stealth openers

[kernel]

Try the Dutch openers they do the same job as
the stealth but pull away easier and serve you
just as long for the same kind of dollars.

[kernel]

Try the Dutch openers they do the same job as
the stealth but pull away easier and serve you
just as long for the same kind of dollars.

[freewheat]

I put atom jet twin bands on my old
seeder this spring. I haven't seeded
much yet, but I sure think I like them.
The price sucked though. They seem to
have minimal disturbance, good
seperation of nh3 and the seed, and they
seem to pull easy. We will soon see how
they do in mud. Ok, maybe not soon, but
I hope soon!

I was sick of my midrow banders feeding
the weeds, and not being close enough to
the seedlings for maximum effectiveness.

I look forward to the results.

I run an "ancient" 1990's air seeder
with valley packers on 12 inch spacing.
I have had guys comment on my canola
emergence more than once. guys that run
seedmasters and the copycat drills even.
It is kind of fun having my emergence
and crops be as good or better than
theirs for 10 per cent the machinery
cost. But hey, when you don't write the
checks, who's counting, eh?

[crusher]

freewheat,
With the atom jet are you single shooting your dries? I currently dump about 125#s/ac with the canola seed and think that might be a little hot if their going down the same tube in a single row on 12". Is the NH3 at the same depth as the seed? If I'm seeding canola at 3/4" I'm going to want me NH3 at least 3" deep. Thoughts? Love trying to make that 15 year old drill tick.

[freewheat]

Hey crusher. I am shooting my dry with
the seed for now, but like the option to
split it very much. I usually have been
applying my sulfur before or after
seeding with a spreader, which sounds
rustic and all, but it works VERY well.
Not good enough for many guys, but it
works.

Yes the nh3 is at the same depth as the
seed, but 3 inches away. As you mention,
it seems weird to be seedin canola an
inch or less deep, yet be applying the
anhydrous that shallow as well. With my
seeder, with the shank mounted packers,
and again in our ALWAYS wet seedbed
conditions, it works well. I see the odd
puff of gas here and there. The thing
is, my openers are about 2-3 inches
deep, so the n is going in fairly deep,
and so is the seed, but my packers are
right there too, and little soil falls
in after the packers. So I seem to get a
fairly deep furrow, but with shallow
soil on top of the seed. Does that make
sense? I am trying to put it into words
properly.

And with our wet soils, the nh3 is
rapidly attached to the soil as well.
For "here", and for my old machine and
the way it is set up with the shank
packers, these openers seem great.

On my next drill, I would think I would
lean towards double shooting my dry,
just so I can place all the dry I need
to, and avoid the extra operation of
topdressing my S.

Hope this helps you out a bit.

[mustardman]

If you are still using stealth openers after a couple season Then you are not seeding heavy clay soils.
You will get sore knees from unplugging them. Switched to Atomjet sideband 13 years ago and still using same openers. ( some have been re hardsurfaced)

[wd9]

Agree mustardman. If you farm perfect
flat deep black soil land you can farm
with anything. Hilly grey wooded or hard
clay base soils and drills being dragged
sideways require a lot more thought if
you want consistent germ especially if
it doesn't rain right away or rains too
much. We get good yields on our land, it
just can be such a bugger to get good
germ as the soil dries out so quick.

You can also use ESN on the n to help
with fert issues. I use the morris edge
on paired row. Works pretty good in most
conditions, but fert/seed separation is
a challenge as i run the fert tip as
shallow as possible. ESN is a big help.

Doing replicated ESN trial on canola and
wheat this year with tissue tests and
emergence and yield. Some talk of
Phosphate not being available because of
the high n and canola roots not growing
in that band with the much higher n
rates used today.

Can post the results this spring.