seed barrow

vanderbadger

anyone use ground driven seed barrows, used one for the first time there the other day, nearly drove me mad, the ground drive wheel was kinda knackered and the wheel kept kinda going under the body of the seeder at an angle, it had too much play, otherwise seemed like a handy enough yoke, are they expensive?

reilig

vanderbadger wrote: »

anyone use ground driven seed barrows, used one for the first time there the other day, nearly drove me mad, the ground drive wheel was kinda knackered and the wheel kept kinda going under the body of the seeder at an angle, it had too much play, otherwise seemed like a handy enough yoke, are they expensive?

I've used one. Our local co-op gives you the use of it if you buy your seed from them. As i detailed in an earlier thread, i didn't find it very effective. I put 3 acre bags of seed in it and set is as instructed (3 match sticks wide if i remember correctly) and I still had seed in it when i had 5 acres covered. Since then I have used both a spinner and wagtail spreader and mixed the seed with fertilizer. It spreads the seed just as good as the seed barrow and in 1/4 the time with no hassle.

They can't be too expensive to buy as they are a simple machine.

vanderbadger

ya same setup as that, in fairness though this one seemed to be spreading the right amount of bags to the acreage.. I was worried about using the wagtail as I would be guessing trying to set the opeing right and would probably piss half the seed out on the first few runs but got so annoyed witht he other yoke that I was sorry i bothered with it at all

reilig

vanderbadger wrote: »

ya same setup as that, in fairness though this one seemed to be spreading the right amount of bags to the acreage.. I was worried about using the wagtail as I would be guessing trying to set the opeing right and would probably piss half the seed out on the first few runs but got so annoyed witht he other yoke that I was sorry i bothered with it at all

If you mix it with the fertilizer and only open the spreader a very small amount then you can go over the same ground 2 or 3 times and be sure that you have it all covered. That's what I do anyway and I always get even grass growth. I found that the seed spread with the seed box grew grass in lines and if grass failed in any spot then you had a gap. Don't get me wrong, it did the job perfectly and worked as it should have, it just took an age to get the job done.

bogman_bass

worked grand for me when I used one and does amuch better job than a tillage seed drill would

blue5000

As op said, use a wagtail. You can pull a roller on a chain to cover in the seed after it too.

pajero12

We sowed 12 acres with one last week!! Worked out that the 12 bags just finished it!! We pulled a "bush harrow":D on it to spread the seed a bit!!

Casinoking

Never had a problem using a barrow, rarely sow grass with anything else. They work fine when they're in good nick and set properly. We use it either on it's own or on the back of a power harrow. As far as I can remember I gave €2300 for a new one a couple of years ago.

Muckit

I remember using one a few years back that we got from place we bought seed and thought it was tempermental. You had to keep an eye to make sure the little slots didn't get clogged so that the seed kept coming out even. Ended up with a few bare patches where seed had stopped coming out and I hadn't noticed!:mad:

I suppose it's like any hired out machine, it's never going to be in good nick with every Tom,Dick and Harry using it:rolleyes:, still at €2,300 I don't think I'I be buying one any time soon.

I'm sowing seed tomorrow, but spreading it with fertilizer using a small single spinner. It's going on silage stubble that I've being chain harrowing all evening. I've chain harrowed the field in both directions so sward is well opened up now.

It'I be trial and error for a bit to get setting right on spreader, but it should work out ok. Will spread as reilig suggested in both directions aswel. I'i mix it in the field so that the seed and fertilizer don't separate as much.

Hope it all goes to plan!

reilig

Muckit wrote: »

I remember using one a few years back that we got from place we bought seed and thought it was tempermental. You had to keep an eye to make sure the little slots didn't get clogged so that the seed kept coming out even. Ended up with a few bare patches where seed had stopped coming out and I hadn't noticed!:mad:

I suppose it's like any hired out machine, it's never going to be in good nick with every Tom,Dick and Harry using it:rolleyes:, still at €2,300 I don't think I'I be buying one any time soon.

I'm sowing seed tomorrow, but spreading it with fertilizer using a small single spinner. It's going on silage stubble that I've being chain harrowing all evening. I've chain harrowed the field in both directions so sward is well opened up now.

It'I be trial and error for a bit to get setting right on spreader, but it should work out ok. Will spread as reilig suggested in both directions aswel. I'i mix it in the field so that the seed and fertilizer don't separate as much.

Hope it all goes to plan!

It should work out Muckit, I harrowed mine last wednesday and spread the seed, it got a light coat of slurry on thursday and was rolled on saturday. I walked through it this morning when i was out looking at cattle and I can already see the clover coming up. The foggy mornings are putting a nice dew on it and the hot afternoon yesterday must have made it sprout. Hopefully the grass seed will move too. I'm very happy with it so far.

vanderbadger

ya i think the barrow method is fine, just this particular one was dodgy, another issue was that one of the compartments kept emptying quicker that the others, it was the furthest right one so you would be looking out the back window thinking the seed is going fine while this one could be empty..I will probably have a few patches to do again :rolleyes: