One-Pass System Fed By Big Nurse Unit

One-Pass System Fed By Big Nurse Unit SPRAYING Miscellaneous 26-1-18 Seeding is a fast, efficient and moisture-conserving process for the Allard family at St.-Isidore, Alberta, thanks to the unique planting system they created. Francois Allard farms together with his father and two brothers in Alberta's Peace River region. He says the family combined a one-pass system with a nurse unit to improve seeding output. It also allows them to run the operation with only two people, including moving from field to field throughout the day. "This is our fifth year of using this zero-till system that consists of a Cat Challenger, 50-ft. Morris Maxim Air Drill with a 300-bu. combination fertilizer/grain tank, and a 2,000 U.S. gal. anhydrous tank in the back," Allard says. "The whole thing is roughly 100 ft. long." To feed the various components of the one-pass system, Allard rigged up a large-scale nurse unit, using a 35 by 8-ft. trailer they already had. The trailer carries a 2 and 4-ton tank and a 2,000-gal. anhydrous tank. It takes about 25 minutes to fill the one-pass system, which can seed 60 acres of oats or 120 acres of canola without stopping. An added feature of the nurse unit is a device that Allard created to apply "Dividend" seed treatment. He used a six-gallon fiberglass container from an old foam marker off a sprayer, and added a regulator and a low pressure guage to adjust flow rate. Allards use the air off the truck to supply the unit. The device sits on the high-boy deck and uses about 3 lb. of air pressure to air feed the product onto the seed. Contact: FARM SHOW followup, Francois Allard, Box 1188, St.-Isidore, Alberta, Canada T0H 3B0 (ph 780 624-3435, fax 780 624-9630), E-mail: fallard@telus planet.net).

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