|
|
Post by SWMan on Feb 11, 2021 11:52:08 GMT -6
I'm sure there are many ways to approach this, looking for some thoughts.
In years past I have fall banded and spread my fertilizer and worked it in, even used to run a 950 bushel cart way back and did one-pass seeding. I'm going back to one-pass with a different drill now and the two tanks I have are 550 and 580 bushel. Now in many crops with high fertilizer rates it becomes a fill every 45 acres or so, I looked at going to a big cart but hard to find right now and not cheap. Still gonna be a lot of product to handle and a lot of fills no matter what, so probably makes sense to improve fill times. Cadillac unit I am told is one of those Convey-all seed tender trailers with five compartments and conveyor out the back, do it all from one spot without moving. Those are 165K though, and not much use for the other 11 months of the year. Also thought about getting a three hopper trailer(need three products) and pulling a conveyor around. If there is a long telescoping spout on the conveyor one should be able to fill three hoppers on cart from three hoppers on trailer simply by changing the angle on the conveyor. Both items in this scenario would be used year-round. There would be a bit more fiddling around tank to tank but these truck loader conveyors are extremely fast.
Maybe there is another method I haven't thought of? I like using conveyors because of the speed and cleanout, we do handle a fair bit of pulses as well. Can even run inoculant and canola seed up a conveyor.
|
|
|
|
Post by carlos on Feb 11, 2021 14:42:06 GMT -6
I have the 5 compartment conveyall tender. I love it, but it is heavy! I only use the 4 compartments as I use a blend. 2 fertilizer and 2 for the seed. I have never used for flax, not sure if that would screw up the conveyor belts. Only have a 430 bushel cart, so I get 2 fills (not enough for 3). Yeah it is a pricey piece of equipment but for a 1 man show as I am, I wouldnt be without it. When I got mine it was half the price of what they are today!
|
|
|
|
Post by shmiffy on Feb 11, 2021 17:51:41 GMT -6
That conveyall went up alot in a couple years. Seen one Kijiji for $75 not all that long ago. Could get a tridem with a conveyor out the back. I set a 80’ conveyor up at the fertilizer bin in the yard. Marked the parking spot,drive in fill 12 tonnes of phos under ten minutes. I screen the fertilizer going into the conveyor. You could set up a conveyor in the field to drive under. Use both carts. One for seed and phos and the other cart for N. What drill are you going to?
|
|
|
|
Post by shmiffy on Feb 11, 2021 18:01:22 GMT -6
I just use the 4 bucket spout that comes with a brant conveyor. With the low profile hopper you have alittle room to move in or out.
|
|
|
|
Post by SWMan on Feb 11, 2021 18:33:35 GMT -6
Hey Carlos, I'll give you what you paid for it...lol
Seems to me last time I priced a hopper trailer with conveyor out the back they were nuts too, maybe worth another look. I think a normal triaxle would hold almost 25% more by volume and be lighter to start with.
The drill is kind of a prototype, so not sure I should spill the beans yet but will be able to give some more info towards spring I'm thinking. It has some really innovative design features, I'm quite excited to get to the field!
|
|
|
|
Post by willyboy on Feb 12, 2021 10:16:04 GMT -6
Hi, first post on the new forum. There are quite a few Haul-All Side Draw Tenders around my area of NE Sask. Many of them were setup 10+ years ago with guys buying the tender unit and mounting them on sea can trailers for a pretty reasonable overall price. I got some pricing on some units a couple years ago but their prices had skyrocketed like everything else it seems. We did however pickup an older side draw 2 compartment unit mounted on a tandem truck last spring from a retiring neighbour and it worked quite well just lacks the necessary capacity. We use the side draw for fertilizer and another tandem for seed. I also bought a Brandt 1545 conveyor and with the TBT cart I can just pull the cart under the conveyor and fill then back out and away whereas before we were always messing around with auger setup and clean out. The side draw units are also quite top heavy so you gotta be careful with that. A friend here that uses a 3 compartment Side Draw won the use of a Seed Hawk drill and 800 bu. cart w/ mounted conveyor a few years ago and I went for a ride with him and helped him fill. Don't remember the exact details but I believe he was using 3 products, and when the trailer was spotted alongside the tank it corresponded with the order in which the seed cart was setup so as you filled the cart you just moved the conveyor along to the next tank and the next hopper of the truck without having to re-position the truck. He had it down that he could fill that cart in 15 minutes which I was pretty impressed with.
|
|
|
|
Post by carlos on Feb 12, 2021 12:36:31 GMT -6
Haha, I think I will keep mine until my auction sale!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by Oatking on Feb 12, 2021 16:21:36 GMT -6
SWman what are your thoughts on cutting down on all that bulky granular fertilizer and going with nh3. I transitioned to nh3 5 years ago and would never go back unless product was banned. Sure its dangerous, but with proper maintenance and safety equipment it is a very clean product and your equipment never rusts away. My tank equipment stays clean and i dont need to lug around a 1000 bushel cart all day. Less bulky dry nitrogen product lets you get away with a smaller conveyor hopper. Is there a reason you dont use nh3? Your a darn good farmer with great crops so you must have a good reason dry works better for you.
When i switched to nh3 it made seeding a one man operation as my retailer who is 5 miles away would bring the tanks to the field. I am embarrassed to say seeding was very simple that way but saved money on product and speed up filling.
|
|
|
|
Post by SWMan on Feb 13, 2021 0:04:19 GMT -6
SWman what are your thoughts on cutting down on all that bulky granular fertilizer and going with nh3. I transitioned to nh3 5 years ago and would never go back unless product was banned. Sure its dangerous, but with proper maintenance and safety equipment it is a very clean product and your equipment never rusts away. My tank equipment stays clean and i dont need to lug around a 1000 bushel cart all day. Less bulky dry nitrogen product lets you get away with a smaller conveyor hopper. Is there a reason you dont use nh3? Your a darn good farmer with great crops so you must have a good reason dry works better for you. When i switched to nh3 it made seeding a one man operation as my retailer who is 5 miles away would bring the tanks to the field. I am embarrassed to say seeding was very simple that way but saved money on product and speed up filling. Oatking NH3 was used on this farm until about 8 years ago when I first went to one-pass seeding. It works fine but my main issue with it is that it can't be stored on the farm. Since I started using urea and getting filled in summer I can only remember once when it hasn't been equal to or even cheaper than fall NH3, and spring NH3 is always more. My urea has been on the farm since July and my flexibility on what I want to grow on what field is still wide open with no risk on fertilizer prices. I like that it is safer and uses conveyors/bins/trucks that I already have and can use for other commodities too. I do spend some time with a pressure washer and spray bottle of diesel fuel to keep stuff in shape though. I think I made my decision today, traded up both my two hopper tridems on a couple of new three hopper units. Just need to figure out which configuration of conveyor is the best for filling the tank. |
|
|
|
Post by SWMan on Mar 25, 2021 20:08:02 GMT -6
Well I bought a 75' conveyor and a telescoping spout from Lundell Plastics in Odebolt Iowa, thinking I can drive my seeder directly under the spout if swung to the side and make quick fills that way. Could not seem to find any spout closer than that. The conveyor is a bit of an odd size but it is a truck-loader style so should fit nicely under hoppers.
About 10% of the cost of upgrading to even a used 900 bushel cart.
Might get a jump on things if we can band some fertilizer shortly here, a little less rushed than a May start...
|
|
|
|
Post by shmiffy on Mar 26, 2021 11:25:43 GMT -6
Once your set up you drive in the same tracks just need a mark on the ground to know where to stop. I have cameras on the lids, when the lids open you can see the spout and tell where to stop. With the LP hopper on the conveyor it gives you a couple feet in or out if your off a bit. Long spout would be nice.
|
|
|
|
Post by SWMan on May 2, 2021 23:07:13 GMT -6
Well the plan seems to be working well. So far doing peas so just one truckload of peas into tank since inoculant and a bit of phos loaded in yard, which is where this concept will shine. I think fall banding of 46-0-0 will be another operation where this could be super handy.  |
|
