Seed drill, how to use??

[embarr]

We just recantly bought this 15 acre farm that sat for 3 years previous with no one here (bank owned). Previous owners had several horses, and with no pasture management the fields are in pretty bad shape. Lots of woody weeds, brambles, and little hay. I nocked everything down with the flail, kept it mowed down pretty close, took soil samples, and fertilized. Towards the fall, I had very healthy weeds . I know I need to do something, but I'm not sure what to do to fix these fields. We have horses (3) so I will need to plant what they like.
I've been told broadcast seeding is not really the best way to go, and that a drill is better. I found a John Deere Van Brunt drill that has the grass seed attachment on it, and have been told the fertelizer box is in good shape.
Being I've never used one of these, I have lots of questions, with the main one being, is this drill what I'm looking for? I know they make drills specifically for grass seed, but I cant afford one.
How is the fertilizer box used on this thing, can i fertilize as I seed?

Thanks for any help yall can provide!

Here is a pic of the drill....

 

[donjr]

For a starter, put the tarp back on that drill, and put it in the barn. Way back out of the way.

If the place is in fallow and weeds, first thing is to mow it. Clean it up.

The second thing is to soil test it. Then buy plow and disc and tractor. Plow it, disc it and get a dose of lime and fertilizer on it, in line with the soil test and what you want to plsnt. Then pull the drill back out, and plant. DO NOT put fertilizer in the drill. If it isn't already rotted out, and free, there's no sense in trying to. Fertilizer is hard on drills. Broadcast what you need. Pnce it has been plwed, it has to be disced smooth. Then you can plant with the drill. Little box in front for grass, clover, and alfalfa; large box in the front for small grain.To plant corn, you need a corn planter. Then pay to have someone do it right. 15 acres isn't enough to really make any money on.

So, while this is written with a grin on my face, even 15 ac., your best bet is to forget it, and lease it out to some local farmer, and let him do the work to it, It will save you time and put money in the bank for taxes.

Or no -till it with corn. But the cheapedt way out is to let a pro farmer lease it.

 

[Sid]

Fertilizer is not hard on drills. Neglect and not taking care of one is.

 

[embarr]

Thanks Sid, I had thought if the drill was properly cleaned out after fertilizing, it would be fine.

Some other details about the fields I have, after reading Don's reply it would appear I wasn't clear earlier.

Everything is mowed, and cleaned up. In several places it is overgrazed.

I do own a few tractors, do have a disc, but no plow. Could probably snag one if needed, but would kinda like to avoid using one if I could, erosion could be a problem on the back half of my place.

Fields have been soil tested, and local Ag store has got my fertilizer / nitrate squared away. Lime is borterline low, but I should be OK for another few years.

Not new to farming, or pasture management, just new to the drill, and new to trying to establish new pastures (in the past the places I've owned have had previously established pasture that were in good shape)

I know I could burn down the fields with roundup, plow, disc, and seed, however I was hoping an old drill with the grass seed attachment installed would give me an option that didn't involve me having to totally take my fields back to dirt, so to say.

 

[dmiller]

I had been under the impression that it was better to not mess with putting pelleted fertilizer in the box since the fertilizer was so corrosive. I had always thought that if they were cleaned out adequately there would be little corrosion possible.
What's the best way to clean them out? Air hose will get most but not all, water will dissolve the fert. but will then sit and rust ???

 

[Anonymous-0]

Open up the back lids, on that drill, and pop a few pictures, as well as a few, of the gear drive mechanisms (one on each side, about middle point of each box). We then can tell you of the shape your fertilizer drive is in. If you want to try them yourself, hook an adjustable wrench, to the square shaft, on the fert drive, and try to turn that shaft. Bet its froze up tighter than a duck's arse, and that holds water. The drill will likely work well enough, if the seedboxes, and the seed doors, below each feed are not rusted out. Do the same test, with an adjustable wrench, on the 5/8" square shaft, turn back and forth, and try to get them to move. Spray lots of your favorite penetrating oil, on everything, below the seedbox, that looks like it might move. Then walk around back, and try the 2 seed rate adjusters, the 2 levers, on the outside edges of the drill. Once you get everything moving, by hand, then try using the drill, with no seed in the box. You should see the shafts under the boxes turning, and neither wheel should skid! There's loads more than this to adjusting a JD FB series drill, all contained in the manual, which you can get from mother deere, or EBAY. Most important thing of all, is never let the sun go down on a drill, with ANY seed in it.

 

[Anonymous-0]

After we swept the dry fertilizer out as well as we could we just hosed things down with diesel or waste oil.

 

[wijim]

I think the best would be to burn down with roundup and hire someone with a notill drill.Jim

 

[JMS/.MN]

The small box in the front is for grass seed, and has its own calibration system. If the rear box is split, one is for small grain, like a nurse crop, and the other is for fertilizer, each with their own calibration system. Best way to protect a fertilizer tank between seasons is to flush everything with diesel fuel after using and cleaning it. You always have the option of broadcasting fertilizer, rather than using the drill.
That can be done before/after seeding if you can use a tine/tooth harrow to work it in.

 

[rick2 in ohio]

i have one identical to that.mine works good no
complaints biggest issue is getting everything set
just right.seems i have to set all the settings a
bit higher than what it calls for.
RICK

 

[donjr]

I still think it's quicker, cheaper and easier to spin it on ahead of time. You can cover more acreage quicker, and don't have the cleanup for the drill, or stops for loading. If you're handling bulk, there's no cleanup on a tender. And you can't find bagged fertilizer around here anymore unless you go to the lawn and garden store and pay through the nose for it. The old FB drills are tough, but a pain to clean, like any fertilizer box. You never seem to get all the dust out, and it eventually seems to eat them up.

 

[Nebraska Cowman]

horses like weeds. depending what you have there if
you keep the weeds clipped the grass will come back
on it's own. But if you graze too many horses they
will keep the grass killed out.

 

[Sid]

"I was hoping an old drill with the grass seed attachment installed would give me an option that didn't involve me having to totally take my fields back to dirt, so to say."

Embarr, it is an option that I have used on my place. I'll admit that it might not be the most modern. Some good advice given on how to check it out and clean it up. We would flush ours with watere hose at end of use then paint things with used oil. An air hose would probably be better then coat with used oil. As has been mentioned don't let the sun set on a drill with anything in it and keep it out of the weather.

 

[Sid]

We brush on used oil or diesel.

 

[Ralph Bauer]

Just a few rambling thoughts:
Rather than burning it down with roundup, how about a control burn this spring/ late winter?
Goats love to eat weeds.
Have it sprigged instead of seeded, many folks who do sprigging will prep, too.
Do it in stages/sections/strips. Just be sure to keep the weedy parts down and/or so they will not go to seeds.
Use a hybrid/engineered (am not a personal fan of it because one becomes a slave to Monsanto & Co.) creeping/smothering grass to eliminate light to moderate weedy conditions.
If some areas are especially weedy, spot spray (with herbicide) if absolutely needed. Or try 20% vinegar, works pretty well on smaller patches, around house.May need multiple applications.

 

[old harv]

I am thinking it depends on how smooth your feilds are and if you want to make hay from the feild or just pasture. Seeing as you have already cut them you will know how rough they are. I would plow up what I wanted to cut hay on and get it as smooth as possible before replanting hay seed, and work and plant it to something else for 2 or 3 years before I planted hay seed again. This gives a chance for the old sods to rot and the ground becomes more mellow. If it is just for pasture, I use a small broadcaster on the back of a 4wheeler, but you could easily use your drill, letting it drop the seed on top of the ground. We often broadcast seed onto frozen ground first thing in the spring. The thawing action works the seed into the ground. Also much of what is considered a weed is actually quite nutritious, sometimes comparable to alfalfa. If horses like it they will kill it off for you. I have a drill like yours but my grass seed atachment is on the back instead of the front. Yours may be an add-on. I never use my fertilizer box, don't even know or care if it works, easier and cheaper to rent a bulk spreader from the CO-OP. Hope this helps, Harv

 

[flying belgian]

Shop vac works better then air hose.

 

[Leroy]

Back grass seeded is a newer model;, Front is all FB series. And the question is how rough is the ground and how smooth do you want or need.

 

[Farmallb]

If your worried about erosion, you better get a rollar packer also to pac k down the turned earth and set in the seed for a better growth.

 

[cd1]

There is no way you are going to use that drill and not a moldboard plow atleast. If I was in your shoes I would find a farmer that would be up for renting the ground for a year or two to plant corn or beans or have it custom done and do it yourself. Go in that field in the fall and roundup the field, that way the grass can start rotting, go into it with no till corn or soybeans the following spring and since we use roundup on those crops now you will really get the sod killed good. then no till it with grass. Otherwise you might as well keep on it with 2,4 d and hope the grass comes back. A disc isn't going to do the job.