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Garden Planting Attachments

REDDOGTWO

REDDOGTWO

Unemployed Veg. Peddler
The seeder, MaterMacc Precision Vacuum Seeder. PTO driven, which runs a fan to create a vacuum which pulls the seed up against a plate, when the plate reaches a certain point in the rotation, a place where there is no longer any suction, the seed drops. The type of seed can vary from carrot to pumpkin seed. The type of seed determines which plate is inserted into the seeder, based upon the size of hole in the plate. The plates can have different spacings for the same size seed.

Seed spacing is determined by the spacings in the plate and a gearbox which has two sets of gears, one with three gears and the other with about seven gears. Based upon the chart and the number of equally placed holes in the plate and the desired spacing determines which combination of gears are used.

There are setting for depth control for the seed. In addition there are settings to adjust the amount of allocated to each hole in the seed plates. Row spacings are adjusted by moving the left attachment either way.

Available in one to four row setups. Fertilizer and insecticide hoppers are available.

Very precise seed placement, if you set it up to have the seeds spaced 2.8 inches apart, that is where they end up. Depending upon the plates being used, seed spacing can be from less than an inch to five feet apart.

The only drawbacks to the seeder is the row spacing adjustment can be some what time consuming process and getting any left over seed out can sometimes be a PIA if you want to keep the seed.
 

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The mulch layers lays plastic mulch. The plastic mulch comes in various colors to suit the crop. I have gone to black on all crops as the green and red allow weeds to grow under the mulch. Clear mulch warms the the soil better, but the weeds go crazy under it.

Two discs open furrows at the front, the mulch unrolls and the tires ride the mulch in the furrows to hold the mulch in place. Two discs at the back of the machine cover up the edges of the mulch with dirt which holds the mulch in place for the season. The metal silver plates at the back prevent the dirt from covering the mulch completely.

The big roll up on top is the drip line. The drip line is unrolled under the mulch and this is how the crop is watered.

When this machine is properly set up, it works great. However, the bolts holding the rear main frames in place have a habit of coming loose and they move and the the mulch does not get covered up properly. I have thought up a system to keep these in place and plan to implement it next year.

This year we also used the mulch layer to lay down floating row covers over the tender crop when we thought there was going to be a freeze in May.
 

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When the mulch is layed, the drip line layer and two discs are removed and put on the one row cultivator. They are used to hill the potatoes and lay drip line so that the potatoes can be watered.
 

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The transplanter is used to transplant all of the plants grown in the green house. The tanks are filled with water and the trays are placed upon the two shelves ahead of the seats.

The large metal wheel between the tires punches a hole in the plastic mulch and adds water to the hole. The two riders then place a potted plant in the hole.

We also used the transplanter to plant all of the vining crops in the plastic mulch. Instead of a potted plant, the seed is placed directly in the soil by one of the riders and the other covers the seed with dirt.

With my wife and brother who is turning seventy this month, the speed is limited to .4 miles per hour. In 2006, with my college aged daughter and my son's high school girl friend, I was able to go .6 miles per hour.

If weed control and watering would not be a factor, I would use the vacuum seeder for the vining crops. It would save a lot of time.
 

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The potato planter is used to plant cut potatoes. The hopper holds 200# of potatoes. The spacing of the seeds being dropped can be set by a couple of different sprockets on the drive system.

The potatoes go from the hopper to the lower bin where there are two rows of rubber cups that pick up the potatoes and drop them as the machine goes forward.

I have found that cutting the potatoes and planting them right of way works best as when the potatoes dry they get hard and then get caught as the rubber cups bring the up to be dropped, which results in missed spots in the row.
 

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Yes the equipment makes the planting go a lot easier, but it is still a lot of work. Onions are planted in the plastic mulch by hand. A metal stake is used to make a hole in the mulch and then the onion is dropped in the hole.

We planted about 10,000 onions this year, one at a time.
 
Reddog2, great post. I have seen the plastic being used in the fields in Eastern NC.

Isn't it a lot more expensive to use all that plastic, or is the cost offset by not having to use so many chemicals for weed control?

Also, at the end of the season, how do you remove and dispose of all the plastic and tubing? Can any of it be used again?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks, Bob
 
Awesome thread Reddog! Your equipment looks new. Do you store it inside most of the year - or did you just buy it?
 
How do you get rid of your Potato Beetles. I have them this year and can not get rid of them. I know there is 4 kinds of powder that you can sprinkle on them as they do get immune to the powder and you are to switch from one to the next. However, I have put three different powders on now and it does seem to effect them.

Any suggestions


murph


PS: and yes that is some great equipment. I love the potato planter.
 
The plastic mulch saves a lot of time weeding. It costs me about $2000 a year for drip line and mulch, the mulch runs about $83 for a 4000 ft roll. But the savings in water with watering and the weeding make it worthwhile.

I do not use any chemicals, however that may change as I have a major problem with Field Bindweed, Leafy Spurge and Canadian Thistle.

They make a machine that cuts the mulch in half and lifts both sides of it, then another machine that rolls it up. I plan on modifying a plow to lift the sides this fall. Now we are going along and digging it up manually.

We only lay about 20,000 feet of mulch a year, so the cost of purchasing the equipment to do this is marginal. However, one of my major helpers, my brother who is turning 70 this month has been having some problems, so his help and future help is in doubt right now may have a bearing on the equipment.
 
PBinWA said:
Awesome thread Reddog! Your equipment looks new. Do you store it inside most of the year - or did you just buy it?
Click to expand...

Most was purchased in 2004 and 2005, some of the pictures were taken in 2006. It is stored outside and it is starting to show it. The future plans include a storage shed.
 
thcri said:
How do you get rid of your Potato Beetles. I have them this year and can not get rid of them. I know there is 4 kinds of powder that you can sprinkle on them as they do get immune to the powder and you are to switch from one to the next. However, I have put three different powders on now and it does seem to effect them.

Any suggestions


murph


PS: and yes that is some great equipment. I love the potato planter.
Click to expand...

Rotation is the key for the potato bugs, I do have some organic stuff to spray on the potatoes, but have not had to use it for the potato bugs yet.

In the photo section, I have a clip of the potato digger in action taken by a local news crew taken last summer.
 
Red, thanks. I would love to learn more about how you do all that stuff. I've been in Ag all my life, in one way or another, but never gotten down the the "ground floor" of it like I would like to untill about 2 years ago, when my Dad passed & it was 'dumped in my lap.' There is so dang much to learn, & I still have to work full time & learn as I go. I have to worry about oranges & cattle for now, and hope to figure something profitable I can do on the app 50or 60 acres I have that is "farmable".
But there are few things I enjoy doing more than working the ground.
 
There is no better smell than the freshly tilled dirt.

I grew up on a farm, however we just had cattle from the age of 10 until we moved to town at the age of 16. In 2003 we did one acre and that was not worth the time so I bought 46 more to make it more interesting, however the costs go up quite fast with the bigger tractor and implements. The rate of return that I am making on my investment is about fifteen per cent. Then you have those expenses and for some reason they mount up fast, last year was the first year I turned a profit and it was less the $400. I should make my money when I sell the land when I am tired of the hard work.
 
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