Seed Hawk TOOLBAR 2014 - Manual (Page 23)

SEED HAWK ® 2014 TOOLBAR OPERATOR’S MANUAL SEED HAWK ® 2014 TOOLBAR OPERATOR’S MANUAL 38
4.10.1 Loose Soil Conditions
If the soil is too loose before seeding, the final packed surface will be excessively
below the loose soil that is thrown to the sides. This increases the likelihood of
soil falling, blowing or washing back into the closed and packed furrow. The re-
sult is an altered seed depth. The solution to this is to ensure that the soil is not
too loose before seeding. It may be necessary to pack the soil before seeding.
The Seed Hawk drill will cover adjacent rows if:
• The soil is conventionally tilled leaving it loose.
• Straw and/or chaff is poorly spread, wet or in large clumps.
• Field travel speed is excessive. May affect above listed items.
4.10 Seed Hawk ® Packer Tire
The packer tire bulges slightly to provide uniform packing over the seed and
fertilizer furrows. This leaves the seed ¾ in. (19mm) below the curved path left
by the packer wheel. The seed is placed in an ideal environment: moisture will
be channeled into the path of the packer tire; fertilizer is placed in the optimum
position for seed growth; and the seed knives leave a dark strip, which warms
more quickly than the surrounding residue covered soil.
Packer Tire
Seed Knife
Fertilizer Knife
Final Packed Surface
Loose Soil and Straw
Original Ground Level
Seed
Fertilizer
Y
Z
X
Item Dimension Description
X ¾ in. (19mm) Seed Depth
Y ¾ in. (19mm) Seed to Fertilizer Depth
Z 1-½ in. (38mm) Seed to Fertilizer Separation
39
4.10.2 Muddy Soil Conditions
4.10.3 Operating Curves & Corners
Seeding depth may be altered if mud sticks to the packer tire. If mud is only
1/4"-3/8" (6-10mm) thick, then this is not usually a concern. Assuming good
soil moisture, the reduced seed depth is still adequate. Air-inflated packer tires
should be deflated slightly to allow the tire to bulge slightly and shed any mud
build up. If the mud thickness is uniform, the seed depth, also, will be uniform,
but shallower than the initial depth setting.
It may be desirable to set the seed depth deeper to compensate for mud build
up.
When seeding around curves and corners the packer wheel moves out of the
furrow and rides up on the hard, undisturbed furrow shoulders. Packing force
is concentrated more so on the shoulder and the packing on the seedbed is
reduced. In addition to reduced packing action, fertilizer placement is also ad-
versely affected. Optimum performance, of course, is seeding in a straight path
as much as possible. It is also important to turn right as much as possible to
keep the fertilizer out of the seed row. When turning, the configuration of the
fertilizer sideband is less to cause seed burn when turning in a right-hand arc.
4.10.4 Low Packer Tire Pressure
For packer tires that are air inflated: if the packing forces are high and the tire
pressure is low, effective packing action is reduced. The tire widens and rides
harder on the furrow shoulders. This can be corrected by increasing tire pres-
sure and/or reducing downward packing force.
A bulging packer tire will cause the seed and fertilizer to be placed lower than
the initial setting on the opener. One indication that a packer tire is low in air
pressure is when it has less mud build up on it.
Seed Knife
Seed Furrow
Packer Tire
Seed
Fertilizer Knife
Fertilizer
Fertilizer Furrow
Final Packed
Surface
Under Inflation Proper Inflation