Anyone have a Woods FPS (Food Plot Seeder) e.g. Woods FPS72

[BAP]

If moisture is an issue at seeding time in your area, you would be better off using a no till drill and spraying to kill any current vegetation ahead of time. If you plan on tilling first and are planting grasses and legumes, look for a Brillion seeder/cultipacker. They are tough and very reliable. We used a combination of a Brillion seeder and a Great Plains no till seeder over the years farming to seed down hayfields depending upon what the conditions dictated.

 

[mcmxi]

If moisture is an issue at seeding time in your area, you would be better off using a no till drill and spraying to kill any current vegetation ahead of time. If you plan on tilling first and are planting grasses and legumes, look for a Brillion seeder/cultipacker. They are tough and very reliable. We used a combination of a Brillion seeder and a Great Plains no till seeder over the years farming to seed down hayfields depending upon what the conditions dictated.

Thanks for the information and advice. I'll check out Brillion.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Thanks for the information and advice. I'll check out Brillion.

Good luck and keep us posted…I’m very interested in what you come up with (I suspect I’ll take the plunge in next 5-10ths). I put the brakes on when I realized I have no reasonable way to harvest much, not without an even bigger investment than the seeder/drill. We have limited our ‘emerging conglomerate’ to harvest by hand and supported by a cordless hedge trimmer paired with a manual/mechanical thresher (a good scythe costs more than a hedge trimmer and takes a lot more maintenance). Unless tilling under just a cover crop, the there is still the need to harvest. Short of combine I have not found many feasible options…there are some euro design combines which would be fine for small lots, but there are not free or really supported locally in our area. Good luck.

 

[mcmxi]

Good luck and keep us posted…

Part of my research was to go back out to the rancher's place where I helped with the hunting program last Saturday and look at his toys, some old and some new. He recently bought a new 5 series 114hp John Deere tractor for his place and it's a nice one for sure.

He was happy to show me all of his implements, and he has many. Batwings, a wood processing plant, discs, planters, post pounders, muck spreaders, land planes, a bulldozer and on and on. This was the first planter that he showed me. Nope! Not going to work for me.

Then he showed me this beauty! He's very knowledgeable about planting and gave me a lot of excellent advice. I asked about the possibility of renting this unit from him to use at my friend's place. He was kind of ok with the idea but then suggested that I contact the county conservation district office to see what they had. Hmmm .... I don't blame him.

 

[mcmxi]

I was curious to see if there's any interest in field and pasture maintenance up here so I placed an add last weekend and have already been contacted by someone wanting a quote to have a 20 acre field disced and seeded. The owner doesn't know much about the process so I passed on what I've learned so far and provided a discing quote. I mentioned that I'll need more information in order to provide a seeding quote. We'll see where this goes.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

I was curious to see if there's any interest in field and pasture maintenance up here so I placed an add last weekend and have already been contacted by someone wanting a quote to have a 20 acre field disced and seeded. The owner doesn't know much about the process so I passed on what I've learned so far and provided a discing quote. I mentioned that I'll need more information in order to provide a seeding quote. We'll see where this goes.

That sure did not take too long to find a customer.

 

[mcmxi]

That sure did not take too long to find a customer.

A possible customer! I might have scared him off with my discing estimate! I put together a spreadsheet to estimate time and cost and it's an eye opener. Woods has an estimator sheet for mowing which looks right since they subtract 10% of the width to produce the results shown in the white cells. I figured a 12.5% reduction for overlap when discing, but hopefully no overlap when seeding.

I calculated that it would take 4.7 hours to disc a 20 acre field pulling an 8ft wide disc at 5mph with about 1ft of overlap. I'm new to estimating this sort of thing, but when you figure out loading/unloading, driving to/from, equipment depreciation, equipment repair, fuel and labor it's a pretty penny. Seeding would likely be way more expensive than discing. 4mph seems to be a top end seeding speed for Woods and similar seeders, but it would take anywhere from 5-1/2 hours (5mph) to 11 hours (2.5 mph) to seed 20 acres and the ground speed would be dependent on the condition of the field, the type of seed, the seeding method and the number of stops to fill up the seed boxes.

 

[hedgerow]

mcmxi Soil testing is a must to make sure your seed selection is right. In my area nobody plows or discs any ground that is going to get seeded. Too much moist is lost and too many weeds are getting stirred. Any seed that is drilled in this area is notilled drilled. Either inter seeded or sprayed down and then notilled drilled. Conventional drills like the JD you posted left this area years ago. The Great Plains brand of notill drills seem to be the ones seed guys that rent and do some custom work are using. Normally those guys know the best ones to use. You will find it tough to make any money doing it on small fields. Too much moving and no body wants to pay for that. In my area the custom guys won't touch anything under a 80 acres field. There is a fair amount of CRP in this area that gets notilled each year. I don't even own a notill drill. I look now and again and find a lot of junk. Notill drills are high maintenance and expensive pieces of equipment to keep going. I just rent one when I need it done. Two years ago I just had the custom guy do the 160 acres I needed done. Good luck with what ever you buy.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

the heck with the seeder
where's pictures of the Willys out back !!!!
THAT is a NICE truck..

 

[mcmxi]

mcmxi Soil testing is a must to make sure your seed selection is right. In my area nobody plows or discs any ground that is going to get seeded. Too much moist is lost and too many weeds are getting stirred. Any seed that is drilled in this area is notilled drilled. Either inter seeded or sprayed down and then notilled drilled. Conventional drills like the JD you posted left this area years ago. The Great Plains brand of notill drills seem to be the ones seed guys that rent and do some custom work are using. Normally those guys know the best ones to use. You will find it tough to make any money doing it on small fields. Too much moving and no body wants to pay for that. In my area the custom guys won't touch anything under a 80 acres field. There is a fair amount of CRP in this area that gets notilled each year. I don't even own a notill drill. I look now and again and find a lot of junk. Notill drills are high maintenance and expensive pieces of equipment to keep going. I just rent one when I need it done. Two years ago I just had the custom guy do the 160 acres I needed done. Good luck with what ever you buy.

I wish I could rent a no-till drill but they don't seem to be available up here. Had I known that plowing was so old school I wouldn't have invested in what might ultimately become yard art. There's still a place for plowing but as you say, it will disturb seeds that will grow into weeds that need to be killed off. One approach with plowing is to plow, kill, plow, kill, plow, kill for a year or more. Plowing with a 3x14 would take a lot of hours compared to mowing, discing or seeding.

These days it seems that the favored process is to kill off what's in the field if you don't want it. Mulch down low once dead and then no-till seed. I called the local Kubota dealer yesterday to get a price on a Land Pride 3P606NT which is basically the same as the Great Plains shown above. I'm just curious more than anything, although the 6060NT is the one Kubota recommends for the MX and M.

Land Pride

www.landpride.com

I received another email this morning inquiring about a 30 acre field. The owner wants me to come out and take a look and help him figure out what to do with it.

 

[MOOTS]

I wish I could rent a no-till drill but they don't seem to be available up here. Had I known that plowing was so old school I wouldn't have invested in what might ultimately become yard art. There's still a place for plowing but as you say, it will disturb seeds that will grow into weeds that need to be killed off. One approach with plowing is to plow, kill, plow, kill, plow, kill for a year or more. Plowing with a 3x14 would take a lot of hours compared to mowing, discing or seeding.

These days it seems that the favored process is to kill off what's in the field if you don't want it. Mulch down low once dead and then no-till seed. I called the local Kubota dealer yesterday to get a price on a Land Pride 3P606NT which is basically the same as the Great Plains shown above. I'm just curious more than anything, although the 6060NT is the one Kubota recommends for the MX and M.

Land Pride

www.landpride.com

I received another email this morning inquiring about a 30 acre field. The owner wants me to come out and take a look and help him figure out what to do with it.

I didn’t read the whole thread, maybe you have covered this already.

Contact your local college extension office, they may have, or know of something to help. In Georgia, the UGA extension office is a huge help for us at work, they do all of our soil samples and recommend fertilizer for our ballfields.

I’ve heard of some offices renting high dollar equipment like no drills.

 

[mcmxi]

I didn’t read the whole thread, maybe you have covered this already.

Contact your local college extension office, they may have, or know of something to help. In Georgia, the UGA extension office is a huge help for us at work, they do all of our soil samples and recommend fertilizer for our ballfields.

I’ve heard of some offices renting high dollar equipment like no drills.

Thanks. I just got off the phone with the individual who has 30 acres. He's very interested in having me get his fields back to where he wants them so I'm going to need a drill to get the work done! I'll call the local community college but I'm kind of doubtful when the local agronomist didn't know where I could rent a no-till drill.

For the record, my M6060 probably couldn't handle the Great Plains drill shown earlier. Something of that size would have to be towed around on the draw bar like the Land Pride 606NT. I don't think the Woods FPS72 would be a problem for the M6060 to lift, even when both boxes are full of seed. That unit is not as complex or refined as the Great Plains and Land Pride models, but they're about half the cost too.

 

[MOOTS]

Thanks. I just got off the phone with the individual who has 30 acres. He's very interested in having me get his fields back to where he wants them so I'm going to need a drill to get the work done! I'll call the local community college but I'm kind of doubtful when the local agronomist didn't know where I could rent a no-till drill.

For the record, my M6060 probably couldn't handle the Great Plains drill shown earlier. Something of that size would have to be towed around on the draw bar like the Land Pride 606NT. I don't think the Woods FPS72 would be a problem for the M6060 to lift, even when both boxes are full of seed. That unit is not as complex or refined as the Great Plains and Land Pride models, but they're about half the cost too.

Quit being a poor and just buy the woods!

 

[mcmxi]

Quit being a poor and just buy the woods!

I've been down the rabbit hole for sure calling various conservation districts and I got some prices from the local Kubota dealer for Land Pride drills. The conservation district for the county I live in is considering buying a no-till drill since they get quite a few calls asking about seeding. The woman I spoke with was very nice and very helpful. She asked me to let her know if I buy a seed drill so that she can send people my way if they call.

I did submit a 4-day reservation request with a neighboring county for a Great Plains 706NT no-till seed drill for the end of May, but it's possible that they'll only rent it out for use in their county. Rental is $200 for the first 32 hours (8am day 1 to 4pm day 2) and $100 per day after that or $10 per acre if seeding more than 20 acres. Supposedly it can plant 3 acres per hour and has two seed boxes. I could potentially use those four days to seed my friend's 12 acres, and the 20 to 30 acres for the person that I spoke with yesterday. It's a 2-1/2 hour round-trip to pick up the drill, but a Friday morning pick up and Tuesday morning drop off could work. If there's more interest maybe I'll figure out something else. We'll see. By the way, with my requested rental there are 49 days booked which is close to $5k. I wouldn't be surprised if the drill pays for itself in a season. Seeding up here typically takes place in April, May, June, October, November and December.

As for Land Pride, the 3P6060NT is around $31k and the pull behind version is around $36k. The smaller and stripped down 3P600 is around $17k. Maybe some will find this information useful or interesting. I had no idea about seed drills a couple of weeks ago.

I have another issue to resolve too. I really need a deck over trailer to haul the M6060 around, particularly if I have the disc on the back, or the rotary cutter, seed drill etc. Maybe the smart move this year is to rent a seed drill if possible and upgrade my current 22ft equipment trailer and upgrade to a 22ft tilting deck over model. The Woods FPS72 isn't ideal and it's a lot of money to spend on something without ever having run a real seed drill like the $30k models.

 

[BAP]

Don’t forget to figure in maintenance costs into your budget when you are trying to figure out if a new drill will pay for itself. After some acreage, drills take maintenance and parts replacement to keep them performing well. Seed opening discs wear out plus other parts.

 

[mcmxi]

Don’t forget to figure in maintenance costs into your budget when you are trying to figure out if a new drill will pay for itself. After some acreage, drills take maintenance and parts replacement to keep them performing well. Seed opening discs wear out plus other parts.

Excellent points. I don't know the best way to proceed at the moment, but hopefully it'll become clearer over the coming weeks or months. Thanks.

 

[hedgerow]

mcmxi I throw some things out there. I don't know much about notilling as I have been notilling corn ,beans and milo for well over thirty five years. LOL. I was one of the first ones in my area to notill. I have a corn and a bean notill planters. Maintenance on notill planters is high. Now everyone notill's around here. The amount of top soil that is lost with conventional till is high. I have some CRP , grass hay and pasture but just can't pencil out owning a notill drill for those acres. I just rent but like you its some driving to get the drill. Last time I did a 80 of CRP I hired it done. The guy charged 15 an acre. I couldn't rent the drill and do it for that. If you want to do this go with a ten foot pull type. Forget the three point. Take a look at Haybuster brand. The way there wheels are set you can load them on a deck over and let the drill hang over the side. There used to be a guy south of me that hauled a tractor and a Haybuster drill on a deck over trailer all over the country doing CRP seeding. Do a tempest search for Craigslist and Facebook. There's used notill ten foot drills out there. Great Plains, Haybuster, Truex Flex. You will just have to have it trucked to you. More notill drills in the southeast USA.

 

[mcmxi]

mcmxi I throw some things out there. I don't know much about notilling as I have been notilling corn ,beans and milo for well over thirty five years. LOL. I was one of the first ones in my area to notill. I have a corn and a bean notill planters. Maintenance on notill planters is high. Now everyone notill's around here. The amount of top soil that is lost with conventional till is high. I have some CRP , grass hay and pasture but just can't pencil out owning a notill drill for those acres. I just rent but like you its some driving to get the drill. Last time I did a 80 of CRP I hired it done. The guy charged 15 an acre. I couldn't rent the drill and do it for that. If you want to do this go with a ten foot pull type. Forget the three point. Take a look at Haybuster brand. The way there wheels are set you can load them on a deck over and let the drill hang over the side. There used to be a guy south of me that hauled a tractor and a Haybuster drill on a deck over trailer all over the country doing CRP seeding. Do a tempest search for Craigslist and Facebook. There's used notill ten foot drills out there. Great Plains, Haybuster, Truex Flex. You will just have to have it trucked to you. More notill drills in the southeast USA.

Thanks @hedgerow. I appreciate your experience. Clearly I've got no experience running any kind of seeder and that's why I started this thread. I'll look into the drills you mention. Being able to get the drill on a standard deck over trailer would be a requirement for me.

I haven't heard back from the neighboring conservation district re my reservation(s) but I plan on calling the woman in charge this afternoon when she's back in the office to see if I'm able to rent their drill over county lines. I'm also going to look at a trailer tomorrow. It's a PJ 22ft hydraulic tilt deck over that would be a game changer for me.

 

[mcmxi]

I received a couple of emails this afternoon informing me that both bookings of the Great Plains 706NT drill have been approved. It looks like I won't be buying a drill this year at least, but I'll continue to learn about them and see if there's enough work in the valley to justify the cost of buying one at some point.

I'm looking into soil testing. As @hedgerow implied, it would be a waste of time, money and effort to plant seed in soil that's not going to give the seed every chance of doing well.

 

[S-G-R]

I received a couple of emails this afternoon informing me that both bookings of the Great Plains 706NT drill have been approved. It looks like I won't be buying a drill this year at least, but I'll continue to learn about them and see if there's enough work in the valley to justify the cost of buying one at some point.

I'm looking into soil testing. As @hedgerow implied, it would be a waste of time, money and effort to plant seed in soil that's not going to give the seed every chance of doing well.

That's great news! Nice to be able do a couple of test runs before putting out big bucks and give you more time to find a deal if it does work out.