Drilling Beans

[Doug Wis]

Have only planted beans 3 years of the 37 I've been farming. Planted them with a 1240 JD. With the RR beans now seems like drilling is the way to go. My drill is a 50's era JD Van brunt . One agronomist I talked to,said it won't work not accurate enough, need a newer press type drill. Another said it should work ok. Have any of you guys planted beans with an older drill and how did they turn out? My homemade hyd lift conversion is designed so I can put down pressure on the discs and I normally pull a roller when seeding alfalfa. thanks

 

[flying belgian]

I used to do it. I don't like it. To hard to get good depth control. And to hard to combine if the beans are short.

 

[JMS/.MN]

Biggest concern is accurate depth control, with any drill. Also need to increase seeding rate, maybe 40-50% over row beans. Yes, it can work, but there are considerations. I"ve used a mid 50s MM drill, and 8300 JD. Combining might be easier, plants are spaced out, easier to see the ground, rocks. Pulling a roller/packer is a big advantage. I made a 13 foot tire packer for the 8300, using 20 inch gas pipe for center tube, welded tight, and has fittings to add water for extra weight, well over 200 gallons.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Not a problem if you drill into a prepared seed bed. Soybeans aren't as particular as corn either in depth planted or spacing. But you got to avoid getting them too deep. I've sowed with a similar 50's drill, IH model MF, with good results but I prefer using the press wheel IH model 620. Also unless you have a light tractor and or duals, planting into the tractor tracks can be a little tricky. The best solution with the old drill was to use a 3pt mounted track eraser. The IH 620 has more available spring down-force and works well with only using duals. Currently no-till with a newer JD drill mounted on a coulter cart. Studies show you need about 100,000 plants/acre for maximum yield. I wouldn't attempt to save seed and only plant 110,000 with either a planter or drill. I shoot for at least 120,000 plants and will plant 140,000-145,000. Might consider cutting that to 130,000 or so if using a planter. Since you aren't real experienced I would consider bumping up to around 150,000 which would give quite a bit of margin. Remember that every time you stop drilling, raise the drill and back up roughly a foot and lower it when you restart. Otherwise it will leave a gap. I've drilled beans many years in heavy clay and light clay soils and never have had the emergence problems/skips or etc that others claim drove them to a planter.

 

[Leroy]

If beans are short and that will depend on variety will make absolutely no difference in harvesting wether drilled or planter or notill or conventional till. On seeding rate they will come up better with a planter as there are more beans in a tight spot to help lift the crust in soils that like to crust and we have some soils that no rotary hoe will penetrate the crust when it gets hard so with those conditions you have to have double the plants to get a stand as compaired to fields that do not crust over. Hook drill behind either a disk or field cultivator and a cultipacker (NO CULTIMULCHER) followed by a spike tooth and you will have a seedbed like a lawn to combine, that smooth. Used both a JD FB & IHC MF and Deere 494 planter.

 

[Red Roundhead]

I use a McCormick MF drill, with a cultipacker pulled behind it. It is an 8 ft drill; I block every other hole, so I plant 12" rows. The double disc openers that run in the tractor tread marks, I increased spring pressure to those rows. I set scale to 8 1/4 pecks, and planted. with the good weather last year in WI, I pulled off 62bu/acre. I had disced and springtoothed the field before planting.

 

[thurlow]

Over the years, I've found that there are LOTS of differences in soil conditions and practices in different parts of the country. We've had 4 different JD drills; all 12 ft, all 7 inch, some single disk, some double disk opener. The first had a galvanized box and mechanical lift (we converted to hydraulic), two 8200 and one 8300. 3 had drag chains, 1 had packer wheels, 1 we put 2 sections of 6 ft 'tumbling' spike tooth harrow behind, 1 we mounted some 's' tine scratchers (hydraulically raised) in front to scratch out the tractor tire marks. The one I was using when I retired (and which I liked best) was an 8300 which was hitched to/pulled behind a 12 ft JD scratcher-tooth do-all. Every single one would get a stand with adequate moisture and a prepared seed bed.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You absolutely can drill in beans. With that fluted Van Brunt I think you have to open the gates all the way. You will crush a few seeds with it. I planted with an double run Oliver grain drill and it did outstanding. With double run drills you will have less seed cracking. We got near 60 bushel beans on 24 inch rows. The 24 inch rows allowed us to use the Vac Case and sprayer and not run anything over.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You ll be fine we have a Van Brunt drill been using it since it was new, mainly to plant beans and wheat with. Just work your ground good and level.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I have planted them wih a MM, jd pda and a 620IH and it works,you need a firm seed bed planters like a 7000jd or similar offer better depth control of course, I will differ on increasing the seeding rate over rows, we found all it did was make taller beans without any more yield and more seed cost, 175,000 seeds per acre is plenty

 

[Doug Wis]

Thanks guys for all the replies. If it ever quits snowing we'll give it a try. About 25 degrees this morning. Mud in the yard was froze pretty solid this morning.

 

[tomstractorsandtoys1]

Why use a drill? You will get better yeilds with a planter. Much more accurate. Plant them in 30 inch rows or do like us and split your 38 inch rows. I hate two trips over the field splitting rows but the results are much better than a drill.In my part of WI more and more farmers are letting the drill in the shed and using the corn planter. One othe bonus is you can plant alot less seeds per acre. I would hire someone with a planter before I would use a drill. We started with a drill twenty years ago switched to crn planter 15 years ago.

 

[Anonymous-0]

All my equipment is old, the old girl will do a great job. The key I have learned to plant beans with a drill or corn planter is NOT to DEEP. I don't know about your soil but if you get them to deep & get a heavy rain, the beans have hard time getting up & braking through that crust. I like them bearly covered. I think you will be fine, thats what the equipment was built for minus the fact its 60 years old now.

 

[Leroy]

You can hardly find any in with a planter in Ohio anymore, If you do find them they are with a 30" planter with a spliter for 15" rows

 

[Tim(nj)]

Must be a regional thing. You will rarely find anything but drilled beans 'here'. The guys who tried planters went back to drills after a few years. Said there was no yield improvement and the lower plant population led to more weed pressure (therefore more herbicide), and less ability to stand deer grazing, so any savings in seed were negated.