Seed Hawk TOOLBAR 2011 - Manual (Page 43)

Seed Hawk Manual Tool Bar Page 38
4.11.1 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 packer tire path. The result 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 throw soil if:
The row centers are too close.
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.
4.11.2 Muddy Soil Conditions
Seeding depth may be altered if mud sticks to the packer tire. If mud is only 0.25 -
0.38 in (6 - 10 mm) 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.
4.11.3 Operating on Curves and Corners
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 adversely
affected. Optimum performance, of course, is seeding in a straight path as much
as possible.
4.11.4 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 pressure
and/or reducing downward packing force.