Bourgault 5710 drill, what options should I get?

[poorboy]

I am thinking of buying a Bourgault 5710 air drill before their early buyers bonus expires, but I am having trouble deciding what to get. I currently have a 8810 on 10 inch spacing and independent mounted packers with mid row coulters putting on NH3. I am not very happy with the packing pressure on this machine.

I am torn between 10 inch spacing and 12.6 inch spacing. I am thinking that the mid row coulters will pull easier, but the long term maintance costs will be way less with mid row shanks. I have lots of clay soil and am leaning towards 3 inch rubber packers, yet some people tell me to get 3.5 inch steel packers, as they pack better and the ground is not a sticky with no till as it once was when we has cultivated summerfallow, so a steel packer should work well.

I am leaning towards a 42 or 46 foot air drill on 12.6 inch spacing with mid row coulters for NH3 and 3 inch rubber packers, and plan to use Bourgaults 3 inch wide knife as an operner.

Are there any drawbacks to the system other than it is rough?

Any good reasons for why to pick one combination of air drill set up over another?

Thanks for any opinions!

[countryguy]

Poorboy,may I ask what you are using for openers on your current machine?We use the same setup on 8 inch spacing and are very pleased.We seed everything from sand to clay and always have enough packing pressure.

On your new unit I would definitely go with the 10 inch spacing.Reaserch has proven that the closer your row spacing is the greater the yield probability.The packers are a toss up.Most guys I know go with rubber.I don't know if you would be pleased with a 3 inch opener.

[poorboy]

We have tried both the 3/4 inch bourgault knife and the newer 3 inch bourgault knife on our 8810.

We often seem to get situations where there is enough moisture to start the seeds to germinate, and then the soil over the seed drys out before the roots emerge and the roots are sitting in dry ground and the seed dies.

To try and overcome it we are seeding with about 2 inches of dirt over the seed and the fields are rougher and emergence is slower. In watching my neighbors seeding the same day on the other side of the fence, they seem to have a lot moister pack over the seed.

Perhaps I am doing something wrong with my 8810, in which case I would sure like to know so I can save my money and keep using what I have.

[countryguy]

Poorboy,could seeding speed be a problem?We usually seed at 4.5 to 4.8 mph with 5 mph be max to finish a field before a rain or something like that.We used to seed faster and did have some troubles.We also run the pressure springs on max at all times.Hope you can figure something out.Them fancy airdrills are alot of money and the crop prices are heading the wrong way!

[rosco]

With those add-on packers on the back you will never get the packing of an air-drill. I have neighbours who had so much down pressure on the springs that they were lifing the rear of the cultivator out of the ground, with the obvious rersults. There is always a huge debate in our coffee shop about double-shoot boots vs. the mid-row banding system. Ripping apart the seed bed vs. fertilizing the weeds. Another farmer nearby is using a midrow bander with carbide tipped knives on 10" spacing with steel packers. He has had two years of excellent emergence. He seeds slow, shallow and gets great packing. My only reservation is that he is using a very small amount of the seed bed for a lot of seed. If you have good soil and good fertilizer levels maybe that isn't such a big concern. There is only one air drill (a JD) in our area with rubber packers and one problem is that the machine slides sideways quite easily on sidehills because the flat face doesn't grip the furrows. Also the flat face isn't a great match for their stealth boots because they leave a "V" trench that the packer doesn't fit well into.
Food for thought.

[countryguy]

Rosco,you do have to adjust your front to back leveling when using the packers.You cannot go from cultivating to seeding with the packers and expect it to perform the 2 different operations with the same setting.

[poorboy]

The sliding sideways issue on the hill from flat versus V packers is an interesting bit of info that I never considered. I noticed that some drills were worse that others, but never thought about the packers.

Country - what type of add on packers do you have, the Bourgault gang or independant?

[countryguy]

Just using the gang type Rosco.You boys out west must be farming some pretty hilly country to have to worry about your drill sliding sideways on the hills!

[rosco]

country guy. good point about leveling the machine when you go from harrows to the packers. I don't run a bourgault but I have neighbours that use the mount packers on airseeders and I'll pass that on.
poorboy. Another part of the problem on sidehills is that in addition to the seed rows coming together and having poor packing is that the back of the macine is lifted out of the ground when the packer isn't down in that furrow, but up on the ridge. Can be a concern when seeding canola shallow. More coffee shop wisdom is that pulling a huge cart, or an anhydrous wagon behind the cart, or even a long cart hitch which gives leverage, can lead to the airdrill sliding sideways on hillsides.

[countryguy]

Oops,sorry Poorboy,my last post was supposed to be to you but I got the names mixed up.