Norbert and Pat Beaujot are considered the two main origins of the hydraulic dilemma.
Norbert owns Seed Master, a company that manufactures air drills up to 90 feet. Pat owns Seed Hawk, the company that manufactures air drills up to 84 feet.
A trickle down trend started when prairie farmers began buying the Beaujot brothers’ super-sized drills. Their customers were farmers who had previously seeded with drills in the 60 foot range.
This put a bunch of used 60 foot machines on the market this winter because producers who bought one giant drill usually had two or three 60 foot drills to dispose of.
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Farmers who had been seeding with drills in the 50 foot range snapped up the 60 footers, making the 50 footers available to the guys who had been seeding with 40 foot drills. And so it goes down the line.
One effect of this trickle down is that many producers found out their tractors lacked the necessary hydraulics for the next bigger size drill they had just bought.
But what about the producers at the very top of the ladder who are buying new drills in the 75 to 90 foot category?
The big drill trend extends directly into the tractor market because of the hydraulic requirements, according to Norbert Beaujot.
He says the new drill requires six gallons per minute in the working position. Raising and lowering the shanks takes 12 gpm. The Smart Hitch requires 1.5 gpm. Depending on how much product is going down and what kind of tank is employed, the fans can consume up to 22 gpm.
With that high level of hydraulic demand, can a farmer get by with adding auxiliary pumps to an older tractor?
“I strongly recommend not using your old tractor,” says Norbert.
“Seeding is such an important job. If you’ve invested in one of these big drills, then you’re dealing with millions of dollars of inputs and crops.
“Hydraulics have become too important in your seeding operation to mess around modifying an older tractor. It maybe makes sense if you have a smaller drill, but these new drills require a new tractor.”
He says another factor sometimes overlooked is hydraulic pressure. The latest generation of tractors all produce 2,800 psi or higher.
“If you’re going to lift a 90 foot seeder, you need 2,800 psi. You can’t do that with your old Versatile. Plus you need 500 horsepower to pull the thing.”
Pat says auxiliary pumps work well in some situations. “But for the kind of acres you need to seed to justify one of these big drills, you simply cannot afford to have a breakdown or weak hydraulics in the field.”
“There is so much hydraulic equipment on the modern drill. It’s not just running the fans. You’ve got openers, metering systems, liquid pumps, all kinds of things that need hydraulic flow.”
He says the 84 foot Seed Hawk has two fans at 12 gpm each and lifting the 84 openers eats up another 10 to 15 gpm.
The drill requires a small flow of oil in the working position to keep the openers pressurized and pressed to the ground at the right depth. Running straight down the field, it needs about 28 gpm to keep everything working.
“Then we need another 10 to 15 for our turn at the end of the field. So in total, if you have a tractor with an honest 40 gpm, that should be fine.
“For the smaller drills, it’s more feasible to put on an auxiliary pump and make it work right.”
Pat urges producers to make sure they order the optional high flow hydraulics when buying a new tractor.
