Best Old Seed Drill

[Bill VA]

Considering a drill to plant hay of different varieties, from timothy, orchard grass and alfalfa to name a few.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Bill

 

[paul]

Round seeds like alfalfa plant nicely through the small seed drop box on many old grain drills. The Mcormick sold through IHC was the most common around here by far. See a few JD and a few MM seeders now and then. And Oliver/ Superior.

In general a double disc opener is a better thing in typical midwestern dirt, altho the actual small seed box you often just drop on the ground and let the openers and the drag chains churn up and cover the seed, rather that actually running those small seeds through the openers.

Grass seeds with the flags, or feathery stuff on the seed, either needs a more modern picker or fluted design to really plant well, or can be mixed with oats and planted through the big box with the grass seeds as a small percent of the total volume planted. They tend to jam up in the small ‘grass seed box’ which actually was an alfalfa and clover seeder box.

That was the old ways of doing things. The more modern grass seeders with picker or fluted meters I’m not familiar with so I can’t really comment on them.

 

[Tx Jim]

I agree with Paul most grain drills require a small seed box to accurately plant smaller sized seeds. JD model B or 8000 series should accomplish your seeding needs. Also older IHC grain drill should be fine

 

[DanielW]

I can't add much to what Paul and TxJim said, but one question: How many acres each year? We stopped drilling our hay decades ago. Far faster and easier for us to just spread it and harrow it in afterwards, and saves the cost of owning, maintain, and shedding a drill. We sometimes mix the seed in with our oat/rye cover when seeding, but more often we mix it right in with the fertilizer in the three-point spreader. As long as you spread it within a few hours of mixing, the fertilizer won't burn the seed. Never noticed any difference in stand density nor had any problems with uneven coverage. It would take a lot of convincing to make me go back to a drill for hay. But we only seed about 15 acres of new hay ground every year. Might be different if you were doing a lot more every year.

If I had to get a drill for hay, I'd agree with Jim: The IH 510 and 5100 were the benchmark grain drill for decades, and good used units (and parts) are readily available. Just need one with a grass box (which many had)

 

[Tx Jim]

In past yrs I have had a lot of wheat or oats slung out many times then I pulled a field cultivator over it to cover seed with soil. Not 100% of the seeds got covered. I would be hesitant to sling out smaller seeds that could possibly be covered with too much soil but it might be fine.

 

[tom upton]

Considering a drill to plant hay of different varieties, from timothy, orchard grass and alfalfa to name a few.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Bill

I use a brillion seeder. In my opinion they are the ultimate way to put down hay seed.

 

[rrlund]

If I was looking for an "old" drill, I'd just be looking at condition. Just make sure it has the small seed box.

 

[560Dennis]

Only one I know (have used) seeder attachment is Oliver superior, it a grain drill. But at the Oliver hart part show in Wooster Ohio at the auction were two seeders . So they do exist , check if they fit you needs

 

[paul]

I use a brillion seeder. In my opinion they are the ultimate way to put down hay seed.
View attachment 92388

These specialty grass seeding rigs are the way to go if you want to plant a lot of these seeds. I’m not familiar with how they work exactly in metering out the seed but clearly they are the tool to do the best job. That looks like one heavy piece of equipment. One has to consider tractor lift capacity and how to transport the seeder when you get into these machines.

Paul

 

[DRussell]

I use a brillion seeder. In my opinion they are the ultimate way to put down hay seed.
View attachment 92388

Yep, this is the best way.

 

[will-max dairy]

Last time I did seed, I used the 7' tiller behind the tractor. Tilled the ground about 3 times, until it was like coffee grounds.

Let the ground get good and dry...then broadcast the seed (actually, my daughter did it... by hand) at about twice the seeding rate of a drill.

Then set the tiller as shallow as I could, with the back apron just barely dragging on the ground... and tilled over the seed.

The stand was even, thick and had very few weeds.

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

Considering a drill to plant hay of different varieties, from timothy, orchard grass and alfalfa to name a few.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Bill

How old & how big? They're all basically the same thing until you get down to opener preferences & needs.

Mike

 

[Timmycornpicker]

Considering a drill to plant hay of different varieties, from timothy, orchard grass and alfalfa to name a few.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Bill

Are you tilling first or overseeding existing sod? I've had experience with John Deere Van Brunt, IH-McCormick, Oliver Superior, Marliss and Lilliston grass boxes and none of their grass boxes liked fluffy seed like orchardgrass or brome. There needs to be an agitator in there for that kind of seed. Specialty grass drills like the Truax no-till have it but something like that would cost a lot more. If you're working the ground first, I'd go with a Brillion Sure Stand seeder.

 

[farmersamm]

If you're dryland, like here in my piece of Oklahoma..................a hoe drill is about the best way to go. I still run an old IHC 150. Germination in near on drought conditions as long as you get down to moisture. Never plant anything but Hay Grazer these days, if I do plant. Nothing comes close to the yield, or drought tolerance.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Great plains has settings for seeding alfalfa right in the regular box without needing a special seeder box on it. On the inside of the lid will be the drive needed and the seed setting. the seed you are going to plant will also be on the inside of the lid most likely. We have seeded alfalfa with it several times. I like it because you can get enough seed in to plant more than a round or 2 at a time. I was not even close to full and could plant 10 acres in one filling. Planting in the 20 pound per acre rates we see here those little seeder boxes on drill you have to haul the bag around with you to make a round.

 

[tom upton]

Considering a drill to plant hay of different varieties, from timothy, orchard grass and alfalfa to name a few.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Bill

I should also mention that I used to use Oliver superior to seed down. Has a small box for small seed but like others have said you have to mix your brome/coarse seed in with your cover crop seed. It worked o/k but I found the brome didnt come up very evenly the first year or 2. They are a very good drill for planting small grain and I really get a kick out of using it behind Dads old 880 as you can see in the video. I also have a IH drill but I have a notion the Oliver does a better job, but then again I am a little biased towards Oliver Equipment

 

[will-max dairy]

I also forgot to mention...the best and easiest seeding of clover that we got... was from doing a fall graze on a hayfield after baling for hay... and when November came, and the grazing ended, we left the cows there and fed them hay with mature (red clover with the blooms turned brown) red clover. It was an easy winter, and we left them there until January, bringing them into the barn when the weather got below zero. By that time, we had essentially peppered that field, as we put their hay out in different spots every day. In subsequent summers, we've gotten some beautiful clover off of that field.

When it comes to clover... it's hard for a seeder to simulate the scarification and inoculation of the clover seed provided by a cow's digestive system.

I think this is also one spot where a small square bale shines over round bales. We would put out about 1-1/4 bales for every cow, spaced about twenty feet apart. You don't get the mucking that you get from twenty cows standing around a round bale. You can roll a round bale out; but there's no way to prevent them from standing on the carpet of hay, wasting it, as they eat.


... but... in the spirit of the thread...

On the home farm, my brother and father always had good luck with an old McCormick "grain drill" with two sets of hoppers, one for grain seed, the other for grass seed... they always used a cover crop... oats, if the stand was planted in the spring... winter rye if it was planted in the fall. The spring method was done on drier ground that was seeded to alfalfa. The fall method was done on wet ground; which would usually get dry enough for tillage in late summer... those fields were seeded to canary grass. Dad and my brother were good at adapting the crop to the ground... which is probably just as important as what type of drill you use.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

If I was looking for an "old" drill, I'd just be looking at condition. Just make sure it has the small seed box.

Agreed. The function of a grain drill is, "drop seed, fling some dirt over it." Literally any brand or model can do that job and do it well.

Look for a drill that is complete, tight, and not worn out. Things like seed tubes and fertilizer tubes are often no longer available, or if they are available, they're some ridiculous price. You may be in for a rude awakening if you buy a drill that's missing a few things, thinking you can just run out and get those parts inexpensively, and be up and running.

 

[will-max dairy]

These specialty grass seeding rigs are the way to go if you want to plant a lot of these seeds. I’m not familiar with how they work exactly in metering out the seed but clearly they are the tool to do the best job. That looks like one heavy piece of equipment. One has to consider tractor lift capacity and how to transport the seeder when you get into these machines.

Paul

My brother and father pulled a Brillion cultipacker behind a McCormick grain drill. The grain drill was easy to transport. The cultipacker... not so much. Had to be trailered from field to field. But. It was light enough, and we had the travelling welder dude that serviced all the local farms make a stone rack for the cultipacker. It came to the field light... and we would just go to one of the piles of freshly picked stones and load up the racks with some free "weights" and be off n running.

 

[Timmycornpicker]

In past yrs I have had a lot of wheat or oats slung out many times then I pulled a field cultivator over it to cover seed with soil. Not 100% of the seeds got covered. I would be hesitant to sling out smaller seeds that could possibly be covered with too much soil but it might be fine.

With small seeds, I've pulled the Brillion roller harrow over a disked field with the harrow teeth down to make a seedbed, broadcast the seed, then pulled the roller harrow over again with the harrow teeth lifted. Works well.