Market Farming

[Roger Weeks <rjweeks70 AT comcast.net>]

I too have had this problem.  My findings are that it definitely works 
better if the soil is very fine, and tamped down lightly.  You need to 
make sure that the wheels are not twisted on too tight.  There needs to 
be at least an 1/8" inch gap between the wheels and the shaft, otherwise 
they stick no matter what you do.

I've also found that some silicone or graphite liquid lubricant works 
wonders to keep the wheels turning smoothly.  Like Leigh said, handle 
angle is also important.  It's not really intuitive at first, you need 
to play with the handle angle depending on the soil structure.

Keep at it.  Once you get it working, it's a real timesaver.

Roger Weeks

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 07:21:18 -0700
From: Petersons family <petersns AT whidbey.com>
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Re: Johnny's precision seeder
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>

I need to know more about how to use the 4-row precision seeder - I've
never gotten it to successfully roll along evenly through the soil.
Somehow my soil and its wheels don't work together.  Do you have
cake-flower fine soil?  Do you tamp it down before seeding?  I guess
what I need, is info on how you prepare the seed bed before using that
particular seeder.
Molly Petersons
Whidbey Island
Washington State