[Tim Harrigan]

@Countymouse 23433 wrote:

… Some of the fields on the videos look like mine did last year, so I think this is the right tool…

Andy, my guess is you will have disked the corn in the fall and then again in the spring before planting to loosen the soil to improve planter opener performance. I think the row cleaners without the cutting coulter will be fine for that. I have seen these do a really nice job in some pretty heavy corn residue. I have the most experience with the Martin cleaners but I know a lot of guys who use and like the Yetter. It will be interesting.

[Tim Harrigan]

I can tell you get bored easily.:D

[Tim Harrigan]

Dealing with residue is a problem. If you till the ground just a bit so it is soft and then try to cut something like corn residue you could just pin it in the soft ground but not cut it. So you still have the problem of plugging up. If you do not till the ground and it is firm enough to support the corn stalk so you can cut it, your planter will not run at the right depth. Somewhere in the middle probably gives you a combination of problems. I would say, though, to get that planter to work in corn residue you will need at least a coulter, better yet, a coulter with row cleaners to sweep the residue to the side. These old planters were made to work in plowed ground.

This is the type of thing I am referring to. This does not have a cutting colter, just the sweeps. There are others on the market.

http://www.yetterco.com/prod_p_multinotchdisc.php

http://www.needhamag.com/innovative_product_sales/martin_row_cleaners.php

[Tim Harrigan]

I can only speak for the PJ’s that I have. They are both hoe opener style planters and they catch and drag residue that is within planting depth. I think if you want to avoid planting problems you will have to increase tillage to size and bury residue or find a planter that uses coulters or row cleaners to clear the residue. Following corn will be the biggest problem. I forgot what other crops you have in your rotation. Beans would be a lighter and fragile residue and break down faster. Seems like pumpkins would be a little harder to deal with, I’ve only grown a few plants at a time. I am not trying to discourage you from any of the planters mentioned, just encouraging you to keep the entire cropping system in mind in the building process.

[Tim Harrigan]

Firefighter?

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy, it seems like you were shooting for a reduced tillage or low-disturbance tillage/planting system on your ground. Most of these seeding units are light, some have hoe openers that will really require an intensively tilled seedbed. I have two old Planet Jr’s (one row, walk behind) that I use in my garden for corn, I run them without the spacers, just continuous feed like Erika described. I do a lot of thinning, I can do it fast with a scuffle hoe. But seed can be expensive and I do not think I would do the same on multiple acres. They are not residue friendly so if you are planning to use it following corn you will have to work the field pretty good.

[Tim Harrigan]

A little hard to tell from the video, but it looks like the coulter is too far back, too low, and too close to the landside. The coulter should run just a few inches deep to cut the residue or sod. It generally runs a half inch or inch to the left of the landside. If it is too deep it will not cut the residue, just push it along. It needs to roll on to the residue like a scissor cut. Looks like it should move forward a few inches as well.

[Tim Harrigan]

Situations like that are exactly why they need to be able to stand without you tending to them constantly. If they happened to go 10 ft, no harm done. If you have to look for them when you get back that is another story. Nice work.

[Tim Harrigan]

Sounds like those calves are coming along nice. Good for you with success in teaching them to stand. That is so important if you want to actually work with them. You can’t be working on something and keeping a eye on them all the time. Keep an eye on them though, if they walk away from you once you will have to correct them 50 times to break the habit.

[Tim Harrigan]

Happy Holidays, friends.

[Tim Harrigan]

@Mark Cowdrey 23099 wrote:

Tim, Can you elaborate on the transfer of forces you observe?

Mark, because the middle hole is pinned behind the end holes where the force is applied, the lever arm for the horse that steps ahead shortenes more relative to the one that lags behind. The shortened lever arm transfers more of the pulling force to the faster animal. This is sort of a self-organizing process. If the faster animal is also the stronger animal his load becomes heavier when he steps ahead.

Probably the best way to see it would be to draw a grid with parallel lines in the direction of travel running through the center hole and and each end hole. Pivot the evener forward 6 or 8 inches and measure the distance perpendicular from the center line to each end hole. I think you will see the forward lever arm shorten faster than the rear lever arm. Very cool application of farmstead engineering.

These offsets make these eveners a little harder to evaluate compared to eveners where the center hole and end hole are all lined up. In that case the load is simply inversely proportional to the lever arm whether the two animals pull together or one forges ahead. Also in that case, shifting the center hole 1 inch has the same effect as shifting one of the end holes 2 inches.

[Tim Harrigan]

Carl, if you happen to get measurements I would like to see not only width and hole spacing, but the offset of the center hole relative to end holes. With that arrangement, even if the distance from the center line to the end holes is the same for both sides the load shifts to whichever horse forges ahead. Very cleaver transfer of forces.

[Tim Harrigan]

I agree the real danger is in losing concentration or focus in things that you pretty much have full control over either from being distracted, tired or just over-confident with things you have done many times before. Just like me getting dragged off my stoneboat by my foot a few weeks ago. But I think there is value in hearing Mitch’s porky story or thinking of the wisdom of working in the woods in conditions that litter the landscape with dead branches. It reminds you that odd things happen and you need to be observant and vigilant in your approach. The times when I have gotten myself in a jam I don’t often look back and think ‘I never saw that coming’. I usually think ‘That was stupid’.

[Tim Harrigan]

They cover homogenization in Food Science. Once it leaves the cow it is no longer Animal Science. My guess, anyway.

[Tim Harrigan]

That’s a good one, Mitch. Windy days worry me as well. So many times I see big branches on the ground sticking straight up, blew down and stuck about 6 inches in the ground just standing there. That’s going to hurt as much as a porc.

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