Gordon Kaytor has used a mid-row retrofit 8800 to put in two successive zero till crops on his 1,350-acre farm at Newdale, Man.
“If you’re looking at getting into a zero-till type seeder without spending a lot of money, this is the way to do it. It was very inexpensive,” said Kaytor, who had already seeded two previous crops with the same 28 foot Bourgault 8800 before installing the retrofit kit.
“I think we spent about $6,000 for the whole conversion. That included the mid-row equipment, some shanks that were offset because of the way they lined up on the frame, and of course, the packer wheels.”
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He said the configuration sheet was clear.
“We had to measure a certain distance from a cross brace or something like that. They always gave us the correct reference points. It was very easy. A couple of days and she was ready to go.”
The controller is a Dickey John unit with radar-controlled flow so the fertilizer changes to the correct rate every time the tractor speed changes.
Before installing the mid-row kit, Kaytor said he had been in a conventional full cultivation situation, where the entire farm was harrowed. But since the retrofit conversion, trash clearance has not been a problem.
With the converted 8800, he now puts the full shot of nitrogen down the three-quarter inch Bourgault knife during the seeding operation. This usually ranges from 60 to 90 pounds per acre of nitrogen, with anhydrous ammonia. He reports no plugging and no crop damage.
Kaytor said that with the seed rows on 12 inch spacing and the mid-row anhydrous on 24 inch spacing, he has seeded all of the crops normally in his rotation, including canola, flax, wheat, barley and oats.
What about the performance of the low-budget zero-till seeder?
“We’ve had perfectly uniform crop development,” Kaytor said. “The roots have to grow toward the fertilizer, but that does not seem to be a problem.
“Basically, we’ve gone to a full zero till operation without spending a whole lot of money. We have done no cultivation since we set this thing up.”
Ray Boyd has seeded 11 crops with his 40 foot Bourgault 8800. For the last three crops, he has done the job zero till style, with anhydrous ammonia flowing down a retrofit mid-row bander kit installed on the cultivator frame. Boyd, who farms 2,000 acres near Melfort, Sask., said soil moisture is the main factor in his decision to switch to zero till.
“We wanted to conserve moisture and keep our land from blowing,” said Boyd. “I used to put my fertilizer on in the fall with a knife. There was hardly any disturbance at all. Then I’d seed in the spring with the Bourgault air seeder.
“But the last year I did that (2001) some of our land started blowing in the spring, just from that little bit of work the previous fall. That’s when we decided we had to change.
“The other big thing is diesel prices. We used to have three tractors going at the same time. But a farmer just can’t do that anymore. These diesel prices are here to stay.”
His first crop with the mid-row coulters was 2002.
“It was so dry we just about didn’t grow any crop at all, so it was hard to compare. But 2003 and 2004 were both good crops. It looks to me like it does a pretty good job.”
Boyd said an actual zero till drill would have been too costly and would not give him the option of cultivating if he gets into wet years or is forced to deal with excess crop residue. With the 8800, he can simply lift the mid-row coulters and he has his old cultivator back again.
“We’re into full zero till now, but I don’t know how it will work if we get really wet years. I’ve still got the harrows and it’s easy to knock on some spikes or shovels. You never know when you might need a cultivator again.”
While the retrofit kit is typically shipped out to the farmer, or the technicians travel out to install it, Boyd lives close enough to St. Brieux that the Bourgault technicians came out to his farm and hauled the cultivator back to the plant.
Boyd said this suited him fine because the work was done in the winter, and there were a number of modifications needed on his particular cultivator.
The original hitch was not strong enough to take the force generated by the coulters, so a new hitch was installed.
The castor wheels were moved to a new position farther to the outside of the frame to make room for the mid-row coulters. The factory also installed heavier wing ramps.
Rather than the gang packers normally used on the retrofits, Boyd had individual packer wheels installed. While most 8800s on original eight inch spacing are moved out to 12 inch spacing, Boyd had Bourgault leave his on the original spacing.
“It’s pretty tight in there, no doubt about that. We use a narrow three-quarter inch knife and so far we’ve had no trouble with trash clearance.”
When all was said and done, the bill came to about $25,000 including parts and labour.