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Rocks Don't Bother Home-Built Sod Seeder
Rocks don't stop Scott Jones when he heads out to pasture with his sod seeder. It just rolls right over rocks, thanks to the Baker Boot shank openers from New Zealand that he used on his built-from-scratch grass drill.
"I wanted something that could handle rough ground," says Jones. "A lot of disk openers hit a
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Rocks Don't Bother Home-Built Sod Seeder NO-TILL EQUIPMENT No-Till Equipment 27-2-26 Rocks don't stop Scott Jones when he heads out to pasture with his sod seeder. It just rolls right over rocks, thanks to the Baker Boot shank openers from New Zealand that he used on his built-from-scratch grass drill.
"I wanted something that could handle rough ground," says Jones. "A lot of disk openers hit a rock, and they don't work so well after that. These shanks will bend sideways and even backward when they hit a rock."
The only new factory parts are the New Zealand shank openers. He built the rest of the seeder from scratch except for the seed box which came from an International Harvester drill. The 12-ft. wide frame is constructed from 3-in. sq. tubing and mounts on a 3-pt. hitch. Trailing gauge wheels provide depth control, while a turnbuckle system on one drive wheel controls seed distribution. To keep the cost down, there are no hydraulics.
The cost of the drill was around $10,000 (Canadian). Three rows of shanks clamp on to the 3-bar frame. A total of 19 shanks provide 8-in. row spacings which Jones finds adequate for seeding into either range or no-till grain fields.
"Eight-inch row spacings leave room for the trash to move around the shanks without plugging," he says. "For rough pasture only, I would go with a 12-in. spacing, because range rejuvenation doesn't need narrow rows, and there is often more trash."
To control trash, Jones grazes range really hard in the fall and again in the spring before seeding. Alfalfa fields have been rejuvenated by haying them off, spraying with a burn down and then seeding alfalfa with his sod seeder. He has also seeded fall rye and sorghum into hay fields that had been taken over by June grass and had no legumes left. So far, the drill has done everything Jones has asked of it.
"The openers cut a vertical line into the ground with a horizontal line at the seeding depth, sort of like an upside down T that cuts and lifts the sod to cover the seed," he explains. "The vertical line stays open, so the seed can easily penetrate up and out of the slot, yet it is well down in the moisture level."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Scott Jones, Box 97, Bridgeville, Manitoba, Canada R0A 1MO (ph 204 373-2264).
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