Vaderstad’s 1,350-bushel Seed Hawk air cart is designed to reduce the number of refill stops required during seeding
The Ag in Motion farm show offered an opportunity to see different seed drill openers on the market in Western Canada. This series looks at the choices producers have on how to place their seed and fertilizer. It examines the different opener designs offered by manufacturers, along with other new equipment features they’re introducing for the next growing season.
More capacity was the big news Vaderstad’s staff talked about at their Seed Hawk seeding equipment display during Ag in Motion this past July. The centrepiece of their exhibit was the new PD 1350 air cart, with bushel capacity to match the model number.
“The PD 1350 is an extension of our already proven cart line,” says Vaderstad’s business development manager, Chris Bettschen.
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“We already have a PD 400, PD 680, PD 820, PD 1000 and now the big brother to all of them, the PD 1350. It’s exactly what it sounds like, 1,350 bushel capacity, four bins, with our proven Fenix III meters underneath.”
Included in those four bins is a larger canola tank mounted at the front, accessible from the forward catwalk.
“The canola bin on this one is actually quite large. It’s a 93-bushel bin, still at the front of the cart. But this way customers can use it for any product.”
The PD 1350 is the first Seed Hawk cart to include brakes on the rear axle, which isn’t surprising given its weight and the energy required to bring it to a stop when full. To carry that weight, the cart rides on dual wheels on both the front and rear axles.
“This cart, on the front, actually has lower ground pressure than the PD 1000 because of the duals,” Bettschen says. “There’s no track option and no other tire option. You get 900s on the back and 710s on the front.”
To get the extra capacity, the bins on the PD 1350 are wider than on the brand’s smaller tanks, but they don’t add anything to the overall road width of the cart at the outside of the tires.
“We’ve changed the orientation,” Bettschen says. “You’ll notice the bins are quite a bit wider than our originals. So, we didn’t add height, we added width. But it’s contained within the tires, so road transport doesn’t change, but capacity got a lot larger.”
The Fenix III metering system can route the contents of any of the tanks into either the seed or fertilizer air streams, allowing growers to place starter fertilizer with the seed. And the electric meters provide individual control for each 10-foot drill section.
“It’s a double shoot system,” Bettschen says. “The carts are configurable. You can put everything down the seed knife, everything down the fertilizer knife or any combination in between.”
To get seed and fertilizer into the cart, an AGI conveyor is an option, which should be able to fill the cart within 30 minutes.
“The AGI conveyor is an option, which we developed along with them and made some tweaks to. And their performance in 2024 has been excellent. On this cart, under the right conditions, you should be able to fill in under half an hour, start to stop.”
Seed Hawk continues to use the side-banding, dual-knife opener that has been a hallmark of the brand for decades.
“The Seed Hawk dual-knife opener was one of the original two-knife systems on the market,” Bettschen says. “Fertilizer in the front, seed in behind, nice and close to the packer tire for good depth control. We do have a few packer tire options, but our original leaves the cupped furrow you’re looking for to give excellent seed and fertilizer placement while maintaining separation.
“Dual beams on the opener give it structural strength as you’re moving across the field. Whether you have rocks, curves or anything else you can throw at it, these openers will stand up.”
PD 1350 carts will be available in limited quantities for the 2025 season, with full production available for 2026.
