ERT 453 – DESIGN OF MACHINE SYSTEM IN BIOSYSTEM
LECTURE 7 >> CROP PLANTING
SESSION 2012/2013
COURSE OUTCOME
CO 1
 Ability to ANALYZE (C4) specialized components
and EVALUATE (C6) mechanized systems for
production, handling and processing of
biological materials.
TOPIC OUTLINE
 Seed drills, planting machines, implements for
inter-cultivations.
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SESSION 2012/2013
INTRODUCTION
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SESSION 2012/2013
INTRODUCTION
2 Terms
Seeder
Planter
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SESSION 2012/2013
INTRODUCTION
Seeders and planters are essential for the
reproduction of crops.
 Their function is metering and placing in the
soil of seeds or plants or of part thereof.
 Thus,
seeders are used for generative
reproduction, whereas planters aid in
vegetative propagation.
 However, in some parts of the world, the term
planter is used for a seeder.

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SESSION 2012/2013
INTRODUCTION

Both seeders and planters,
 Used
as solo machines, or
 Combinations
with preceding
machines.

soil
cultivating
In some cases, combinations with fertilizing
equipment also are common.
Generative reproduction of crop
Corn, beans, sunflower
Vegetative reproduction of crop
Potato, paddy rice
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SESSION 2012/2013
EXAMPLES
Row Planter
The containers at the top hold the
seeds to be planted. This is pulled
across the field that the farmer
wants to plant
Seed Drill
This is pulled by a tractor. It is used to
plant grains and vegetable seeds. This
can make different kinds of ditches that
the seeds go in depending on what kind
of soil there is.
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SESSION 2012/2013
HOW LARGE SHOULD MACHINERY BE?
One way to measure the capacity of a set of
machinery is by the number of work days
required to complete field operations.
 This depends on:

 number
of crop acres,
 machinery operations performed,
 size of the machinery in use, and
 availability of labor.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED POPULATION
The number of seeds that need to be planted per
meter or foot of row length depends entirely on the
plant population and row widths that have been
chosen according to recommendations.
 The main concern is deciding whether single or
multiple seeding should be used.
 In single seed planting, mechanical planters drop
seeds out one at a time along the row.
.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED POPULATION
Small farmers who hand plant their crops usually
use multiple seed planting (hill planting), sowing
several seeds per hole and spacing the holes
rather far apart.
 This reduces time and labor and also may improve
seedling emergence under crusty soil conditions,
but it may lower yields somewhat because of
inefficient use of space and increased competition
between the plants within a hill for sunlight, water,
and nutrients.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED POPULATION

To calculate a seeding rate.
Seeding
Rate
Desired Plant Population
% Germination x % Pure Seed x % Live Seed Emergence
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED POPULATION

For example, let’s say a grower wants to
establish a stand of 170,000 plants per acre
using a 7.5-inch row drill. The seed tag
indicates that the seed has a 92 percent
germination rate and is 98 percent pure live
seed. Assuming a 10 percent loss in
germination due to a clay soil that crusts, what
seeding rate will achieve the goal stand?.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEEDERS
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SEEDERS




Generally comprise one or several hoppers, which contain:
 The seeds of metering parts, and
 Equipment for seed placement in the soil.
The metering either aims at equidistant spacing of the
seeds or restricted to feeding a stream of seeds into a
conveying tube.
The former case can be defined as precision seeding,
whereas for the latter case, the term bulk seeding might
be appropriate.
Since in most cases the seeds are placed in row, the
definitions of precision drilling as well as bulk drilling
make sense.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEEDERS
Precision drilling is used mainly for rather
widely spaced crops such as corns, beans,
sugar beets and sunflower.
 With closely spaced crops, precision drilling is
too expensive and therefore bulk drilling is
common.

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SESSION 2012/2013
CONDITIONS FOR SEEDING METHODS
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH

The mean area per seed with drilled crops is



The product of row-spacing and the average seed distance
within the row.
Row-spacing varies widely with crops, climatic
conditions and production technology.
Precision-drilling of crops occurs mainly with rowspacing between 25 cm and 90 cm.
Row Spacing
Narrow
Medium
Widest
Type of crops
Peas and beans
Beets and sunflower
Corn
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH
Since in humid areas the water supply allows
generally for higher seed and crop densities,
row spacing in these areas is closer than in dry
regions.
 Furthermore, mechanical weed control and
harvesting methods often require minimum row
spacings.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH



Seed spacing within the row always is a fraction of row
spacing, though under ceteris paribus conditions,
equal spacing within and between the rows would
promote high yield.
However, realizing a given seed area by narrower row
spacing associated with wider seed distances in the
row increases the investment for precision seeding as
well as for row-crop harvesting.
This is because the number of seeding and row-crop
harvesting units increases for a given working width.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH
With bulk drilling, the row spacing varies
between 8 cm and 25 cm.
 Narrow spacing are common especially with
grass, clover, alfalfa, small grain seeds in
humid area.
 Here again average seed spacing within the row
always is a fraction of row spacing.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED-SPACING AND SEEDING-DEPTH

Seeding depth needed depends very much on:



Seed size, and
Water content of the soil (soil moisture).
The larger the seeds and the dryer the soil, the deeper
the seeds should placed to ensure emergence, and
vice versa.
Soil cover (depth)
1 – 2 cm
2 – 3 cm
2 – 5 cm
4 – 10 cm
Type of crops
Grass, clover & alfafa
Sugar beet seeds
Small grains, peas & sunflower
Beans & corns
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SESSION 2012/2013
PRECISION DRILLING

Metering of the seeds – consists of two
functions:
 Singling
of the seeds
 Transporting them to the furrow.
In many cases, singling of the seeds is
accomplished purely in a mechanical way,
however sometimes the singling process is
supported by airflow.
 Accordingly, mechanical as well as air-assisted
precision drills must be dealt with.

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MECHANICAL PRECISION DRILLING
Singling
method
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
These shape & dimensions of the holes/cups depend on the
seed.



Too large or too small dimensions promote doubles or skips,
respectively.
Besides that, it is important that the seeds get to the furrow in
the original sequence. A long, free falling distance from the
delivery point to the furrow is detrimental; it deteriorates an
originally even seed sequence. This especially applies to small
seeds.
In this respect, the orientation of the metering disk is relevant.

Falling height decrease.
Vertically
oriented
metering disk
Inclined disk
Horizontally
located disk
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SESSION 2012/2013


This explains the predominance of vertically oriented metering
disk with small vegetable seed and sugarbeet seeds.
However,



Disadvantages of vertical disk with larger seed compared to horizontal
disks can be the rather short peripheral sector available for filling.
Therefore, in U.S horizontal disks still are use (such as corn).
Inclined disks normally deliver the seeds at their highest point.




In order to get a low, free-falling height, they often operate with a
parallel rotating chamber plate in the background.
The seeds pass from the singling disk into the chambers of the parallel
plate, which then delivers them closely above the furrow.
In most cases, precision metering requires devices that remove doubles
and triples from the respective cells such as counter-rotating rollers,
stationary cutoffs, or bushes.
Despite this, there still is an influence of the peripheral seed disk speed
and thus of the travel speed on the singling process.
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SESSION 2012/2013



Speed increase, reduces the percentage of doubles.
However, this advantage of inclined disks is associated with less precise
singling on sloped fields. Their use is not recommended on fields with
more than 10% slope.
Vertical disk (outside feeding vs inside feeding)
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SESSION 2012/2013




Generally, mechanical precision drilling requires a much
closer adaptation in the dimensions of the singling
elements to those of the seeds than air-assisted precision
drilling.
This applies especially to vertical or horizontal metering
disks equipped with cells and slightly less with inclined
disks equipped with cupped fingers.
The cell diameters should be about 10% more than the
largest diameters of the respective nearly spherical seeds.
There have been attempts to avoid the need of closely
adopting the hole or cup dimensions to those of the seeds.
A principle used with mechanical precision drilling is as
shown in the next slide figure.
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SESSION 2012/2013

The vertical singling disk is equipped with cam-operated
fingers. Within the seed supply these pointed fingers move
close to the disk and respectively seize the seed. At the
highest point, the seeds again pass from the singling disk
respectively into the chambers of a parallel plate for
delivery closely above the furrow.
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AIR-ASSISTED PRECISION-DRILLING
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

Either the suction or the compression by air is used to
assist in singling the seeds.
For singling by suction, a vertical disk with suction
holes passes through the seed supply.


Excess seeds per hole usually are brushed off. At the
highest point the seeds pass to a sectioned wheel, which
brings them to the dropping point.
Compressed air is used for singling the seeds within
rather large conical cells on the periphery of a disk.

The pointed tips of the conical cells have open access to the
atmosphere. The compressed air removes all seeds from
the cells except the lowest, which covers the hole at the
pointed tip. Thus, each cell keeps one seed and transports it
to the dropping point
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SESSION 2012/2013




Air-assisted precision drilling needs less precise seed
calibration than all purely mechanical methods and therefore is
used extensively for irregularly and non-spherically shaped
seeds such as corn, sunflower, and some bean varieties.
Custom operators especially appreciate that the seed disks
seldom must be exchanged when moving from farm to farm
with different seed varieties during the season. The investment
for air-assisted precision drilling, however, is higher because of
the PTO-driven blower.
The general concept of precision drilling is, that a metering unit
is placed on each opener. This method allows for rather small
distances from the delivery point to the furrow and thus favors
the exact seed placement.
However, this concept requires rather troublesome filling and
monitoring of many seed hoppers. In case all openers of a
machine are supplied with seeds from a central seed hopper,
the supply can be refilled in bulk and monitoring it is facilitated.31
SESSION 2012/2013




But this concept of replacing the row of small hoppers and
metering units with one central big hopper and one central
metering system requires long seed tubes for gravitational and
pneumatic seed transport to the openers.
An originally even seed sequence deteriorates substantially
during this seed transport.
Therefore, sometimes a central hopper provides for seed
supply to the standard system of a small hoppers and a
metering unit for each row.
The investment for this method of two fold seed storage is high,
yet it allows bulk filling as well as metering in place.
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SESSION 2012/2013
BULK SEEDINGS

No metering of the seeds occurs; instead, a stream of
seeds is bulk-fed into the conveying tubes.

Done by studded feed rollers, fluted feed roller or by internal
run rollers.
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SESSION 2012/2013
Long seed tubes are not detrimental to the
seed sequence, since no initial even spacing
exists.
 Therefore, instead of individual metering units–
as with precision drilling–metering devices on a
common drive shaft and a common seed
hopper for all rows can be used.
 This facilitates loading the hopper in bulk.
 Conveying within the tubes to the openers is
either by gravitational forces or in case of air
seeders, pneumatically.

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SESSION 2012/2013

The air seeders allow for rather independent
location of the seed hopper plus metering
devices on the one hand and the openers on
the other hand.
Operating principle of an air-seeder system
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SESSION 2012/2013






Thus, with combinations for soil cultivation and seeding
the mass of the filled hopper can be used to load the
cultivator tines.
And for large machines, the seeds can be metered from
a tender wagon, thus saving time for refilling.
Seeds can be fed into the air stream separately for each
opener tube by the respective metering devices or
centrally for all opener tubes by just one metering roller.
With central feeding, all seeds initially are injected into a
principal blower tube.
The seed-air mixture is led upwards and hits a circular
deflector manifold.
The opener tubes emanate from this deflector manifold.
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SESSION 2012/2013



Injecting the seeds into the air stream with separate feeding as
well as with central feeding in most cases is realized with an air
pressure below normal in order to achieve suction. For this
purpose, the tube cross-section at the injection point is
decreased.
Adjusting the seed rate is done either by changing the
rotational speed or the volume of the feed rollers. In some
cases, the volume of the feed rollers is adjusted to the size of
the seeds.
Normally, the feed rollers are driven via ground contact wheels.
In the future, powering by an electric dc motor—as with
precision drilling—may be important, since this facilitates the
control for site-specific farming. However, varying the travel
speed with this method still requires the input of a speed
sensor into the control system.
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SEED DRILL
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SEED DRILLS



In older methods of planting, a field is initially prepared
with a plough to expose and break up the topsoil. This
produces a series of linear cuts known as furrows.
The field is then seeded by throwing the seeds over the
field, a method known as manual broadcasting. Seeds
that landed in the furrows had better protection from the
elements, and natural erosion or manual raking would
preferentially cover them while leaving some exposed.
The result was a field planted roughly in rows, but having
a large number of plants outside the furrow lanes.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILLS
Seed drills have many different types of furrow
openers, which are designed for different soil
types and crop residues (Table 1).
 A smooth, level seedbed is necessary to ensure
that seeds are not planted at depths greater
than 10 to 15 mm.
 Sowing is at the correct depth is when 5% to
10% of the seed is visible on the surface after
sowing.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILLS
A good plant stand has 35 to 40 plants
established per meter of drill row after
permanent water is applied to the field.
 A benefit of drill seeding is that fertilizer can be
applied at the same time as the seed.
 Manual weeding is much easier in machinedrilled crops than in broadcast crops.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILLS

Table 1. Suitability of furrow openers in different working
conditions.
Furrow opener
Rotating
Double disk
Single disk
Remarks
Suitable for high residue conditions.
Better penetration in hard soils but wider variation in seed
placement.
Fixed-type
Chisel
Narrow furrow. Good for deep sowing and in friable soils.
Hoe
Good for stony, harder soil conditions and for deep placement.
Inverted ‘T’
Use for reduced till in free flowing soils.
Can leave open furrow in wet soils.
Runner
Shoe
Shovel
For shallow depths in loamy non-smearing soils.
For placing seed and fertilizer in separate bands.
Deep placement causing much soil disturbance.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILLS – GENERAL DESIGN OF DRILLS





General purpose drills may be used for sowing all kinds of
seeds from the size of beans to that of clover, at various seed
rates and depths, and in rows at various distances apart.
Most are ‘full width’ machines with a braced frame and a seed
box extending across its width. The seed is delivered from this
box by feed mechanisms driven by gearing from one or both
land wheel.
There is a separate metering device for each row. A clutch is
included for putting the feed mechanism in and out of gear.
The seed passes down seed tubes to the coulters, which cut
grooves in the soil.
The seed rate is adjusted by alterations of the gearing or of
feed mechanism, while the spacing between rows and the
depth of sowing are adjusted by the setting of the coulters. 44
SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS
Studded Roller Feed
External (Fluted Roller) Force Feed
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS
Flexible fluted roller force feed,
used in conjunction with
movable gear cassetles for
seed rate regulation (Hestair
Bettinson)
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS
Internal Double-run Force Feed
 Pneumatic or Jet Drills
 Single and Double Disc Coulters
 Wing Coulters.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS

Internal Double-run Force Feed
 It consisted of a feeder with a line of corrugated discs.
Seeds are dispersed when the rotation of the wheels push
them towards the corrugations and outside a box where it
enters tubes. Both sides are used for dispersing the seeds
but the course side is best for sowing oats while the fine
side is more beneficial for dispersing seeds at a higher rate.
 The studded roller feed contains devices that allow
calibration and easy maintenance of the drill. Most
commonly used in European countries such as England, the
studded roller feed is usually used in conjunction with a
multi-speed gear box for better sowing.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS

Pneumatic or Jet Drills
 With the use of pneumatics for its feed mechanisms, drills
can plant and till seeds with the use of air. Seeds pass
through pipes to the coulters with the use of an air-stream.
This type of drill is best used for single seed roots and
vegetable seeds.
 Also known as the shoe coulter in Britain, this type consists
of a chilled iron, which embeds grooves into the soil. This
works best in moderate conditions and in hard ground as
opposed to softer soil because the seeds can be precisely
planted. Any other conditions such as poor tilth and the
discs are less effective.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS

Single and Double Disc Coulters
 Single
disc coulters place seeds individually and it
is not always possible to achieve the same depth
for each seed placement. With double disc coulters,
the seeds are arranged between them and are
dispersed at the same rate and depth. High costs
are associated with this due to the large number of
parts required.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – FEED MECHANISMS

Wing Coulters
 Wing
coulters were first developed in Finland and
are used on drills for sowing cereals. The coulters
attach themselves to levers in the front of the drill.
Hydraulic is used to draw the seeds out after they
are placed on a band approximately two inches (5
cm) wide and dispersed. The main disadvantage is
expense and draught.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL

Semi-mounted Tractor Drills.
 These
drills have a three-link systems to connect
drills to tractors. A hitch is created to install drill
coulters and allow effective sowing. A hydraulic lift
control lever controls the seeds movement. This
type of drill gets the work done quickly and
efficiently
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL

Tractor-mounted Drills.
 Tractor-mounted
drills also take advantage of the
hydraulic three-link system. When the tractor pulls
the drills out, the machine is lifted off the ground to
allow the feed mechanism to function.
 This is used for dispersing heavy corn and often
used in conjunction with combines.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL

Equipment for ‘Direct’ Drilling.


When the benefits of ‘direct’ drilling were first widely
appreciated, a few manufacturers successfully developed
heavy grain and combine drills which employed ‘triple disc’
coulters comprising a single plain disc to cut a slit, followed by
two inclined plain disc to form a V-groove in which the seed
was placed.
Benefit :
more flexibility allowing for shallow cultivation before or during drilling
when needed.
 Methods of sowing depth control which can be effective in soft or hard
soils.
 Coulters with fewer bearings and wearing parts.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL
 Modern
drill designs:
 Provide
more efficient use to be made by hydraulic power
to secure penetration without use of excessive dead
weight.
 Coulters
designs improvement.
 Make
it easy to carry out an appreciable amount of
tillage when needed.
Extra large diameter (14 inches) single concave discs capable
of cutting through trash.
 Narrow profile enough to permit close spacing.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL

Power Cultivator – Drill Combination


The compactness of many power harrows and rotary
cultivators, and very small amount of extra power needed to
drill immediately behind such machines, make cultivator-drill
combinations attractive.
Design mechanisms that may needed:
High powered tractor
 To incorporate adequate lift capacity for both drill and cultivator.
 Close-coupled linkages
 Allow drill to be carried above the cultivator for transport.
 Drill seed tubes and coulters
 Arranged to deposit the seed as the soil settles behind the
cultivator. An arrangement well suited to difficult soil working
conditions.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL
Power harrow and rotary cultivator
 Light crumbler roller
 Added to effect any necessary firming of soil around the seed
without surface compaction.
 Drilling component
 Can be designed for easy separation when not in use.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SEED DRILL – TYPES OF DRILL
Combined seedbed preparation and drilling of peas.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SINGLE-SEED DRILLS
Principle of operation – to employ a seed ring,
belt or disc with a series of slots which are just
big enough to hold one seed from a carefully
graded sample.
 The seed is carried round in the slot and is
positively ejected when it arrives above the
furrow opener.
 It is essential to have a very short drop from the
seeding mechanism to the ground, so that the
seeds remain regularly spaced after they have
fallen into the soil.

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SESSION 2012/2013
SINGLE-SEED DRILLS
Interchangeable choke regulates flow
of seed from hopper.
Interchangeable seed belt driven by
driving wheel C.
Moves seed to repeller wheel D
Agitates seed in chamber and assists
drop through apertures in belt at end
of spring base E
Main features of multi-purpose
belt-feed single-seed mechanism.
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SESSION 2012/2013
SINGLE-SEED DRILLS
Cut away section of large-diameter cell-wheel feed drill showing general
arrangement of smoothing, sowing, covering and firming devices. (Matco
Fahse)
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SESSION 2012/2013
SINGLE-SEED DRILLS
There are several types of pneumatic
mechanism which employ difference
in air pressure to hold the seeds in
position in the seed cells until the
discharge point is reached, and then
to provide positive ejection.
A selector finger is used to remove
most doubles and drop the surplus
seeds back into the hopper.
A powerful fan is needed to provide
the vacuum on multi-row drills.
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SESSION 2012/2013
MAIZE DRILLS
Most widely seed mechanism used for maize is a horizontal
plate feed, with notches of a shape and size designed to
receive a single maize kernel, lying flat. The rotating plate
lies at the bottom of a cylindrical hopper.
The mechanism is simple, reliable and often sold at a
price in keeping with the history of its development.
Nevertheless, other single-seed mechanisms specially
designed for maize have been develop, and include a larger
version of the endless-belt type of root and vegetable drill.
Hopper as well as seed apertures, need to be larger
for maize than for most root and vegetable crops.
Coulter have to be designed to place the seed fairly deep,
in order to ensure rapid germination and minimize bird
damage.
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SESSION 2012/2013
MAIZE DRILLS
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SESSION 2012/2013
FLUID DRILLING
Fluid drilling (gel seeding) is a crop
establishment technique in which germinated
seeds are transferred to the seed bed in a gel
carrier.
Improve their
germination
quality.
The are various techniques developed for the 'fluid drilling' of pre-germinated
or imbibed seeds in a protective carrier gel are described.
Two alternative methods of germinating large quantities of different types of seed,
by continuous immersion in aerated water or by an intermittent soaking and
centrifugal spinning technique.
The storage of pre-germinated seed in water at 0°C for periods up to 7 days
The drilling of the pre-germinated seeds in a gel with tractor-mounted extrusion drills,
hand-push drills and for very small scale work, with an icing syringe or plastic bag.
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SESSION 2012/2013
FLUID DRILLING
Automated fluid seeding head mounted on mobile platform with a moving belt
carrying trays which in use are filled with peat based compost and move
forward one row at a time after deposition of each line of pre-germinated
seeds. (Fluid Drilling Ltd)
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FLUID DRILLING
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FLUID DRILLING
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FLUID DRILLING
The probes are then cleaned
by a short positive air blast
before repeating the process
as the trays automatically
move forward beneath the
sowing head.
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SESSION 2012/2013
GRASS SEED DRILLING
Requirements for sowing grass
vary considerably with the
climate, especially the rainfall.
Used in drier regions – drill the
seeds into moisture.
Suitable drilled depth = 13 – 19
mm
Formerly:
Special purpose grass seed
drills with small shoe coulters
spaced 90 mm apart.
Currently:
General-purpose
coulters only.
drill
with
A typical modern drill with
studded or fluted roller feed and
attached harrows is well suited
to the job.
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SESSION 2012/2013
GRASS SEED DRILLING
Other methods of drilling:
Use of a grass seed box
attached to an ordinary corn
drill – allow the seed to fall on
the soil surface between the
coulters.
Some of it is covered by the
action of the coulters and some
by the harrows which usually
follow.
A final rolling is usually
desirable when grass seed is
sown, whatever the drilling
method.
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SESSION 2012/2013
ELECTRONIC MONITORS FOR SEED DRILLS

There are two main types used on unit drill to
warn the operator of malfunctioning:

Simply detect whether the seed delivery mechanism
of each unit is rotating (a red light for the particular
unit shows failure).

Photo sensitive element which detects the seed as
they drop through a section of transparent tubing or
through a specially designed sensor unit.
 Provide
data on the frequency of fall of the seeds. If drop
below the level required by the setting of a rate adjustment
element in the control box, the appropriate indicator light on
a console is illuminated, and a warning klaxon is sounded.
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SESSION 2012/2013
ELECTRONIC MONITORS FOR SEED DRILLS
Basically, each row is monitored individually,
and common failures caused by bridging or an
empty hopper are immediately revealed.
 The console is usually mounted in the tractor
cab where it can easily be seen.
 Power for operating unit is provided by the
tractor battery.

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SESSION 2012/2013
PLANTER/DRILL CONSIDERATIONS FOR
CONSERVATION TILLAGE SYSTEMS
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SESSION 2012/2013
SOLUTIONS
ISSUE
Moist soils covered with residue, which may also be wet, can
dominate during the late fall and early spring and
occasionally, in the summer. Although this condition
provides an ideal environment for seed germination, it can
make it difficult to cut through the residue. In contrast, hard
and dry conditions may also prevail. Although cutting
residue is easier during dry conditions, it is more difficult to
penetrate the hard, dry soils.
Proper timing, equipment selection
and adjustments, and crop
management can overcome these
difficult issues.
75
SESSION 2012/2013
PLANTER/DRILL CONSIDERATIONS FOR
CONSERVATION TILLAGE SYSTEMS
Condition of the Field and Residue
 Row-cleaning Devices
 Coulters and Seed Furrow Openers 
 Adjusting Disc Openers
 Seed Meter Devices

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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers



The primary differences between conventional planter/drill
systems and those designed for conservation tillage
systems are the down pressure and weight.
Since the no-till openers and soil engaging devices deliver
more down pressure to penetrate much firmer soils and
cut the residue, the conservation planter/drill systems are
built heavier and have the ability to carry much more
weight than conventional tillage systems.
Because coulters are usually mounted several feet in front
of the seed opening/ placement device , many use widefluted coulters .
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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers
 Coulters
are added in front of the planter openers
to ensure residue cutting.
Common
Coulter
Styles
Various Types Of Press Wheels
Figure 1: Top row shows common coulter styles and the
bottom shows various types of press wheels.
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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers
Table 2 : The description of the various types of press wheel.
Type
Description
A
1-inch wide wheel that presses directly on the seed in the bottom of the seed
furrow.
B
2-inch wide wheel that presses on the seed and gauges planting depth by
riding on the sides of the seed furrow.
C
Wide press wheel that gauges planting depth but does not press directly on
the seed.
D
Wide press wheel with two ribs that applies pressure on the side of the seed
furrow to press soil on the seed while gauging the depth.
E
Wide press wheel with one center rib that applies pressure on the seed furrow
to press while gauging the depth
F
Pair of angled press wheels that close the seed furrow and establish seed-tosoil contact.
G
Narrow steel press wheel that applies pressure directly on the seed but does
not flex to ‘shed’ soil in sticky conditions.
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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers

Wide-fluted coulters perform the most tillage and open a wide
slot in the residue. This wide slot allows the soil to warm-up
faster (more drying) and may prepare an area for improved soilto-seed contact. However, because of the increased cutting
surface, fluted coulters require more weight for penetration.

Narrow-fluted coulters or narrow bubble coulters, ripple coulters,
and turbo-rippled coulters do not require as much weight for
penetration and do not throw as much soil out of the seed
furrow as the wide-fluted coulters. Ripple coulters with a smooth
edge or smooth coulters are preferred for residue cutting.

Remark: Wide-fluted (2 to 3 inches wide) , Narrow-wide (0.5 to 1.0 inch wide)
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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers

Diagram of typical seeding mechanisms.
Single-disk opener
Single-disk opener with
add-on coulter unit
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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers
Offset double-disk openers
with fertilizer opener
mounted midway between
seed openers
Gauge wheel mounted
beside the seed-opener
disk to maintain depth
control
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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers
Press wheel mounted
on the furrow-opener
frame member to
maintain depth control.
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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers



Most no-till planters/drills are equipped with independent
seeding units that should allow at least 6 inches of vertical
movement. This will allow the unit to operate over rough transit,
over non-uniform surfaces, and adjust for root stubs and other
obstacles.
These units are sometimes staggered to provide more side-toside space for residue flow, which helps with unit function.
These units should be equipped with heavy down-pressure
springs and sufficient weight to ensure penetration of both the
coulters and seed furrow openers into untilled soil. Usually
these springs are adjustable and multiple springs can be
added if insufficient pressure is achieved.
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SESSION 2012/2013
Coulters And Seed Furrow Openers



Some no-till planters/drills are not equipped with coulters (A
and D). These planters/drills use the seed furrow openers to
cut and place the seed.
Several planter/drill systems have a staggered double-disk
seed furrow opener without a coulter (C and E). The leading
disk (usually 0.5 to 1.0 inch in front) cuts the residue and the
second aids in opening the seed furrow.
Some manufacturers use a single, large disk set at a slight
angle. These units require less weight for penetration and
provide minimal soil disturbance.
85
To be continue…
THANK YOU…