A sower went forth to sow.......

heartstrings · June 12, 2017

Three years ago, I started out with a hand-broadcaster and later a tractor-mounted one. In both cases, after broadcasting, I had to try to cover the seed with a home made drag made of heavy timbers and chain-link fence. Much of the seed did not get covered, "had no depth of earth", and the "fowls of the air" ate bellyfuls of it. This year I bought an old grain drill from a junk yard for $425. I had to buy some parts, do some repairs and use up a couple cans of WD-40 but It's working fine now. I think we have about $1000 in it now but that's pretty good for a contraption that, when new, costs about as much as a new truck. So far, I have planted seven acres with it and the sorghum is now up to 4' high. In about two weeks, I plan to plant another 2.5 acres and that should carry the sheep through the summer and breeding season. Then I plan to use it to plant wheat and oats for the winter grazing. The grain drill opens furrows in the soil at the proper depth, drops a measured amount of seed and covers it.

My brother in law and a good friend went with me to the junkyard and helped unload it at the farm...

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This shaft was severely bent and I was able to straighten it on the hydraulic press at my sign shop.

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Edited June 12, 2017 by heartstrings

heartstrings · June 12, 2017

My son, Joshua, is a fine welder, and mounted this new trailer jack on the rig for me.

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heartstrings · June 12, 2017

These were the most expensive parts. The white ones are nylon metering wheels. There are 24@$9 each. The black ones are metering spacers 24@$4.50 each.

They pick up the seed, in the hoppers, and drop them into the seed cups, where they drop through the flexible tubes down between the disk openers into the furrow to be covered with soil,

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