method for setting hay seed

grazeaway

what do you use for setting hay seed? We use the spinner to shake it out but have been caught out this spring and again last year with high winds. The local co-op used to have a setting barrow (now long gone) which was what we used to have before.

Was chatting to our contractor and he reckons it would be madness to get in a one pass for doing it as the amount we do can vary from 3 to 20 acres a year or sometimes none at all and we usually under sow barley with the hayseed. I was thinking of getting an old seed drill like the the MF30's that have 2 bins (usually one for barley and one for fertilizer). I could then put my barley in one an the hay seed in the other. That way I can do it myself and not worry about the wind.

Anyone use these and if so how do they cope with the hayseed?

iverjohnston

Can you use a corn drill to sow grass seed? Never knew that, but then there is no tillage in this area. Where are you based? There are still merchants with seed barrows to hire here in Cavan, usually the guy selling grass seed has one for his customers.

Horace

you could end up with a very patchy job as the corn drill would sow the grass seed in lines a few inches apart leaving a lot of space for weed to grow and compete with the grass seed also would the grass seed bunch enough to fill the blanks between the lines. you would need a couple of extra surplus bags of seed to keep a good supply of seed flowing evenly in the boxes of the drill and get an even cover also the grass seed may be too small to free flow down the shoots of the drill and the grass seed could end up being sown in clumps. if you could buy a barrow it would do a much better job and would be handy for the neighbours to borrow it also

iverjohnston

There is one on DoneDeal, in Cork, " for repairs" whatever that means, €350.
I wouldn't touch anything from Cork, myself, but perhaps it would suit you job?

yellow50HX

iverjohnston wrote: »

There is one on DoneDeal, in Cork, " for repairs" whatever that means, €350.
I wouldn't touch anything from Cork, myself, but perhaps it would suit you job?

typical cavan meaness i'd say...:D

sure we're in god chosen country down here...lol.

yellow50HX

Horace wrote: »

you could end up with a very patchy job as the corn drill would sow the grass seed in lines a few inches apart leaving a lot of space for weed to grow and compete with the grass seed also would the grass seed bunch enough to fill the blanks between the lines. you would need a couple of extra surplus bags of seed to keep a good supply of seed flowing evenly in the boxes of the drill and get an even cover also the grass seed may be too small to free flow down the shoots of the drill and the grass seed could end up being sown in clumps. if you could buy a barrow it would do a much better job and would be handy for the neighbours to borrow it also

if you follow with a harrow it'll spread the seed. have seen a lot of the american and canidan versions of the trailerd seed drills have a grass box instead of the fertilzer box on the back. surly you could modify the seed box to remove the chutes and have it like the old barrows? Have seen it doen myself.

how do the direct drill yokes work with hay seed?

bbam

How about buy no more equipment and use coated seed?
It can be spread with a regular fert spreader.

Not sure how much more expensive it is to regular seed, I'd expect it's a good bit more. But being able to use existing equipment has to be a real money saver in itself.

grazeaway

bbam wrote: »

How about buy no more equipment and use coated seed?
It can be spread with a regular fert spreader.

Not sure how much more expensive it is to regular seed, I'd expect it's a good bit more. But being able to use existing equipment has to be a real money saver in itself.

how is big is it size wise and weigth wise? if its too light then i'm back to sqaure one relying on a calm day. Place is fairly exposed so we usally have a brezze of some sort blowing. if its around the same as the fertilizer pellets or the barly grain then thats do-able

bbam

Aparrenty twice as heavy as regular seed.

iverjohnston

yellow50HX wrote: »

typical cavan meaness i'd say...:D

sure we're in god chosen country down here...lol.

Gods own county, no doubt, but on the two occasions I went to buy something there (once a second hand Quad, once a half dozen of vintage cast iron radiators) the guys selling decided to almost double the price when I landed in the yard. Must have thought that having travelled 200 miles, I wouldn't go home empty handed..............:rolleyes:

At least I'm not bitter......!

pms7

I used to always watch for a calm day but after 2 months rain last year, and rain forecast again day wanted to set, I went off with my spinner in high wind. Couldn't believe when saw grass coming up perfectly even.
If really worried split it and go again at right angles.

freedominacup

Horace wrote: »

you could end up with a very patchy job as the corn drill would sow the grass seed in lines a few inches apart leaving a lot of space for weed to grow and compete with the grass seed also would the grass seed bunch enough to fill the blanks between the lines. you would need a couple of extra surplus bags of seed to keep a good supply of seed flowing evenly in the boxes of the drill and get an even cover also the grass seed may be too small to free flow down the shoots of the drill and the grass seed could end up being sown in clumps. if you could buy a barrow it would do a much better job and would be handy for the neighbours to borrow it also

You're wrong about everything except how handy it would be for the neighbours if he bought a grass-seed barrow.

freedominacup

If the field is well laid out then spray, lime and direct drill. Oh and spray again after about 6 weeks to deal with new grassland weeds.

grazeaway

pms7 wrote: »

I used to always watch for a calm day but after 2 months rain last year, and rain forecast again day wanted to set, I went off with my spinner in high wind. Couldn't believe when saw grass coming up perfectly even.
If really worried split it and go again at right angles.

wind died down yesterday so a made a balst at it yesterday evening, seem nice and even. Will give a belt of the roller today.

i did it 2 years ago in a 4 acres field. Bottom of the field was ok but the top was fairly bare as the seed kept getting blown away from it. had to go back over that section again afterwards.

grazeaway

freedominacup wrote: »

If the field is well laid out then spray, lime and direct drill. Oh and spray again after about 6 weeks to deal with new grassland weeds.

thats fine for hayseed but if i want to under sow i'd have to go over it with the drill again

grazeaway

iverjohnston wrote: »

Gods own county, no doubt, but on the two occasions I went to buy something there (once a second hand Quad, once a half dozen of vintage cast iron radiators) the guys selling decided to almost double the price when I landed in the yard. Must have thought that having travelled 200 miles, I wouldn't go home empty handed..............:rolleyes:

At least I'm not bitter......!

you must have told him you were from cavan so he reckoned there must ave benn a few more bob floating around.
whats that saying again?
"mean cavan bsatards and cute cork hures"

Horace

freedominacup wrote: »

You're wrong about everything except how handy it would be for the neighbours if he bought a grass-seed barrow.

It would also handy for his neighbours if he bought a corn drill and grass seed could be successfully sown with it. A lot of folk around here under sow myself included i get a contractor to sow the barley he uses the corn drill to sow the barley seed and spread the fertilizer and i sow the grass seed using a vicon spinner. The contractor also has a direct drill for sowing grass seed the seed is spread in front of the power harrow and the grass grows evenly not in lines . Corn drills are around a long time and nobody in this area uses them to sow grass seed. MY point is surely someone must have tried to sow grass seed with them and if it was successful it would have become standard practice to use that method by now.

freedominacup

grazeaway wrote: »

thats fine for hayseed but if i want to under sow i'd have to go over it with the drill again

We just mixed 4 stone of barley with 2 bags 10-10-20acre and spread it just before the one pass. Establishing the grass seed is the priority, the undersown barley is just to give a bit of bulk when harvesting.

On the up

Horace wrote: »

you could end up with a very patchy job as the corn drill would sow the grass seed in lines a few inches apart leaving a lot of space for weed to grow and compete with the grass seed also would the grass seed bunch enough to fill the blanks between the lines. you would need a couple of extra surplus bags of seed to keep a good supply of seed flowing evenly in the boxes of the drill and get an even cover also the grass seed may be too small to free flow down the shoots of the drill and the grass seed could end up being sown in clumps. if you could buy a barrow it would do a much better job and would be handy for the neighbours to borrow it also

Sorry,not having a go at you but that is some load of ****e :rolleyes:
Anyone that has used a corn drill/one pass will tell you theres little out there to beat it.

grazeaway

On the up wrote: »

Sorry,not having a go at you but that is some load of ****e :rolleyes:
Anyone that has used a corn drill/one pass will tell you theres little out there to beat it.

how do the corn drills deal with the hay seed? is it not too small for the corn drill? i tought that the lads usign direct drill used a diffent type of drill to be able to set the seed.

if the ordinaly corn drill can do it then my idea was to use 1 box for the barley and the fertilizer box for hay seed. I know both can be adjusted indepently to change the flow rate. That way i can use drill to set barly, hayseed or both. I was hoping that i can use the fertilzer box to let out the hay seed.

Most times when im reseeding its on a tilled filed usually ploughed after beet so direct sowing into pasture is not an option. I would often under sow with barly at the mo i give it too runing of the spinner to throw out eh seeds then harrow and roll to cover. Always get nice even coverage except if its too windy, hence my thinking on the seed drill option

Horace

On the up wrote: »

Sorry,not having a go at you but that is some load of ****e :rolleyes:
Anyone that has used a corn drill/one pass will tell you theres little out there to beat it.

With all due respect to you and your views i now ask have you read the complete post as its my understanding that the poster if referring to an old type corn drill MF30's or similar drill these drills are on wheels and towed behind the tractor not attached to the 3 point linkage like the modern direct drill one pass systems . I agree with you that the modern one pass system is a good method of sowing seed BUT the poster states "Was chatting to our contractor and he reckons it would be madness to get in a one pass for doing it as the amount we do can vary from 3 to 20 acres a year or sometimes none at all and we usually under sow barley with the hayseed. I was thinking of getting an old seed drill like the the MF30's that have 2 bins (usually one for barley and one for fertilizer). I could then put my barley in one and the hay seed in the other. That way I can do it myself and not worry about the wind." IF the poster is referring to this type of machine http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/otherfarmmachinery/5047400 Then its my opinion that this machine would be unsuitable for sowing grass seed.

grazeaway

Horace wrote: »

With all due respect to you and your views i now ask have you read the complete post as its my understanding that the poster if referring to an old type corn drill MF30's or similar drill these drills are on wheels and towed behind the tractor not attached to the 3 point linkage like the modern direct drill one pass systems . I agree with you that the modern one pass system is a good method of sowing seed BUT the poster states "Was chatting to our contractor and he reckons it would be madness to get in a one pass for doing it as the amount we do can vary from 3 to 20 acres a year or sometimes none at all and we usually under sow barley with the hayseed. I was thinking of getting an old seed drill like the the MF30's that have 2 bins (usually one for barley and one for fertilizer). I could then put my barley in one and the hay seed in the other. That way I can do it myself and not worry about the wind." IF the poster is referring to this type of machine http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/otherfarmmachinery/5047400 Then its my opinion that this machine would be unsuitable for sowing grass seed.

yeah thats excatly what im asking. can these be used to set hay seed? actually looks at the pic there it actually looks like there is hayseed in it

eddiek

a bit off topic but is there a spray to kill weeds in meadow without damaging the grass?

20silkcut

When ye say hay seed ye really mean just normal grass seed?????

Horace

freedominacup wrote: »

You're wrong about everything except how handy it would be for the neighbours if he bought a grass-seed barrow.

On the up wrote: »

Sorry,not having a go at you but that is some load of ****e :rolleyes:
Anyone that has used a corn drill/one pass will tell you theres little out there to beat it.

This is a MF 30 drill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYia7j5cd3g which the poster was referring to, Do you still think that i am wrong when i said this machine would be unsuitable for sowing grass seed

freedominacup

Horace wrote: »

This is a MF 30 drill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYia7j5cd3g which the poster was referring to, Do you still think that i am wrong when i said this machine would be unsuitable for sowing grass seed

I don't know TBH. I thought the poster, certainly the OP was refering to a conventional drill on a one-pass. I haven't seen an MF 30 in action for at least a couple of decades though one of the neighbours had a fiona drill mounted one a power harrow at one point.