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Post by Foggy on Aug 11, 2021 13:39:55 GMT -6
Very good infomation on calibrating a drill here. Also on the KYForage website. (paper version)
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Post by terrifictom on Aug 11, 2021 14:08:18 GMT -6
Very good infomation on calibrating a drill here. Also on the KYForage website. (paper version) Pretty much how I calibrated my grain drill.
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dpx2
New Member
Posts: 12
Likes: 7
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Post by dpx2 on Aug 11, 2021 19:46:27 GMT -6
I've been looking at the saya507 as well. If I could convince myself I needed a drill, that's what I'd buy. Pro's: less seed used, better soil contact, less tillage, I think I'd get better stands, etc. Cons: not sure I'd use it enough to warrant the cost. I have about 6.5a I can plant, but usually only plant 1.5a annually. I sure want one for fun though....
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Post by Foggy on Aug 11, 2021 19:51:27 GMT -6
I've been looking at the saya507 as well. If I could convince myself I needed a drill, that's what I'd buy. Pro's: less seed used, better soil contact, less tillage, I think I'd get better stands, etc. Cons: not sure I'd use it enough to warrant the cost. I have about 6.5a I can plant, but usually only plant 1.5a annually. I sure want one for fun though.... I have another thread on this product in the planting thread. Stay tuned. Welcome. Where are you from? A little bio?
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Post by badgerfowl on Aug 11, 2021 19:58:26 GMT -6
I've been looking at the saya507 as well. If I could convince myself I needed a drill, that's what I'd buy. Pro's: less seed used, better soil contact, less tillage, I think I'd get better stands, etc. Cons: not sure I'd use it enough to warrant the cost. I have about 6.5a I can plant, but usually only plant 1.5a annually. I sure want one for fun though.... I have another thread on this product in the planting thread. Stay tuned. Welcome. Where are you from? A little bio? A new member? Shhhhh, don’t spook him.
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Post by Foggy on Aug 11, 2021 21:18:51 GMT -6
I've been looking at the saya507 as well. If I could convince myself I needed a drill, that's what I'd buy. Pro's: less seed used, better soil contact, less tillage, I think I'd get better stands, etc. Cons: not sure I'd use it enough to warrant the cost. I have about 6.5a I can plant, but usually only plant 1.5a annually. I sure want one for fun though.... Actually, I bought the Saya 505 (they dont even show this on their website yet....it's the same in every way...but two feet narrower).as that was available......and would have had to wait until December (if it was really gonna happen?) and would have to pay a price increase as well. Mine is a 5 foot wide instead of a 7 foot wide. I saved about $2000 over what I may have paid for the 507.....and it was a bit uncertain how it was all gonna shake out. Price is about $1000 per foot. Grin. Knowing what I know now.....I would again buy the 505 over the 507.....given my circumstances. The 505 machine is slightly narrower than my tractor tires so I dont need to worry about catching the machine as I work along the timberline (almost all my plots are long narrow plots in timber). I may spend about 20% more time in my tractor to seed the plots....but that is minimal time spent each year. Maybe a couple more hours? It requires less horsepower to pull the 505 than the two foot wider 507....which would be the "limit" for a 35 hp machine. I dont have a huge concern with this....but some might. I think I could pull the 505 machine with a GOOD sub-compact tractor?? And almost any compact tractor of about 25 HP. (a bit of a guess on my part...depending on soils and such). One thing folks want in a no-till drill is allot of weight on those front coulters to cut through the sod and trash. Nice thing about these drill is they are well built and very strong....yet fairly light weight which allows almost any three point to pick them up. My 5 footer weighs about 1200 lbs. When I add some seed and PLACE SOME WEIGHT ON THE FRONT PLATFORMS (which are designed for this) I can add a few hundred pounds more......and get the weight necessary to get those seven coulters to cut sod and thatch, etc. That is a big deal. There are a few SAYA 505's still floating around out there in dealer inventories going into fall. But you gotta do a bit of searching to find one. If you call the factory...they will put you through to the guy in charge of the state you live in.....and he will find a unit for you. Nice folks....and they seemed to know their stuff. I lucked out on mine....and got thru to the rep right away....whom was in this very area seeing my dealer that day. (I think I was struck by lighting??). I paid $5475 plus tax for my machine. I think these are a solid value......but as I said.....I have not had mine in the dirt yet. Stay tuned. I never quibbled the price....paid MSRP....and tax. Glad to buy it. Kinda pumped on this machine right now. grin.
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Post by Foggy on Aug 12, 2021 7:29:49 GMT -6
Here is a good information page in my owner manual on these drills. I added the specs for the 505 machine. The manual has a considerable number of misstatements and errors. I think it was originally written for the company's conventional drills that they sell....and someone did a bad job of revising it for the no-till model they introduced about two years ago. On the hopper of the machine they have a glaring mistake on how to calibrate the machine. This sort of thing can really add frustration for a new operator....like me. Grin. I can see that setting this machine up initially will take me several hours. Been said that setting up a drill can be quite difficult....but can't be as difficult as a combine. . I once went to combine school.....back in my teens.
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Post by Foggy on Aug 12, 2021 19:06:25 GMT -6
Got the new drill hauled to my land and unloaded today. Then introduced the Orange Crush to the Tar River. They seemed to get along quite well. Taking some time to set it up and adjust everything and check all the fasteners (several loose fasteners....but basically assembled pretty fair). I did find one stripped grease zero....not sure if I can put a larger one in and get away with that.....or if I need a warranty replacement (or both....as I can always use a spare part )
I strapped four suitcase weight to the weight tray provided.....adding about 250 lbs. My hydraulic top link on the 3 point allows easy leveling adjustments.
The spring loaded rear "flaps" serve to pack the seed trench for better germination. Been said they work good.
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Post by Foggy on Aug 12, 2021 19:17:14 GMT -6
Took my wife for a drive tonight....and stopped by the Mills FF store for a few bags of low cost granular product to help me set up the drill. I think these are similar to my seed sizes....and will putz with this stuff before calibrating for real. The floor dry is the cheapest material. But the lime or fertilizer are not as spendy as dropping seeds. All will get used.
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Post by Foggy on Aug 13, 2021 19:18:43 GMT -6
So today I spent all afternoon with big wrenches.....and a few little wrenches to properly set up my drill. Thankfully I had bought a 1/2" Impact Wrench and sockets in OZ when I was doing my Jeep build. I shipped that home with a friend and had it for todays work. A life saver. I suppose I loosened measured and adjusted 100 big bolts to get all aligned as it should be. I kinda like doing this stuff....as I get to understand how the machine works and can better understand the operation and re-adjustment processes. I spent 4 hours tweaking today and about 4 hours the other day with unloading and hook up and intial adjustments. I'd hate to go through this with a 20 foot drill. Grin. After getting things right.....I told the Drill to several spots I'm going to plant next week to check on the weed kill....and see how the coulters and disks penetrated the dirt and sod. Pics follow.
I used a wide board and put some black tape on it at 7.5" in order to line up the cutting coulters with the double disk openers. Worked quite well....but took some time.
This is never broken sod in a power line at the back of my property. I destumped it, mowed it short, and nuked it with 2 qt / Roundup last week. My planter was able to penetrate this thick sod....and I now KNOW that this will do the job correctly on my land. VERY HAPPY to see this.
Pulled it in some bare dirt to shine the coulters and check the alignments in the dirt. Those rear flaps really smooth the dirt. Tommorow?.....I think I can finally calibrate the seed drops for my seeding efforts on Monday and Tuesday. (if you want to come for a "field day" your invited for Tuesday....after I know what I am doing a bit more. Grin).
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Post by badgerfowl on Aug 13, 2021 19:39:28 GMT -6
Looks great! Can’t wait to see the growth pics.
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Post by Foggy on Aug 13, 2021 20:15:30 GMT -6
Looks great! Can’t wait to see the growth pics. Pass the rain please.
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Post by badgerfowl on Aug 13, 2021 20:25:06 GMT -6
Looks great! Can’t wait to see the growth pics. Pass the rain please. Our soil is still pretty wet even in the hills. I’m hoping the stuff I planted tonight will germinate even without rain. We could have shared inches with you guys.
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Post by Sandbur on Aug 13, 2021 20:37:13 GMT -6
So today I spent all afternoon with big wrenches.....and a few little wrenches to properly set up my drill. Thankfully I had bought a 1/2" Impact Wrench and sockets in OZ when I was doing my Jeep build. I shipped that home with a friend and had it for todays work. A life saver. I suppose I loosened measured and adjusted 100 big bolts to get all aligned as it should be. I kinda like doing this stuff....as I get to understand how the machine works and can better understand the operation and re-adjustment processes. I spent 4 hours tweaking today and about 4 hours the other day with unloading and hook up and intial adjustments. I'd hate to go through this with a 20 foot drill. Grin. After getting things right.....I told the Drill to several spots I'm going to plant next week to check on the weed kill....and see how the coulters and disks penetrated the dirt and sod. Pics follow.
I used a wide board and put some black tape on it at 7.5" in order to line up the cutting coulters with the double disk openers. Worked quite well....but took some time.
This is never broken sod in a power line at the back of my property. I destumped it, mowed it short, and nuked it with 2 qt / Roundup last week. My planter was able to penetrate this thick sod....and I now KNOW that this will do the job correctly on my land. VERY HAPPY to see this.
Pulled it in some bare dirt to shine the coulters and check the alignments in the dirt. Those rear flaps really smooth the dirt. Tommorow?.....I think I can finally calibrate the seed drops for my seeding efforts on Monday and Tuesday. (if you want to come for a "field day" your invited for Tuesday....after I know what I am doing a bit more. Grin). What does it weigh?
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Post by Foggy on Aug 13, 2021 21:06:21 GMT -6
^ The machine I have weighs about 1100 lbs IIRC. I put about 300 lbs or cast iron weight on the front "weight trays" (shown in that last pic above). Not sure it's needed.....but I dont have issues with more weight for my lift. Smaller tractors (with lower lifting capacities) may need the light weight to be able to lift this up. I sliced through heavy sod like nobody's business. Very happy right now with choosing this product.. .
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