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  • From: Thomas Patrick Hurtgen <hurtgenmeadows AT gmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] seeders
  • Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 10:00:03 -0400

Yes,  I used the jumbo pea seed plate and the seeding seems a bit too heavy, but, the odd thing is that 2 or 3 seeds would ride up in the "cup" and just about the time they should drop, they'd get popped out of the box.  This only happens about once every 4 or 5 feet.  I'm going to wash everything and air dry the plates and box without rinsing off the soap as suggested earlier in this thread.   I have already washed the plates and polished the back with Johnson's paste wax hoping for silky smooth operation.  Thanks for any suggestions. 

Tom,  Hillsborough, NC, zone 7.  (68 degrees today but still too wet to plant any more cool season crops.)

On Mar 29, 2009, at 12:34 AM, <clearviewfarm AT bluefrog.com> wrote:

I believe that your seed plate holes may be too small.  Have you tried the jumbo pea seed plate?

Kurt Forman
Clearview Farm
Palmyra, NY 14522

--- hurtgenmeadows AT gmail.com wrote:

From: Thomas Patrick Hurtgen <hurtgenmeadows AT gmail.com>
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] seeders
Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:43:23 -0400

Rivka,  What parts of the Earthway are you cleaning and with what?  I have an older Earthway that actually has a grove worn in the aluminum where the plate rotates.  Overall I have good performance from my seeder but when planting peas, it will sound and act like a popcorn popper -- spitting pea seeds out of the box instead of dropping them gently down the seeding tube.  Any help that readers can offer would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.
 Tom, Hurtgen Meadows Farm, zone 7, Hillsborough, NC

On Mar 28, 2009, at 9:13 AM, Road's End Farm wrote:

I use an Earthway seeder in rocky uneven soil. It's not a precision tool, but does well for me.  

A major factor that inclines me to the Earthway is that I'm often planting a little bit each of a number of different varieties on the same day. It's much easier with the Earthway than with the Planet Junior to empty excess seed back into the packet in the middle of the field. I haven't tried some of the others people have been discussing; though I have been told that at least some of the precision seeders will not work on rocky or uneven soil.

I've had the same one for well over twenty years; I think in that time I did once need to replace a part, but can't now remember what it was. It needs to be taken apart and cleaned thoroughly about once a year -- I finally figured out that not doing this was why I'd been having increasing problems with seed refusing to feed through properly.

I would just get all the seed plates at once, unless you're sure you never want to plant any of the crops that the extra set is designed for.

-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale
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