# Brillion seeder... is it worth it?



## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

I have about 70ac to seed this fall. 20ac for alfalfa/orchard mix and 10ac for straight Timothy. The other 40ac will be put into permanent horse pasture.

Those acres have been prepped with disc and cultimulcher. I finished the cultimulching last night and quite honestly, I'm impressed in how good the field looks. I had annual rye on it for the summer, just to hold soil and keep weeds down. I mowed it as low as my batwing would go before I disked it. I disked on the bias to the initial rye then 90deg opposite to the disc with the cultimulcher. I have approximately 95% dirt with only a very little stubble on the surface. Its smooth... its ready, the seed is in the barn. I am limited to farm work on Weekends, Mondays, and vacations.

But I have yet to make up my mind concerning a way to get it in the ground.

I have 3 options...

1. The local Extension office has a 10' Haybuster No-Till drill, which I used to put in the rye. I'm a little worried about its consistency on depth of planting, especially given it is a rental. (This is the least expensive option and I would plant half density in 2 directions.) This would be the least expensive of all options. But, being that it is used by everyone in the area, it can be difficult to get when I have the time.

2. Relatively local Used Farm Equipment dealer has a 10' Brillion seeder... no idea about the year. It looks to be in relatively decent shape, but when looking at it from the back, it appears to angle a bit. I've seen it up close, and its been 'used' but not necessarily abused. I'd take another close look before I purchased it if I went this route. *I could get this for about 30% of new.*

http://www.sandsequipment.com/inventory.asp#/?fsucriteria=;category=Drills and Caddies;page=1;items=20;sort=0;wid=1;disposition=any&fsuid=2c31a678-6b33-4088-8626-60e9a31ca272

3. There is a relatively 'new/used' machine about 4years old, but only rented for one year a handful of times. *I could get this for about 75% of new.*

*My goal is quality hay for my horses and, if any is left over, to sell in the area. *

There are plenty of horses so, if I can get the quality, I should be able to sell it well. (Lexington, KY area). But my main goal is a good stand that I don't have to fight all the time. BUT... I won't be planting year in and year out. I figure any of the options will work, but which would work best for the next 20yrs? Would purchasing the 'new' seeder be worthwhile when only using it occasionally but getting a great stand when I do? Would the older one suffice in this instance? Or should I just go with 2 90deg runs of the no-till? Seed is expensive, and I don't want to be foolish in any direction, if there is a chance to prevent it.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I have a brillion and it's a great but slow and expensive tool. For timothy at least it's pretty darned cheap to spin it on with a spreader and roll it with your cultimulcher with teeth lifted.

A drill isn't the greatest tool for small seeds and you don't need notill given the shallow seed depth for timothy and alfalfa. I've always wanted to slap a small seed box off a drill on a cultimulcher to do the job and sell my brillion.


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

Are they slow simply because of the full ground contact and drive mechanism?

I must be honest, I never thought about them being faster/slower than any other drill. It just never crossed my mind.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Well they are narrow and if you try to drive fast they make a heck of a racket which screams slow down. Timothy goes in the small seed bin and you have to stop every 2-3 acres to refill and level the compartments.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

The old IH endgate spreader we use for alfalfa will cover around 25 ft per pass. I imagine grass seed would not spread as wide but still way more than a 10 ft drill. I wouldn't hesitate to broadcast and roll. Otherwise just rent the drill.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Brillion! You'll get a good stand. Tighten up the rollers if it's noisy.

Ralph


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Ah my noise is from the whole thing getting pounded by rocks.



rjmoses said:


> Brillion! You'll get a good stand. Tighten up the rollers if it's noisy.
> 
> Ralph


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

About 5 mph is what you operate a Brillion at.....it's not that slow....especially considering that one does not seed very often. I like a Brillion and if I was making a purchase with 20 years in mind the Brillion would be a good choice. I am very happy with my Brillion seeder.

Regards, Mike


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I'm just not sold on spending 4 to 8k on one to seed Timothy if you already have a cultipacker. Maybe the savings on alfalfa seed would help it pencil out?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

slowzuki said:


> I'm just not sold on spending 4 to 8k on one to seed Timothy if you already have a cultipacker. Maybe the savings on alfalfa seed would help it pencil out?


The op is not going to just seed Timothy.

They sure are nice about seeding large and small seed at the same time.

Regards, Mike


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

can you rent one of the Brillions seeders. why buy something you use once every 10 years, lot of money sitting a shed doing nothing


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

Beav said:


> can you rent one of the Brillions seeders. why buy something you use once every 10 years, lot of money sitting a shed doing nothing


Unfortunately, I have looked everywhere. Brillion/Landoll doesn't even have a dealer in Kentucky. And the closest, Ohio, won't let anything go that far. It really frustrates me. I'd rather rent, that is for sure.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Beav said:


> can you rent one of the Brillions seeders. why buy something you use once every 10 years, lot of money sitting a shed doing nothing


Yes, if I didn't need one but ever ten years then if would be difficult to buy. Here, I use mine every other year it seems like. I have to re-do my Orchard grass fields every 5-6 years here...same with Timothy. I guess the heat shortens their span more so than further North. I used mine last fall, this spring, and again in about 3 weeks.

Regards, Mike


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

From the first comment I guess you don't have a drill or hay planter at all. Depending on the size of farm you have I guess it would be good to get a Brillion. A few years ago I was considering a Brillion. But a few things stopped me. One was that that I have a good Great Plains 3 point drill that is 15 feet. It plants in 6 inch rows and has never failed planting anything we have tried with it (wheat, rye, oats, alfalfa, teff, orchard, brome). Always a good stand. So I figured finally why do I want to spend the money on a Brillion that might do a slightly better job and will be smaller? So hard to go smaller. Even if it is just 3 feet. There is a considerable lack of good used Brillions in our area. If there are any they are in much much poorer condition then our Great Plains. And new they are just too expensive to buy for a planting every few years when we already have a good drill.

So I recommend buying one only if you don't have a drill or planter or one that just doesn't work good.

On another note. We have a neighbor that has tried all kinds of different grass drills over the past 10 years. He has always ended up being mad at the dealer that sold them to him or hating the drills themselves. He had a crust buster drill for his last disappointment. But he has not ever tried 3 brands. Brillion, John Deere or Great Plains. The best hay planting drills there are. I suspect he hasn't tried Brillion or Great Plains because he must not like the dealer for some reason.

So if you can afford it buy the best you can. Hay planters can last a very very long time if stored inside. Think about it. You don't plant hay all that much. Not like a corn planter. It's just the overcoming the thought of spending money on something you might not use that much or could even not use at all for a year or more. There's been a few years our drill hasn't come out of the building at all. But it sure has been nice to have over the last 25 years.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> Yes, if I didn't need one but ever ten years then if would be difficult to buy. Here, I use mine every other year it seems like. I have to re-do my Orchard grass fields every 5-6 years here...same with Timothy. I guess the heat shortens their span more so than further North. I used mine last fall, this spring, and again in about 3 weeks.
> 
> Regards, Mike


I'm curious Mike. Why do you have to redo your orchard fields every 5-6 years there? Weed presence? Stand dies out? I ask because unless you want to change crops and you are a somewhat decent farmer here you never have to redo an orchard field. We have one orchard/brome field that is at least 40 years old. It's like a lawn it's so thick. And produces as well as a field 3 years old.


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

What goes 'wrong' with them?

If I buy a used machine, are there things at which I should be specifically looking?

Given the one in the link, does the apparent slight angle in the boxes matter in overall function? My land isn't perfectly flat, and I have a few small 10' hill variance in a few spots.


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## 2ndWindfarm (Nov 11, 2014)

Dadnatron said:


> What goes 'wrong' with them?
> 
> If I buy a used machine, are there things at which I should be specifically looking?
> 
> Given the one in the link, does the apparent slight angle in the boxes matter in overall function? My land isn't perfectly flat, and I have a few small 10' hill variance in a few spots.


The packer rings will wear and break. And rolling through rocky ground too fast will up that possibility. I'd take a close look at the seed box frame. It may be tweaked, broken and welded, etc.

You want the roller span to be flat for good, even soil contact. It would have to be pretty bad to leave a "skip streak"! But, I guess that anything's possible!

Mixed success with a no-till drill and Timothy seeding. Very touchy with depth setting and getting good germination.

How about your neighbor's or somebody local that might be able to get it planted?


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Vol said:


> Yes, if I didn't need one but ever ten years then if would be difficult to buy. Here, I use mine every other year it seems like. I have to re-do my Orchard grass fields every 5-6 years here...same with Timothy. I guess the heat shortens their span more so than further North. I used mine last fall, this spring, and again in about 3 weeks.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Me, too! Stands get thin because of traffic and compaction.

Ralph


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Yeah boxes out of line on mine was a tweaked c channel that runs the width.


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## Fossil02818 (May 31, 2010)

I just sold my Brillion 8' seeder. It was an older model SS 96 3pt mounted with small and large seed boxes. It had been well maintained before I bought it about 12 years ago and I always kept it clean and under cover. I paid $2800 back then and sold it for $2400. They hold their value and are well constructed. So around here IMO they hold very good resale value. Just another factor for you to consider.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Teslan said:


> I'm curious Mike. Why do you have to redo your orchard fields every 5-6 years there? Weed presence? Stand dies out? I ask because unless you want to change crops and you are a somewhat decent farmer here you never have to redo an orchard field. We have one orchard/brome field that is at least 40 years old. It's like a lawn it's so thick. And produces as well as a field 3 years old.


Like I said, I guess it is the heat that makes them get thinner and thinner. OG is a bunch grass so it does have a tendency here to get that way( thin clumps). I have never heard of a OG field lasting 40 years. You folks can count yourself lucky as I don't know of anyone on this side of the Mississippi that gets one to last that long. I know that some varieties of Brome last a long time....but I sure never heard of OG lasting as long as you state.

Regards, Mike


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> Like I said, I guess it is the heat that makes them get thinner and thinner. OG is a bunch grass so it does have a tendency here to get that way( thin clumps). I have never heard of a OG field lasting 40 years. You folks can count yourself lucky as I don't know of anyone on this side of the Mississippi that gets one to last that long. I know that some varieties of Brome last a long time....but I sure never heard of OG lasting as long as you state.
> 
> Regards, Mike


It could be the heat. Since yours doesn't get cool at night. For the most part we go to 60 degrees or less every night of the year. Maybe a longer dormant period helps also. Maybe since your soil holds more moisture machinery traffic might also hurt during harvest. Also do you have to spray herbicide yearly? I've decided herbicide on grass hay fields for the most part isn't a good thing unless the weeds are bad. Every time I've sprayed new seedings the orchard/brome really gets stunted for that cutting. We don't spray any of our established fields. No need to. I want you know I didn't mean to sound like I think our area is better. I just haven't heard of anyone around here having to replant orchard grass or any grass due anything but changing crops or lousy irrigation. So I was curious.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I am sure Ralph Moses is right about compaction/traffic hurting grasses in our clay soils. I usually do not have to spray very much herbicide, but I may have to spray the first year of a new stand to kill the weeds that I stirred up.

Regards, Mike


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Here orchardgrass can winter kill just like alfalfa.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> I am sure Ralph Moses is right about compaction/traffic hurting grasses in our clay soils. I usually do not have to spray very much herbicide, but I may have to spray the first year of a new stand to kill the weeds that I stirred up.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Yes same here with spraying. Coop guy always seems kinda shocked I don't want to spray for weeds. Why spray if you don't have to..


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

we have been lucky to have a dealer who rents all kinds of equipment You may not get exactly what you want but they have something that will work for $200 a day sounds expensive but for using a $10k seeder that works flawlessly was a bargain got a great stand


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

That is definitely a plus for you Beav.

I need access to a seeder and a subsoiler. Can get neither without purchase.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Dadnatron, I have a Brillion seeder I bought a couple years ago and I have been very pleased with it. For planting into a prepared seedbed I don't think you can beat a Brillion. Just make sure the soil is a little mellow before planting with the Brillion and then roll it with the cultimulcher with the teeth up after planting and you will get a picture perfect stand. I don't quite understand the comment about a Brillion seeder being slow.....I run my Brillion up to 5 mph which is just as fast as using a drill.

With that being said I am moving away from planting as much with the Brillion and starting to use a JD notill drill. Mostly due to the fact that much of my ground is pretty hilly and prone to wash and once I get the fields in good shape I don't really want to work them back up. With a good notill drill and some close attention to the seeding depth you can get a good stand with a drill. For planting worked ground I do think it is harder to get a good stand with a drill since it is very easy to get the seeds too deep.

I think a Brillion seeder would be your best option to get a good stand. If you don't think you would need it again anytime soon maybe you could resell it?


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

It's really about what you want to spend. You could seed it with a wooden-boxed Oliver Superior drill and a cultipacker if you wanted to.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> It's really about what you want to spend. You could seed it with a wooden-boxed Oliver Superior drill and a cultipacker if you wanted to.


 I'm not familiar with the old Oliver drills but I had a hard time at first getting a good stand of Timothy and alfalfa with an old JD Van Brunt drill. I finally figured out it was best to remove the seed tubes from the openers and just let the seed sprinkle out then roll it in with a cultimulcher with the teeth up. The disc openers on those old drills did not have consistent enough depth control to plant small seeds consistently at 1/4" depth.....worked great for small grain though.

That could be a good lower cost option for the original poster if he could find a drill that isn't shot.....don't see many around here that aren't rusted out and have a small seed box.


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

you can mix seed with fertilizer have the dealer spread it and light drag or better cultipack it in


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## The saint (Oct 4, 2015)

So in a last life i worked on a side farm we used a billion seeder exclusively and love the results but there is a big difference in stand quality from Jay to do so is it worth it for a Jay field? I don't know i just did a field with a broadcast spreader and then rolled it with a furnished with times up and got great results.

We did run ou r billion at a half day and over lap 50% to prevent any chance of skip in the sod


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

The saint said:


> We did run ou r billion at a half day and over lap 50% to prevent any chance of skip in the sod


Saint, do you mean you ran your Brillion at half application amount and essentially doubled the passes, overlapping 50% each pass? Were you ever worried about 'overpacking' the surface?

I have disked then cultipacked at 90deg to each other and 45deg to the original drill path. The ground was as expected, but we did have a pretty good rain the day after cultipacking. I haven't had a chance to see how it all turned out after the rain yet, but will take a look this weekend. I don't know whether I will need to go over it in some way before I plant. I suspect yes if I use a Brillion and perhaps not if I go with the Extension's No-till.

My wife said it didn't wash, which was somewhat of a surprise, as prior to disking, the no-till did run a bit in a couple places. Perhaps the disking loosened the top up enough to accept more water quicker.


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

As I was looking through information concerning seeders, I found a Land Pride NTS2511 which is very interesting.

I had looked at smaller versions of this machine with an eye to the future as a 'pasture renovation' tool. But, that was when the largest they had was a 9' model. Now, I see they have an 11' model, which changes things in my eyes relatively significantly.

It has a basic 'Brillion' type design in that it has front and back rollers, dropping the seed between them. There are a few differences, which allow this machine to better renovate pasture however. The front 'roller' is actually 2 slightly overlapping rollers with spikes. These rollers can be angled up to 18deg, thereby causing a more aggressive 'preworking' of the soil prior to seed drop. The following roller is about the same as the following roller on a Brillion.

The only question I have is whether it can do a good job as a primary seeder on worked soil. Brillion is obviously designed specifically for that job, given a larger leading roller. The Land Pride front roller isn't designed to primarily be a 'packing roller' although it looks like it could work well if kept in straight rolling form/direction. The spikes will certainly cause more disturbance than a non-spiked roller, but I am not sure it would be enough to cause a problem. This is the crux.

The Land Pride would be MUCH more useful to me on a year in and out basis given its ability to renovate areas of a pasture which are thin but could use some help. But I don't know whether it can put in a good primary seeding to begin with. I would give up 'some' initial benefit for a more long term useful machine. But I don't want a crap stand because I tried to short cut a problem.

What do you think about the utility of using this seeder as a primary seeder over disked/cultipacked/rained upon ground? The 'breaking up' caused by the roller might be just the thing for a thin crust from the rain. But... I don't want to be talking myself into something just because it 'seems' like it would work well.

Land Pride NTS 2511


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## Fossil02818 (May 31, 2010)

In addition to my Brillion seeder I have a Belco No Till Conservation seeder that uses a similar spike front roller with following cultipacker rollers. I have used it extensively for pasture and hayfield renovation as you anticipate doing. It is useful as a seeder into a prepared seedbed but not as good as the Brillion for small seed. I have found that I need to apply a heavier amount of seed since some seed gets deposited deeper into the spike holes than desired. So an alfalfa seed for example may fall an inch into the disturbed soil rather than be pressed just a bit into the surface as the Brillion would. My Belco also has a larger following roller than that Landpride. Heavier is better for getting good seed to soil contact especially for the small legume seeds and timothy as well. Lots of variables for you to consider. Hope this helps.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I've always had this idea of have a small set of coulters ahead of my 3 point brillion that the weight of the brillion keep in the ground to do some overseeding with it. Anyone ever mess around with something like this? I'll have to keep an eye out at the auctions for an old fertilizer bar or something.


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## deerezilla (Nov 27, 2009)

I plant on my rotation 225 acr every year of alfalfa. I hire a airflow to come in blow the seed and fertlizer on and I roal it in with my 30 ft Parma rolerharrow. I'm doing this on Monday. I have a John Deere 455 24ft with a grass seed attachment I find I get a better stand with the air flow.


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

Fossil02818 said:


> I have found that I need to apply a heavier amount of seed since some seed gets deposited deeper into the spike holes than desired. So an alfalfa seed for example may fall an inch into the disturbed soil rather than be pressed just a bit into the surface as the Brillion would.


What is your % more estimation that you are adding, when you use/would use the Belco as a primary seeder?

I'm thinking hard about this machine as it would be much more useful on a yearly basis to my farm.


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## Fossil02818 (May 31, 2010)

I have increased my seed application rate by around 33%. So for example if the recommended rate for alfalfa was 5-10lbs/acre in a mix with grass seed I would apply 7.5 to 15lbs/acre. This is by no means a scientific calculation. Just my experience here. Whenever I used the conservation seeder for planting in a prepared seedbed I found that it was less precise than more specialized seeders such as the Brillion or a coulter equiped seeder. Different horses for different courses. The spike style seeders have great versatility but they are not without limitations.


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

I took a leap and went with the Land Pride NTS2511.

I found a 4ac demo unit and towed it home yesterday. It rained, and given Harvey, it is forcast to be raining or rainy for the next 7-10 days. This is going to put my planting at the late stages of acceptable here in KY, according to the 'people in the know'. If I had the seeder over the weekend, the weather was perfect, and it would be able to take advantage of the 2 additional weeks and all the moisture. But... so goes farming.

I went over the seeder for a few hours yesterday afternoon, aligning the seed cups and trying to calibrate the small seed bin. There must be some issues, because I had it set for right around 20lbs/ac for alfalfa small seed bin, and I ended up with 37lbs. I will spend some time determining whether I was just doing something incorrectly this weekend.

One thing about this seeder which is odd is that it has 3 adjustable 'gearing modes' which essentially cause the seed box gear/drop mechanism to turn faster or slower. This could be the issue, although, when I look at the gearing, it appears to be set at the correct rotation. I'm going to have to check with the Rep to insure it, because their 'suggestion and my actual' are significantly different.

I also noticed, that one of the 3 seed cups was dropping only about 75% of the others. I cleaned it out and checked everything I could find, and there is nothing clogging either the tube or the cup that I can see. This makes me wonder whether other cups could also be significantly variant.


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

Thus far, I've been very disappointed in the functionality of the Land Pride NTS seeder.

On the surface, it is 'similar' in function to the Brillion seeders. I haven't found that the front rollers with the spikes, tear up the ground too much.

My biggest complaint, thus far, is the horrible engineering in their seeding chart. I calibrated the legume box with coated alfalfa 6422Q, all regular size. Using the seeding chart for 20lbs/ac I dropped 37.5lbs/ac. In order to get it correct, I had to change the seeding setting to less than half of the Official Chart Indication. While I don't expect it to be perfect, I'd expect it to be within around 10% with a little fine tuning by me.

I then did the large box with Harvestar Orchard grass and using their chart, I was looking for 10lb/ac and achieved 32lb/ac.

When I contact Land Pride/Great Plains and spoke with their Engineers, they were perplexed. They said initially, when the seeders came onto the GP side (after purchase of the company) they had some issues dumping up to 100lbs/ac. But they did some calculations, changed some gearing, and according to calculations, 'fixed the problem'. I spoke directly with the engineer who 'ran the new spreadsheet' and he was very proud and was going to send it to me directly. I asked him whether he had gone out to a machine and tested his calculations? And his reply was "Its all just math, gearing etc. It should work just fine."

After explaining to him that his system did NOT work just fine, he was dismissive. I told him I'll make a YouTube video showing things... which I have been recording since then, but have not edited and put out. He said, 'Ok, I'll take a look when you've done it.' and that was that.

I think the machine will work, but the company has been worthless to me thus far. I know Kubota purchased them both, and perhaps things will change. But as it sets, I think I would have rather gone with the Brillion and skipped the 'potential added utility' of this machine. Given its primary workings require me to calculate each new seed rate from scratch. Not impossible, but it is a major pain, and requires much more work, than ANY brand new machine should require, just to get it up and running.

I'd hate to have 'taken their word for it' and began seeding RR alfalfa at $11.50/lb.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Seed is variable, especially when talking coated verses uncoated. They can't publish anything other than a generic chart that you use merely as a guide. Thus charts, in any planter, are not to be taken as gospel.


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

85% and 300% off isn't of any use.

It would be better for them to just say, 'You're on your own', then I wouldn't have had any expectations of being in the ballpark. And while I understand seed size variability, I don't think there is any way that a 'checked' seeding rate chart could be this far off.

I've used seed charts on several different seeder/drills and never have I seen one which was further off on 2 different seeds, than this one.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Coating can easily make seed flow at crazy rates.


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

Orchard grass is uncoated and yet it dropped over 3x stated expectations.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

With hulls or without? Does that seeder have cups with seed gates like a drill? There are so many settings and variables that it's always hard to say.

By the way, I made a calibration tube for my GP that I can fairly accurately measure the seed leaving a single row and that allows me to then calculate the amount I'm putting down as soon as I have completed one acre. (Saw one in Farm Show magazine) Everybody should make one for themselves, especially if you're planting small fields. Otherwise it always seems like you don't get things dialed in until you're halfway through.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I used a Landpride Seeder rental unit one time....it was a POS on dispensing seed.....even after careful calibration. I bought a Brillion Seeder 2 years ago and it works like one would expect. Yes, there is difference even within same seed type as different Orchard grass varieties will vary in size just a LITTLE bit, but not much.

There is a reason Brillion seeders cost more.....accuracy and quality of components. I am sorry you are having seeder trouble...it makes one sick when you purchase something that is not capable of operating as it should.

The Brillion Seeder chart is very close in accuracy.....and if you have a unit equipped with a acre meter it makes final adjustments even more accurate.

Regards, Mike


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## Dadnatron (Jul 24, 2017)

8350HiTech said:


> With hulls or without? Does that seeder have cups with seed gates like a drill? There are so many settings and variables that it's always hard to say.


The orchard grass had no hulls. But that was in the seeding chart. I don't think I've ever actually seen hulled seed for planting, but that is likely just my limited experience. The seeder has seed gates and cups. There are 2 ways to control seed drop on the 'large box' gate and % cog teeth showing and 1 way (cog teeth) on the legume box.

I don't know how Brillion meters seed so can't compare. I really don't see why this one should perform so poorly. The theory seems sound, but the outcome is anything but.

I saw a NT drill which had a tray which could be inserted into a slot to catch seed. I think this is brilliant and should be standard on all drills/seeders. What I did worked, (separate tupperware containers for each seed tube/gate/cup) but it was not convenient. And given the discrepancy in the chart vs reality, EVERY seed which is put through this machine require calibration if you want to make it to the end of your field.

Next, I have Timothy, which will be a real test. I haven't decided how I will go about calibration. I might put in 100lbs (which is what I plan on planting) and test the output of every cup. Just get a bunch of those throw away tupperware containers and catch every cup separately.

I might end up designing a tray to catch seed, like you say you built. Do you have any recommendations? I was thinking about just cutting a 4-6" PVC pipe in half and figuring out a way to cover the seed drop.


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

I used coffee cans on our NT to get a rate. I remember a tray looking thing with dividers and graduated cylinders used for checking spray nozzles in an ag class. I never figured a easy way to make it tho. I wanted to calibrate an older Brillion seeder.


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