Planting 2013

Dawn Curvetines

Dawn Curvetines into no tilled clay soil. Similar to traditional cast wheel with their heavier weight but have a combined tooth action that helps break up the soil and chip in the sidewall. One of the most universal wheels we've ran on our planter and the ones that have been on our bean planter for the last 8,000 acres.

Martin 13" Spade w/ drag chains

A common set up and one that we've ran for a number of years. Great for breaking up compaction with a longer tooth that goes deeper into sidewall, but the lack of any firming requires the use of another type of firming tool, ie. Keeton seed firmer. This setup tends to struggle in our clay soils and especially when paired with cover crops. In annual rye grass the longer tooth has a tendency to "pitchfork" the sidewall and wrap up.

Schlagel Posi-Close

Interesting wheel combination we tried this year, saw a lot of talk online about these so we thought we would give them a shot. All in all, they were some of the poorest performing wheels we tried. Most of this had to do with the soil type we were in, no tilled clay soil. They tend to float on soil surface without incorporating much underneath, even with a heavier down pressure setting. I feel this combo would work best in soils with less clay or in conventionally tilled fields.