no till drill question

Hoosierhunting

Well-Known Member
I was using a Great Plains 606NT drill for the first time today planting soybeans in heavy standing rye. I noticed a lot of seed on the surface of the ground when I looked at the planted plot. Just wondering if some of that is normal and if not what would cause it? Planting depth was 1.25", seed cups were set to middle detent per instructions for soybeans.
 
May not make much difference but we set depth 1 3/8 planting into thick thatch. The rye was still standing? Some is normal but shouldn't be too noticeable.
 
May not make much difference but we set depth 1 3/8 planting into thick thatch. The rye was still standing? Some is normal but shouldn't be too noticeable.

The rye was still standing. There seemed to be quite a bit on top of the ground. Hard for me to quantify it but more than I expected.


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Just because it’s set at 1.25” doesn’t mean that’s what it’s planting at. You always need to get out and check in the field to see how it’s doing. The rye was probably keeping it shallower.
 
I have a GP 1006 and love it. To start planting first I run 10' with the drill an inch off the ground to check that every row is planting and seed spacings, then I set the depth and plant about a hundred feet and check the seed depth. I find that about every different field condition might take a different depth adjustment, and a visual check of the amount of seed on top of the ground is my gauge that tells me to set it deeper or shallower. The optimum setting for me is when I see a few seeds on top of the ground, but not a lot. I usually plant soybeans about 1 3/4" deep, at 1 1/4" I'd also have more on top than I'd be comfortable with. Soybean seeds on top of the ground won't germinate unless they are in a furrow where a heavy rain storm will bury them. Your seed cup settings won't effect the planting depth, but the angle of your drill from front to back according to your hitch adjustments, as to whether the drill is level or tilted front or back will change the seed depth and change the efficiency of the row openers and closers. The drill needs to be level front to back and side to side. It should have a rack on the front of the seed box for suitcase weights if needed, although I never needed extra weight on mine.
 
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Swat & Mennonite, the drill was not level. I flipped and reinstalled the hitch tongue to its lowest setting but the drill was still a little high in the front. I tried to level with the turnbuckle but the manual said to leave at least 1.5” of thread exposed. I figured my drawbar height was pretty standard so I was kinda stumped that I couldn’t get the drill perfectly level. Even if I’d bottomed out the turnbuckle I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have been totally level. I’m guessing this caused or at least exasperated the issue of seed on surface. Thanks for the feedback guys.


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Does your drill have the adjustable wavy coulters in front of the row? I usually set the depth wheels in the back in the 3rd set of holes and then adjust the coulters depth. There's a knob that you turn one way or the other to make them run shallower or deeper. Also planting any faster than about 5-6 miles an hour you will throw to much dirt out of the row and that could cause the seed not to be covered. If your seeing some of the seed on top but the majority is under the dirt you should be good. Soybeans don't like to be planted deep they can get crusted in. Good luck!
 
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