cassetles for seed rate regulation (Hestair Bettinson) 46

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS Internal Double-run Force Feed Pneumatic or Jet Drills Single and Double Disc Coulters Wing Coulters. 47

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS Internal Double-run Force Feed It consisted of a feeder with a line of corrugated discs. Seeds are dispersed when the rotation of the wheels push them towards the corrugations and outside a box where it enters tubes. Both sides are used for dispersing the seeds but the course side is best for sowing oats while the fine side is more beneficial for dispersing seeds at a higher rate. The studded roller feed contains devices that allow calibration and easy maintenance of the drill. Most commonly used in European countries such as England, the studded roller feed is usually used in conjunction with a multi-speed gear box for better sowing. 48

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS Pneumatic or Jet Drills With the use of pneumatics for its feed mechanisms, drills can plant and till seeds with the use of air. Seeds pass through pipes to the coulters with the use of an airstream. This type of drill is best used for single seed roots and vegetable seeds. Also known as the shoe coulter in Britain, this type consists of a chilled iron, which embeds grooves into the soil. This works best in moderate conditions and in hard ground as opposed to softer soil because the seeds can be precisely planted. Any other conditions such as poor tilth and the discs are less effective. 49

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS Single and Double Disc Coulters Single disc coulters place seeds individually and it is not always possible to achieve the same depth for each seed placement. With double disc coulters, the seeds are arranged between them and are dispersed at the same rate and depth. High costs are associated with this due to the large number of parts required. 50

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS Wing Coulters Wing coulters were first developed in Finland are used on drills for sowing cereals. The coulters attach themselves to levers in the front of the drill. Hydraulic is used to draw the seeds out after they are placed on a band approximately two inches (5 cm) wide and dispersed. The main disadvantage is expense and draught. 51

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL Semi-mounted Tractor Drills. These drills have a three-link systems to connect drills to tractors. A hitch is created to install drill coulters and allow effective sowing. A hydraulic lift control lever controls the seeds movement. This type of drill gets the work done quickly and efficiently 52

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL Tractor-mounted Drills. Tractor-mounted drills also take advantage of the hydraulic three-link system. When the tractor pulls the drills out, the machine is lifted off the ground to allow the feed mechanism to function. This is used for dispersing heavy corn and often used in conjunction with combines. 53

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL Equipment for ‘Direct’ Drilling. When the benefits of ‘direct’ drilling were first widely appreciated, a few manufacturers successfully developed heavy grain and combine drills which employed ‘triple disc’ coulters comprising a single plain disc to cut a slit, followed by two inclined plain disc to form a V-groove in which the seed was placed. Benefit : more flexibility allowing for shallow cultivation before or during drilling when needed. Methods of sowing depth control which can be effective in soft or hard soils. Coulters with fewer bearings and wearing parts. 54

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL Modern drill designs: Provide more efficient use to be made by hydraulic power to secure penetration without use of excessive dead weight. Coulters designs improvement. Make it easy to carry out an appreciable amount of tillage when needed. Extra large diameter (14 inches) single concave discs capable of cutting through trash. Narrow profile enough to permit close spacing. 55

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL Power Cultivator – Drill Combination The compactness of many power harrows and rotary cultivators, and very small amount of extra power needed to drill immediately behind such machines, make cultivator-drill combinations attractive. Design mechanisms that may needed: High powered tractor To incorporate adequate lift capacity for both drill and cultivator. Close-coupled linkages Allow drill to be carried above the cultivator for transport. Drill seed tubes and coulters Arranged to deposit the seed as the soil settles behind the cultivator. An arrangement well suited to difficult soil working conditions. 56

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL Power harrow and rotary cultivator Light crumbler roller Added to effect any necessary firming of soil around the seed without surface compaction. Drilling component Can be designed for easy separation when not in use. 57

SESSION 2012/2013 SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL Combined seedbed preparation and drilling of peas. 58

SESSION 2012/2013 SINGLE-SEED DRILLS Principle of operation – to employ a seed ring, belt or disc with a series of slots which are just big enough to hold one seed from a carefully graded sample. The seed is carried round in the slot and is positively ejected when it arrives above the furrow opener. It is essential to have a very short drop from the seeding mechanism to the ground, so that the seeds remain regularly spaced after they have fallen into the soil. 59

SESSION 2012/2013 SINGLE-SEED DRILLS Interchangeable choke regulates flow of seed from hopper. Interchangeable seed belt driven by driving wheel C. Moves seed to repeller wheel D Agitates seed in chamber and assists drop through apertures in belt at end of spring base E Main features of multi-purpose belt-feed single-seed mechanism. 60

SESSION 2012/2013 SINGLE-SEED DRILLS Cut away section of large-diameter cell-wheel feed drill showing general arrangement of smoothing, sowing, covering and firming devices. (Matco Fahse) 61

SESSION 2012/2013 SINGLE-SEED DRILLS There are several types of pneumatic mechanism which employ difference in air pressure to hold the seeds in position in the seed cells until the discharge point is reached, and then to provide positive ejection. A selector finger is used to remove most doubles and drop the surplus seeds back into the hopper. A powerful fan is needed to provide the vacuum on multi-row drills. 62

SESSION 2012/2013 MAIZE DRILLS Most widely seed mechanism used for maize is a horizontal plate feed, with notches of a shape and size designed to receive a single maize kernel, lying flat. The rotating plate lies at the bottom of a cylindrical hopper. The mechanism is simple, reliable and often sold at a price in keeping with the history of its development. Nevertheless, other single-seed mechanisms specially designed for maize have been develop, and include a larger version of the endless-belt type of root and vegetable drill. Hopper as well as seed apertures, need to be larger for maize than for most root and vegetable crops. Coulter have to be designed to place the seed fairly deep, in order to ensure rapid germination and minimize 63 bird damage.

SESSION 2012/2013 MAIZE DRILLS 64

SESSION 2012/2013 FLUID DRILLING Fluid drilling (gel seeding) is a crop establishment technique in which germinated seeds are transferred to the seed bed in a gel carrier. Improve their germination quality. The are various techniques developed for the 'fluid drilling' of pre-germinated or imbibed seeds in a protective carrier gel are described. Two alternative methods of germinating large quantities of different types of seed, by continuous immersion in aerated water or by an intermittent soaking and centrifugal spinning technique. The storage of pre-germinated seed in water at 0°C for periods up to 7 days The drilling of the pre-germinated seeds in a gel with tractor-mounted extrusion drills, hand-push drills and for very small scale work, with an icing syringe or plastic bag. 65

SESSION 2012/2013 FLUID DRILLING Automated fluid seeding head mounted on mobile platform with a moving belt carrying trays which in use are filled with peat based compost and move forward one row at a time after deposition of each line of pregerminated seeds. (Fluid Drilling Ltd) 66

SESSION 2012/2013 FLUID DRILLING Consists of suspending the seed in suitable gel, which make metering seeds of irregular shapes easy and facilitates pre-germination in controlled conditions, with addition of fungicides, pesticides, growth regulators and trace elements as needed. Example of application (vegetable crops): § tomatoes pre-germinated at 20°C and sown to stand beneath plastic tunnels. § lettuce pre-germinated at lower temperatures in midsummer. § carrots and onions sown to give earlier and more uniform emergence in adverse soil conditions. 67

SESSION 2012/2013 FLUID DRILLING Germination tanks, suspension mixer-blenders and fluid transporter tanks have been developed to suit all common scales of vegetables production. If fields conditions preclude sowing as planned, pre-germinated seeds may be held for a few days in water in cold oxygenated storage at a temperature close to 0°C Specialist applications include use of automatic multiple seeding heads for sowing single pregerminated seeds into peat block formed by block-making press. 68

SESSION 2012/2013 FLUID DRILLING The trolley-mounted automated seeding head has lines of probes which are : Lowered into the liquid container and sucks a single pre-germinated seed onto the hole of appropriate size at the end of each probe. Withdraw from the liquid, deliver the row of seeds into peat blocks, release the vacuum and withdraw, leaving the seeds in the blocks. The probes are then cleaned by a short positive air blast before repeating the process as the trays automatically move forward beneath the sowing head. Technique used for lettuce, celery and tomatoes, and also wide range of flowers which are later grown on by amateurs in pots and beds. 69

SESSION 2012/2013 GRASS SEED DRILLING Requirements for sowing grass vary considerably with the climate, especially the rainfall. Used in drier regions – drill the seeds into moisture. Suitable drilled depth = 13 – 19 mm Formerly: Special purpose grass seed drills with small shoe coulters spaced 90 mm apart. Currently: General-purpose coulters only. drill with A typical modern drill with studded or fluted roller feed and attached harrows is well suited to the job. 70

SESSION 2012/2013 GRASS SEED DRILLING Other methods of drilling: Use of a grass seed box attached to an ordinary corn drill – allow the seed to fall on the soil surface between the coulters. Some of it is covered by the action of the coulters and some by the harrows which usually follow. A final rolling is usually desirable when grass seed is sown, whatever the drilling method. 71

SESSION 2012/2013 ELECTRONIC MONITORS FOR SEED DRILLS There are two main types used on unit drill to warn the operator of malfunctioning: Simply detect whether the seed delivery mechanism of each unit is rotating (a red light for the particular unit shows failure). Photo sensitive element which detects the seed as they drop through a section of transparent tubing or through a specially designed sensor unit. Provide data on the frequency of fall of the seeds. If drop below the level required by the setting of a rate adjustment element in the control box, the appropriate indicator light on a console is illuminated, and a warning klaxon is sounded. 72

SESSION 2012/2013 ELECTRONIC MONITORS FOR SEED DRILLS Basically, each row is monitored individually, and common failures caused by bridging or an empty hopper are immediately revealed. The console is usually mounted in the tractor cab where it can easily be seen. Power for operating unit is provided by the tractor battery. 73

SESSION 2012/2013 PLANTER/DRILL CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONSERVATION TILLAGE SYSTEMS 74

SESSION 2012/2013 SOLUTION S ISSUE Moist soils covered with residue, which may also be wet, can dominate during the late fall and early spring and occasionally, in the summer. Although this condition provides an ideal environment for seed germination, it can make it difficult to cut through the residue. In contrast, hard and dry conditions may also prevail. Although cutting residue is easier during dry conditions, it is more difficult to penetrate the hard, dry soils. Proper timing, equipment selection and adjustments, and crop management can overcome these difficult issues. 75

SESSION 2012/2013 PLANTER/DRILL CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONSERVATION TILLAGE SYSTEMS Condition of the Field and Residue Row-cleaning Devices Coulters and Seed Furrow Openers Adjusting Disc Openers Seed Meter Devices 76

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers The primary differences between conventional planter/drill systems and those designed for conservation tillage systems are the down pressure and weight. Since the no-till openers and soil engaging devices deliver more down pressure to penetrate much firmer soils and cut the residue, the conservation planter/drill systems are built heavier and have the ability to carry much more weight than conventional tillage systems. Because coulters are usually mounted several feet in front of the seed opening/ placement device , many use wide-fluted coulters. 77

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers Coulters are added in front of the planter openers to ensure residue cutting. Common Coulter Styles Various Types Of Press Wheels Figure 1: Top row shows common coulter styles and the bottom shows various types of press wheels. 78

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers Table 2 : The description of the various types of press wheel. Type Description A 1 -inch wide wheel that presses directly on the seed in the bottom of the seed furrow. B 2 -inch wide wheel that presses on the seed and gauges planting depth by riding on the sides of the seed furrow. C Wide press wheel that gauges planting depth but does not press directly on the seed. D Wide press wheel with two ribs that applies pressure on the side of the seed furrow to press soil on the seed while gauging the depth. E Wide press wheel with one center rib that applies pressure on the seed furrow to press while gauging the depth F Pair of angled press wheels that close the seed furrow and establish seed -to-soil contact. G Narrow steel press wheel that applies pressure directly on the seed but does not flex to ‘shed’ soil in sticky conditions. 79

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers Wide-fluted coulters perform the most tillage and open a wide slot in the residue. This wide slot allows the soil to warm-up faster (more drying) and may prepare an area for improved soil-to-seed contact. However, because of the increased cutting surface, fluted coulters require more weight for penetration. Narrow-fluted coulters or narrow bubble coulters, ripple coulters, and turbo-rippled coulters do not require as much weight for penetration and do not throw as much soil out of the seed furrow as the wide-fluted coulters. Ripple coulters with a smooth edge or smooth coulters are preferred for residue cutting. 80

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers Diagram of typical seeding mechanisms. Single-disk opener with add-on coulter unit 81

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers Offset double-disk openers with fertilizer opener mounted midway between seed openers Gauge wheel mounted beside the seed-opener disk to maintain depth control 82

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers Press wheel mounted on the furrow-opener frame member to maintain depth control. 83

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers Most no-till planters/drills are equipped with independent seeding units that should allow at least 6 inches of vertical movement. This will allow the unit to operate over rough transit, over non-uniform surfaces, and adjust for root stubs and other obstacles. These units are sometimes staggered to provide more sideto-side space for residue flow, which helps with unit function. These units should be equipped with heavy down-pressure springs and sufficient weight to ensure penetration of both the coulters and seed furrow openers into untilled soil. Usually these springs are adjustable and multiple springs can be added if insufficient pressure is achieved. 84

SESSION 2012/2013 Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers Some no-till planters/drills are not equipped with coulters (A and D). These planters/drills use the seed furrow openers to cut and place the seed. Several planter/drill systems have a staggered double-disk seed furrow opener without a coulter (C and E). The leading disk (usually 0. 5 to 1. 0 inch in front) cuts the residue and the second aids in opening the seed furrow. Some manufacturers use a single, large disk set at a slight angle. These units require less weight for penetration and provide minimal soil disturbance. 85

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