Bourgault mid row discs or shanks

[farmaholic]

Truly there can be issues with any make of drill, they each have their reputations. Good and Bad.

[farmaholic]

Ya your 70 lbs of starter fert burns the seed and your crop doesn't see the midrow band fert until doomsday !

When I configured this drill I chose 4 inch round packers because I wanted to use a wider opener. We don't use a 3/4 inch tip, we use a 2 inch spread tip from Dutch. 2 inch spread is being "generous" but at least it's not all concentrated in a 3/4 inch band. Ten inch spacing.

You don't have to convincel me it takes a while for the crop to get to the midrow, I've been saying it for a while now. Worse in dry years!

Just because I have one doesn't mean I think it's the best....I know it is! Oh boy....

[farmaholic]

You figure out the details !

I did

[TOM4CWB]

Or just use a 1870jd and put fert in deep band with seed above 1.25"and to the side 1" in it's own seedrow delivery[Conservapak]. The newer NH openers do about the same placement with less hardware.

[SASKFARMER]

Yes, they are really easy to maintain but you need to harrow in fall and spring before seeding. If you don't grow much straw or have shorter canola then maybe they will work. Also, a disc doesn't dry the ground out as much as a shank. This year proved that.

[STRNGR]

Thanks for the pointers, we have been harrowing in fall on cereals for ever, just last couple on canola. Bought a Bourgault harrow with hydraulic adjustable down force, works really well, even in wet conditions. Just need a dedicated body to keep it moving. Really looking at mid row shanks for less maintenance, they cost $10,000 more than discs, ?, lots being used with urea, a few with liquid & NH3

[AC man]

I think SeedMaster has come further in frame improvements than SeedHawk. Bourgaults are tanks.

MRB's definitely have their issues. High maintenance and in a dry year fert too far from seed row. But I told(teased)wiseguy the bumper is back on now that it rained in Ghetto central and the crop found the fert midrow.

Bourgaults seed distribution system is archaic in my mind. Rough ride with two deadhead points, main distribution tower and secondary one. I like the ability to put any product coming out of any tank of the cart in either the seed row or MRB row. That way it is definitely versatile. I think metering is accurate also...we calibrate everything every year....never rely on old calibrations. We sometimes record them for reference.

Good luck with your decision. But like some guys have pointed out a good C-shank drill will grow as good a crop as anything. Some land topography is friendlier to c-shank drills than others. The old flexicoils had some frame flex and if the sections weren't too wide they did a pretty decent job. What I don't like about the Bourgault drill is there is no feathering it out if you're going through a wet spot or over a sharp knoll----its either in or out and as soon as you hit that electric over hydraulic switch to raise the drill....out it comes AND the main drive seed clutch disengages. (even though they're independent shank they still tend to go in deeper over sharp hilltops,.....would need an XTC, or what ever the new model that replaced it is called, PLX help prevent that)

That's my two cents

My neighbour has a Seedmaster drill which is having some frame issues. This drill is about 10 years old and around 30,000 Ac. I don’t know if the newer drills have these cracked frame issues resolved. They do a good job of even seed emergence but straw management is a must,behind the combine and harrowing also.Their seed shanks and fertilizer shanks are close to each other. Every drill has their pros and cons so depends on what works best for you.

[farmaholic]

Seedhawk comes from factory with a fertilizer shank !

One can pull 72 feet of Seedhawk instead of 60 Ft of Bourgault with mrbs !

I should write Gerry a letter !

Wiseguy has waged a holy-war against Bourgault. And he's on a crusade to recover SeedHawk's former glory.

Kinda like a quest for the Holy Grail that has fallen from SeedHawk's possession into the hands of the exhalted Almighty Glorious Bourgault.

[farmaholic]

Farma buy anything at Ritchies ??

...a SeedHawk.

[farmaholic]

Gonna pull all my Bourgaults to Ritchies

Hopefully they sell for more than new !

They're worth more as scrap than SeedHawk's are new!