Introduction
Direct seeding has become very popular over the last few years. One of the limitations of direct seeding is the ability to apply the required amount of fertilizer. Several manufacturers have developed openers which separate the seed and fertilizer. Double shoot openers allow the application of large amounts of fertilizer while seeding. Knowledge and experience on the operation of these openers is limited. A project to test the double shoot openers was started by The Alberta Farm Machinery Research Centre In The Summer Of 1993 And Completed In 1994.
Test procedure
Testing of the double shoot openers was split into two parts. First, was the operation of the openers in the Alberta Soil Bin Test Facility. Horizontal, vertical, lateral soil forces, and seed and fertilizer placement were measured during operation of the openers in the soil bin.
Dimensions of the soil bin are 58 ft (17.7 m) long, 10 ft (3.1 m) wide and 24 in (610 mm) deep. The bin contains a sandy and a clay loam soil. Each type of soil has a useable length of 20 ft (6.1 m). A carriage is mounted on rails and pulled up and down the bin electrically. The carriage contains an instrumented, adjustable frame where a soil opener is mounted. A metering system and a fan deliver the material to the soil openers. Pot barley is used to simulate the seed and fertilizer in the soil bin.
The second part was the operation of the openers in the field. The openers were mounted on a mini air seeder and used in fields around the Lethbridge area for 4 to 5 ac (1.6 to 2 ha) per opener. The soil ranged from clay loam to clay. Seed and fertilizer placement, draft and vertical force were measured during operation of the openers in the field.
The mini air seeder consists of a tow-between air delivery cart and an 8 ft (2.4 m) wide cultivator. The cultivator has four rows of shanks and a floating hitch. The air delivery system is a Gandy applicator. Eight shanks were mounted on the mini air seeder.
Description
Fifteen different double shoot openers from nine manufacturers were included in the test. There are three main types of double shoot openers.
- Single Row: The fertilizer is placed directly below a single seed row.
- Single Row and Side Band: The fertilizer is placed below and to the side of a single seed row.
- Pair Row: The fertilizer is placed between and at the same depth or below two rows of seed.
Single row openers tested
Key Ag Ventures Four Inch Chrome with Backswept Knife
New Noble Nutriband System
Single Row and Side Band Openers
Dutch Vern-Eagle Buster Combination
Flexi-coil Side Band Double Shoot Knife Opener
Gen 200 T2 Seeding System
Morris Conventional Double Shoot Opener
Morris Edge-on Double Shoot Opener
Poirier Double Shoot Opener
Swede Dual Placement Opener
Pair Row Openers Tested:
Anderson Opener
Flexi-coil HS Paired Row Double Shoot Knife Opener
Gen 200 T2X2 Seeding System
Key Ag Ventures Key Two Seeding System
Key Ag Ventures Seven Inch Chrome with Backswept Knife
New Noble Seed-o-Vator System
Discussion
Figure 1 describes the measurements listed in the Tables in the following reports.
The Key Ag Ventures Key Two system, Key Ag Ventures Seven Inch Chrome with Backswept Knife and the Gen 200 T2X2 seeding system were mounted on a 12 in (305 mm) spacing during the field test. The other nine openers were mounted on a 10 in (254 mm) spacing.
The Anderson opener, New Noble Seed-o-Vator system and the New Noble Nutriband system were not available for field testing. The reports on these openers are based only on the soil bin results. The horsepower ratings in the report do not account for tractive and tractor efficiency and the rolling resistance of the seeding unit. Tractive efficiency is normally 80 percent for hard soils and 70 percent for loose soils. Tractor efficiency is normally 80 percent. Rolling resistance of the seeding unit is 10 hp (7.5 kW) for air delivery tanks and 0.5 hp/ft (1.2 kW/m) for packers.
The wear tests in the circular soil bin were not completed by the publishing date of the this report. The results of the wear tests will be available at a later date.
Two other openers were tested but the results were not published due to unsatisfactory results.
Figure 1. Explanation of figures in the following report's tables. |