Most air seeder manufacturers have a good gumbo opener with some type of mud spur, but many farmers go to the after-market in search of something better.
Here is what five after-market companies offer for extreme mud.
ATOM-JET
Atom-Jet first focused its attention on mud in the 1990s when it set out to develop an opener suitable for the notoriously muddy Red River Valley.
“We were the first company with the mud spur and the vertical opener,” said company owner Craig Senchuk.
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“Today, all Atom Jet openers are designed for gumbo. They all have the mud spur and the vertical design. The spur is that relief in behind the initial part of the point.”
He said mud will curl when seeding through clay or heavy wet soil. It looks like an orange skin that has been peeled off with a knife.
The force of the soil naturally pushes the curl up and back into the seed opener. The seed run will plug once the opening is caked over.
“The spur directs the peel in the opposite direction, away from the seed opening,” Senchuk said.
The vertical design, which is also standard on all Atom-Jet openers now, is important in preventing mud from plugging the runs, he added.
“The tubes and everything else are out front,” he said.
“We don’t have that horizontal angle with seed coming in from behind and trying to go forward. It’s really difficult to make the horizontal opener work, especially in wet soils.”
Atom Jet has also addressed overall opener length. A longer opener provides a bigger surface upon which the mud can form a curl. A short opener gives the mud less opportunity to curl.
“Since the 1990s, our openers have been the shortest front to back,” Senchuk said.
“People ask why Atom-Jet openers have such a good reputation for seeding into mud. It’s the spur, the vertical design and the short opener. Every opener we make has all three factors built in. That’s why we don’t designate a particular gumbo opener. They’re all gumbo openers.”
BOURGAULT TILLAGE TOOLS
The first two decades of zero till were marked by technology addressing typically dry prairie conditions, said Corny Chomenchuk, territory manager for Bourgault Tillage Tools.
“But now things are going in the opposite direction,” he said.
“The openers designed to work in dry conditions do not work in the mud we’re experiencing today. It’s a different technology today.”
Chomenchuk’s territory includes eastern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Minnesota and both Dakotas, which are all mired deep in mud this spring.
Last year half his Manitoba farm went unseeded because of wet conditions.
“Farmers always like to say, ‘I’ve got the worst mud.’ Then the other guy says, ‘no, I’ve got the worst mud.’ They’re both wrong. It’s not a matter of which is worse because they’re all different. Mud on the Regina flats is totally different than mud in the Red River Valley. But I think most everyone agrees that if an opener works in the Red River gumbo, it will work in any mud.”
Chomenchuk said Bourgault Tillage Tools began developing boots and tips specifically for Red River gumbo more than a decade ago.
“In today’s conditions, those openers are suitable for just about every region in Western Canada,” he said.
“For example, we developed a front delivery opener that valley farmers have used for about 12 years. As soon as the ground opens, we quickly drop the seed into the trench. The distance from the tip to the back is very short. That’s critical. A longer opener has more surface for the mud to bind to, so it plugs easier.”
The front delivery boot for single shoot knives is 047ASY-1000W. He said it’s probably the company’s most versatile mud boot, taking anything from a three-quarter inch tip up to a four-inch tip.
“Some guys use the three-quarter inch tip for oilseeds, then switch to something like a three inch tip for cereals. For all around mud, I think the one inch tip is the most popular. That’s number 200 TIP 1011.”
While many people think a narrower three-quarter inch tip should work best in sticky mud, Chomenchuk said that’s not always the case.
He said that in really heavy gumbo, the extra width afforded by the one-inch tip is just enough to stop mud from making its way into the delivery chamber.
“Plus, the one inch tip has just a bit of a shoulder, or what some people call a spur, to deal with that orange peeling. There’s a little step in there to prevent the mud from curling up into the opener.
“It knocks that rolling mud back down. It comes down to a matter of preference whether a guy wants three-quarter inch or one inch.”
Bourgault Tillage Tools also has a rear delivery knock-on style boot that was originally designed for the Red River Valley but is now sold across the Prairies.
“The 200 KNH 4010 lets the seed come out behind. The tunnel is cut at an angle. The delivery slot starts at the bottom and extends up about three inches. It’s a big opening, so it’s really hard for mud to plug it.”
The 050 KNH 0812 is the other bolt-on rear delivery opener that Chomenchuk recommends.
The design is more than 12 years old, but he said it remains a versatile knife that accepts tips from three-q uarter inch up to a four inch spread.
“The other thing to consider is that paired row openers can work fairly well in some mud conditions if you don’t have heavy gumbo.”
DUTCH INDUSTRIES
The new universal series opener from Dutch is an upgraded version of the original low-draft gumbo opener.
“The gumbo opener was designed specifically for guys on gumbo, so that boot morphed into our new universal series,” said Brian Cruson of Dutch Industries.
“On the body, we have a little lip over the top of the wings, so mud can’t squeeze in between the body and the wing. Then we put a shelf on the bottom of the tip. When mud scrapes underneath and tries to curl up the back of the boot, the shelf stops it.”
He said the seed opening is at the back of the tip, and fertilizer goes behind.
Cruson said the idea behind the universal opener was to make it as versatile as possible. One opener now serves all purposes from gumbo to sand.
It’s designed so customers can install whatever tip they want. The same boot handles single, double or triple shoot with the removal of one roll pin.
It handles up to a five inch spread in the single shoot lineup and is available in 3/8 inch, 3/4 inch and 1 1/2 inch vertical depths for double shooting.
Cast and steel bodies are available.
FROC
Manitoba farm machinery developer Dallas Skayman hasn’t added a gumbo boot to his lineup because he’s happy with an opener that is already on the market.
“The best mud opener I ever used on our farm is the Froc from Saskatchewan,” he said.
He also sells Frocs to his own customers who want a good gumbo opener.
Maurice Froc has manufactured boots at his shop near Melfort for 19 years. Chances are, producers may have seeded with a Froc Air Seeder Boot and not known it.
“John Deere used to buy them by the thousands and ship them all over the world,” he said.
His 20-year-old design is similar to some of the latest generation of boots coming out from the big companies, he added.
“The seed boot comes in behind the opener. It mounts behind the shank.”
Froc said customers can install any brand tip as long as there is some crown underneath the shovel, spoon or other style tip. There must be enough space for the seed to spread around, he added.
The latest gumbo boots from other companies have the seed coming out the back rather than straight down into the mud, but Froc doesn’t think that’s necessary.
“The seed comes right out the bottom of our round boot. We have a venturi at the bottom of the boot. It spreads the seed up to six inches if you want.
“It’s all done with the venturi. There’s no deflector or dividers or anything like that to damage the seed. The venturi makes it happen.
“This venturi is right at the outlet. It’s shaped like a heart. Any mud that creeps in seems to flop right out. The air just blows it right out.”
The Froc boot sells for $25.95. Options such as side shelves for narrow openers are extra.
GEN MANUFACTURING
Dave Bergen of Gen Manufacturing said a major difference between single shoot and paired row or double shoot openers is that mud doesn’t seem to plug the single shoot as quickly or as totally as it does the double shoot opener.
He said it takes more research and development to make a paired row opener work in mud.
“We were in the same boat as Dutch with our double row openers about 10 years ago,” Bergen said.
“On our paired row openers, we had the seed going straight down into the mud. That lets the mud creep up into the opener and plug it up.
“As soon as we put them out on the market, we saw that the open bottom worked very well in normal conditions, but not at all in mud.”
All Gen openers are cast. Bergen said he changed the mould to close up the opening at the bottom of the openers.
“We added a bit more material to the belly underneath. We closed off the seed opening at the bottom so now the seed goes straight back.
“Some of our openers were already like that way back in the mid-’90s when we started making them. The others were changed about 10 years ago.
“Our thinking is that if a tip works in mud, it will work in any field. So we make tips that work in mud first, and then we sell them for all conditions.”
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Bourgault Tillage Tools:Corny Chomenchuk, 306-275-4500 or visit www.tillagetools.com.
Dutch Industries:Brian Cruson, 800-781-4820 or visit www.dutchind.com.
Froc:Maurice Froc, 306-752-9450.
Gen Manufacturing:Dave Bergen at 403-345-3414 or visit www.wearpoints.com
Atom Jet:Craig Senchuk, 800-573-5048 or visit www.atomjet.com .
