Seed drill for beets

[kenbob]

I plant a lot of garden beets. Some pelletized seeds, some not. Some barely bigger than a sorgum seed and some almost as big as a soybean. I always struggle with my Missouri clay and wonder if any of the Van brunt or superior seed drills so often for sale work with beet seeds. I have never been near a drill so I don't know how they work. There are some 2 row planters around here that would probably work, but were there ever beet plates for those, or do you use soybean plates and take your chances.s Thanks for any info. I plant about 30-50' rows so it would seem this would be overkill, but I have tractors so if I could find some of this old stuff cheap, it might be worth a try.

 

[PJH]

I plant a lot of garden beets. Some pelletized seeds, some not. Some barely bigger than a sorgum seed and some almost as big as a soybean. I always struggle with my Missouri clay and wonder if any of the Van brunt or superior seed drills so often for sale work with beet seeds. I have never been near a drill so I don't know how they work. There are some 2 row planters around here that would probably work, but were there ever beet plates for those, or do you use soybean plates and take your chances.s Thanks for any info. I plant about 30-50' rows so it would seem this would be overkill, but I have tractors so if I could find some of this old stuff cheap, it might be worth a try.

My wife has a small walk-behind garden planter with beet plates. I can't remember the name of the planter, and I'll try to look tomorrow and give you a report. The planter works good with beet seed, but you have to follow up with thinning the plants after they sprout. There's only two of us left here at home, so she only plants beets every five or six years. We both love pickled beets!

 

[kenbob]

I have one of those seeders. Even with the beet plate it puts down way to many beets. I don't mind the price of seed, but that thining is a back breaker for that many rows. Also have a fake Jang seeder. It has a wheel with indents on it for the seed and does a much better job, but the nose always bogs down with bits of debris causing many stops for cleaning and it doesn't cover the seed so I have to go back to d o that.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

I plant a lot of garden beets. Some pelletized seeds, some not. Some barely bigger than a sorgum seed and some almost as big as a soybean. I always struggle with my Missouri clay and wonder if any of the Van brunt or superior seed drills so often for sale work with beet seeds. I have never been near a drill so I don't know how they work. There are some 2 row planters around here that would probably work, but were there ever beet plates for those, or do you use soybean plates and take your chances.s Thanks for any info. I plant about 30-50' rows so it would seem this would be overkill, but I have tractors so if I could find some of this old stuff cheap, it might be worth a try.

You could try a plate planter & just have plates custom drilled. IH did have plates that worked for beets, but good luck finding them.

Mike

 

[Timmycornpicker]

You could try a plate planter & just have plates custom drilled. IH did have plates that worked for beets, but good luck finding them.

Mike

Lincoln Ag Products has the plastic beet plates for both Deere and IHC planters, along with the star wheel knockers for them. If they require the use of filler rings, then that might be an issue. I now see that they have filler rings, too.