Seed Hawk TOOLBAR 2008 - Manual (Page 49)

OPERATION
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:
x The row centers are too close.
x The soil is conventionally tilled leaving it loose.
x Straw and/or chaff is poorly spread, wet or in large clumps.
x Field travel speed is excessive. May affect above listed items.
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.
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.
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.
44