Spring seeding

We haven't planted any spring crops for several years, but this year with the abundance of moisture that has been absorbed in to the ground over the winter and early spring, we decided to pull the trigger and plant a few acres.

Because we haven't used the spring set of drills for a long time, a considerable amount of repair was needed to bring them up to optimum operating level.

Here's what we did a few days ago......

All these white hoses needed to be replaced.  They have deteriorated and become brittle from sitting in the sun, year after year.

Each hose comes from the tower and is inserted in to the boot.  Seed and fertilizer are delivered through these hoses.

White hoses were replaced with these new black hoses.  They should not break down quite a quickly as the white ones did.

It comes in a big reel.

You use this special tool that cuts through the hose like a hot knife through butter.

Then Reynald shoves one end of the hose in to the tower, while I put the other end in to the boot and secure with a hose clamp.

This is the boot point, that plows through the soil to plant the seed.  

You may notice that this is a solid packer wheel, as opposed to the split packer that we have been working on  in the shop.  

Spring seeding is not as touchy as fall seeding.  There is adequate moisture, so you don't have to plant the seed as deep, therefore, you don't need to worry about burying the seed too deep.  The split packer drill allows you to go deep for moisture, without covering the seed too deep......usually!

Now that I am writing this, I realize that there are several photos that I didn't take!  Not to worry, I will take more when we actually start seeding, that will better show the difference between these drills and the set that we have been working on (still not finished!) this winter.