Performance of a dual tine and presswheel seeding module for a range of speeds, presswheels and sowing tine alignments

Abstract

The performance of a dual tine and presswheel seeding module was compared when using a range of settings and options under soil bin conditions. The parameters measured were the soil furrow profile, the placement of seeds and their effect on germination of triticale (variety Tahara - Xtriticosecale sp.). The tests were undertaken using the soil bin facilities at the University of South Australia using a sandy-loam soil. The seeding module had a deeper working front tine fitted with a winged narrow point followed by a narrow point, seed delivery tube and presswheel which were attached by a parallelogram to provide ground contour following for control of seeding depth. The tests showed that 55 mm wide presswheels with either a flat or wedge profile placed the seeds deeper and gave a reduced mean emergence time of 9.8 days compared to 12.6 days for the 80 and 110 mm wide wedge profile presswheels. The next most important factor affecting mean emergence time was the seeding tine alignment with the seeding tine offset 24 mm to the side of the leading tine giving a faster mean time to emergence of 10.7 days compared to center seeding which had 11.6 days. Increasing the speed of seeding from 8 to 13 km/h had no significant affect on the mean emergence time but the higher speeds were measured to place the seeds with less depth of soil cover, throw more soil from the furrow and throw soil wider from the furrow. © 2015, National Centre for Agrarian Sciences. All Rights reserved.