The Official Maize and Rotational Crops Thread

[farmerjo]

12 hours ago, kickstart said:

Roseella, do you mean this ?G-Je-Up in Thai a popular crop around here , as you say very labour-intensive .

It is what I would call a friendly crop, when the stalks are cut you get a group of normaly  women, sat in the shade taking the seed pods out all talking away all day, happy as a pig in the preverbal.

Hi KS,

Yes it's the same,would want to be worth a fair bit per kilo for the hassle compared to sugar or cassava.

One neighbour has planted where he finished a 5 year sugar cycle and the other used to grow maize on maize but the fall army worm caught up with him last year.

 

 

 

[kickstart]

It has to be about one of the most labour-intensive crop going ,cut the plants in the field normally take them home take the heads off ,then using a long spick take the seed pod out from the heads ,then dry in the sun for a few days ,bag them up then sell them ,last year around I think it was 25 baht/kg ,has been high as 45 baht/kg .

But growing them is easy ,most grow them in field corners ,strips along the road ,often grown where other crops will not grow, they like light land ,a crop were the seed is sown field gate is shut and opened at harvest time,a bit like sunflowers. 

[farmerjo]

Got this picture from KS out of the photo's section.

At 1st i thought the wheels were home made but after more research there is one tyre company in China i know of that produces them.

Stumbled across them on a youtube Kid machinery field day video.

Was in Thai but thought i heard the guy say 31,000 baht for set of 4,not sure what size tractor as they had sizes up to fit like the bigger Kubota's.

Guess there pretty new to the market and was wondering about there reliability.

Just when i think the rain has gone here another thunderstorm passes,had 160mm of rain since that storm passed,would like to carry on working but after the rain and 51"'s for the year starting to make a mess in a couple of area's.

I need to spray again as missed the boat to seed half the area after 1st application.

[kickstart]

12 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Got this picture from KS out of the photo's section.

At 1st i thought the wheels were home made but after more research there is one tyre company in China i know of that produces them.

Stumbled across them on a youtube Kid machinery field day video.

Was in Thai but thought i heard the guy say 31,000 baht for set of 4,not sure what size tractor as they had sizes up to fit like the bigger Kubota's.

Guess there pretty new to the market and was wondering about there reliability.

Just when i think the rain has gone here another thunderstorm passes,had 160mm of rain since that storm passed,would like to carry on working but after the rain and 51"'s for the year starting to make a mess in a couple of area's.

I need to spray again as missed the boat to seed half the area after 1st application.

The guy in the photo said 40 ,000 baht set and as you said they come from China, a tractor dealer near me, last month  brought over 3-4 sets ,I think he has sold one, almost to late in the year as most of the spraying has been done ,a lot of mung beans this year they will need spraying ,but the drones are doing a lot of the work ,spraying a crop of maize near me this afternoon .

 As for reliability ,they seem OK most just have a sprayer on the back like this one ,have seen one with the sprayer like yours the big square white  tank ,not full up, and some even have a blue 200 lt tank on the front of the tractor extra spry and I would say a bit more weight on the front, keep's  the front end down.

Most I see are on 36hp Kubota', they seem to do a lot of spraying ,not many bigger Kubota's  about here ,any heavy land work is still done by the big Fords.

We have had 26 inches of rain this year,  192 mm 7.5 inches this month, so far, not a lot, but if we had what you have had ,these narrow wheeled tractors would just get stuck, or make big ruts in the field , most times you can not see where they have been, mung beans will get done with conventional wheels .

 

[farmerjo]

Well best laid plans gone awry again.

Thought i would take advantage of lots of sub soil moisture by putting in a late crop of sesame and sunn hemp to see how they would fair on minimum rainfall and cooler weather.

With one strip left to prepare the field i've had a lockup in the right hand travel motor.I have been anticipating the day coming but thinking more of a track problem rather than the drive.Probably karma as the rain forecast for today has disappeared.

Have a guy not far away experienced in these sort of issues so will get him out on weekend to take a look.

The joys of farming.

 

 

[IsaanAussie]

Spotted a seven row planter advertised locally

 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/304684267242431

Any opinions welcome

[CLW]

2 hours ago, IsaanAussie said:

Spotted a seven row planter advertised locally

 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/304684267242431

Any opinions welcome

Machine construction-wise doesn't look bad for a Thai made machinery.

[kickstart]

A seven row rice  planter for rice 37k ,as has been said not a bad deal ,could drill soya and mung beans, maybe peanuts ,too narrow for sun hemp ,is that a 36hp Kubota on the drill ,not a lot of HP needed then . 

Looking at that crop and the light  land is that Isaan?very dry ,but the crops looks well ,clean no weeks.

With it being so dry for the past couple of years  ,lack of water ,this could be the way to go for rice planting .

Looking at some of that welding ,if that was the UK the guy would have got a DCM, Don't Come Monday ,I thought some of my welding was bad.  

[kickstart]

On 11/6/2020 at 9:13 AM, farmerjo said:

Well best laid plans gone awry again.

Thought i would take advantage of lots of sub soil moisture by putting in a late crop of sesame and sunn hemp to see how they would fair on minimum rainfall and cooler weather.

With one strip left to prepare the field i've had a lockup in the right hand travel motor.I have been anticipating the day coming but thinking more of a track problem rather than the drive.Probably karma as the rain forecast for today has disappeared.

Have a guy not far away experienced in these sort of issues so will get him out on weekend to take a look.

The joys of farming.

 

 

Hi FJ ,Got the crawler sorted out yet, was it the track or something else . 

[farmerjo]

12 hours ago, IsaanAussie said:

Spotted a seven row planter advertised locally

 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/304684267242431

Any opinions welcome

Looks ok IA.

Will still need to prepare the seedbed beforehand.

Just make sure whatever seed you use is clean.

[farmerjo]

2 hours ago, kickstart said:

Hi FJ ,Got the crawler sorted out yet, was it the track or something else . 

Hi KS,it was a collapsed bearing in the planetary.

Managed to get it back to the workshop.

The guy(mechanic who works full time on excavators and dozers) is only available on sundays so it may take 3 weeks to fix.

Sun gears will clean up all right so no major costs involved.

I can't help but think using the 5 disc plough behind it and that track working in the furrow contributed to the failure.

So been doing a bit of research on a Tandem disc versus offset disc which i think in this soil an offset disc would work better.

I tried the cultivater i made today(off front of box scraper) but even on 13 inch spacings it would not handle the trash so disc's seem the way to go at a 3rd of the price of a power harrow. 

 

 

 

[farmerjo]

On 11/10/2020 at 10:44 AM, IsaanAussie said:

Spotted a seven row planter advertised locally

 https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/304684267242431

Any opinions welcome

Hi IA,was late last night when i replied to your post.

I do like the disc arrangement on it with beefy bearings,the important part is to look where the two disc' angles meet together.

So when the machine is in the ground at shallow depth you still need the disc's touching so it forms a vee otherwise you will end up with a W pattern where the seed is being dropped into the furrow.

Not so important if preparing the seed bed,more so direct drilling.

I'm sure that welding would not be original,maybe it hit a tree stump.

Just check the main frame is still straight.

Here is a picture of my disc arrangement for you to compare.

 

 

[sateuk]

Hi guys I want a cheap tiller for ploughing over veg plots , theres a few on lazada for around 5000 baht my question is if the soil hard would they work ive asked the sellers and they say yes obviously , just wanted another opinion thanks

[farmerjo]

21 minutes ago, sateuk said:

Hi guys I want a cheap tiller for ploughing over veg plots , theres a few on lazada for around 5000 baht my question is if the soil hard would they work ive asked the sellers and they say yes obviously , just wanted another opinion thanks

Hi sateuk,if you have access to water and sprinkler it would take a few passes to get your desired result after soaking.

Straight onto hard soil would be hard on the machine and yourself.

[kickstart]

On the subject of discs this set appeared in our area last year ,second hand used by one of the larger farmers in the area ,it would have to be used by a Ford tractor  for the spool valves ,it would make a good job of burying the rubbish .

Cant see the crawler pulling a 5 furrow plough leading to a collapsed bearing ,crawlers have more pulling power thane a wheeled tractor ,it  should pull that plough without any problem 

[farmerjo]

1 hour ago, kickstart said:

On the subject of discs this set appeared in our area last year ,second hand used by one of the larger farmers in the area ,it would have to be used by a Ford tractor  for the spool valves ,it would make a good job of burying the rubbish .

Cant see the crawler pulling a 5 furrow plough leading to a collapsed bearing ,crawlers have more pulling power thane a wheeled tractor ,it  should pull that plough without any problem 

Hi KS,off to town tomorrow to have a jig made to press new bearing into planetary.I thought the bearing would of been a tapered bearing but it's just a single race ball bearing type.

While in town i'll head out to the local machinery dealer to see what he has in the yard with disc's.

I like the one in picture with the design(does it have a brand name on it?),doesn't give to much confidence for a 3pl model if they are strapping extra weight on that implement. 

Will let you know what i see tomorrow.

[farmerjo]

22 hours ago, kickstart said:

On the subject of discs this set appeared in our area last year ,second hand used by one of the larger farmers in the area ,it would have to be used by a Ford tractor  for the spool valves ,it would make a good job of burying the rubbish .

Cant see the crawler pulling a 5 furrow plough leading to a collapsed bearing ,crawlers have more pulling power thane a wheeled tractor ,it  should pull that plough without any problem 

Went to town today,the dealer only had one.

3pl but easy enough to put a drawbar on,nice heavy construction.

Pro's ,nice and heavy for a 3pl model,price is reasonable,dirt scrapers on rear gang,solid bearing arrangement,solid pins and back adjustment angle,75 horsepower required,24" disc's on 9"spacings,no hydraulics required.

Cons,no front gang angle adjustment or scrapers,no depth control although angle of back row generally determines depth,less weight than a trailing implement.

I put a deposit on it and will either take it or leave it in two weeks time as won't be required until after sunn hemp harvest.

Price 75,000 reduced to 70,000.

 

[kickstart]

21 minutes ago, farmerjo said:

Went to town today,the dealer only had one.

3pl but easy enough to put a drawbar on,nice heavy construction.

Pro's ,nice and heavy for a 3pl model,price is reasonable,dirt scrapers on rear gang,solid bearing arrangement,solid pins and back adjustment angle,75 horsepower required,24" disc's on 9"spacings,no hydraulics required.

Cons,no front gang angle adjustment or scrapers,no depth control although angle of back row generally determines depth,less weight than a trailing implement.

I put a deposit on it and will either take it or leave it in two weeks time as won't be required until after sunn hemp harvest.

Price 75,000 reduced to 70,000.

 

As you say nice and solid ,with a bit of weight ,as you say no front set angle adjustment ,but has scalloped dices ,good for cutting though rubbish .

The one I posted I think was imported ,not many hydraulic operated implements in Thailand ,they put extra weight on as it was used on unploughed fields ,a bit hard with poor penetration ,hence the extra weight ,but if used on a ploughed field for seed-bed preparation would work well .

In TV's farm photo's is a Field King set of dices ,that set has a crumbier bar on the back ,you could easily make one , does help in making a good seed-bed.

[kickstart]

Not the best of photos  ,this set of discs was at our locale dealer ,I asked the price and the first thing the woman said was ,what HP tractor are you using ,which did not surprise me ,In said 80HP ,thinking of Ford's ,she said you would need a smaller one ,this one would need 120HP ,just to pick it up .

This one has a front set of discs adjustment ,but no scalloped discs,like your one 24 inch discs 9inch centres .

It is made by PTN  a local firm ,all they stuff is well-made and solid ,will last a long time .they have been making ploughs for a lot of years ,most are still going .

The numbers ,this one is 120 000 baht a smaller one 80 000 baht .

With the weight and as it is adjustable ,again  put a crumblier  bar on the back on light land it should give you a one pass ,then drill . 

Make a frame so it is semi mounted , a  80 HP  tractor  should be able to pull it. 

[farmerjo]

Thanks for the info KS,much appreciated.

The one i looked at yesterday after more research resembles the CMT brand also a Thai company.

 

 

 

 

[douglasspade]

On 11/11/2020 at 6:05 PM, sateuk said:

Hi guys I want a cheap tiller for ploughing over veg plots , theres a few on lazada for around 5000 baht my question is if the soil hard would they work ive asked the sellers and they say yes obviously , just wanted another opinion thanks

 

Is it is one of those 50cc 4 stroke grass cutters conversion tillers? They need very workable soil, preferably a mulch or a blended soil with a low/non existent clay content.

If your soil is rice paddy material then you need to loosen it up before attempting tilling.

 

[sateuk]

16 hours ago, douglasspade said:

 

Is it is one of those 50cc 4 stroke grass cutters conversion tillers? They need very workable soil, preferably a mulch or a blended soil with a low/non existent clay content.

If your soil is rice paddy material then you need to loosen it up before attempting tilling.

 

Yes it is them 50cc ones, I was thinking of soaking the ground over night then trying it

[Zeid]

Good Day, 

not sure if this questions have been talked about.

 

but what spacing are you using for your corn?

also are you using for interrow cultivation?

 

 

[farmerjo]

56 minutes ago, Zeid said:

Good Day, 

not sure if this questions have been talked about.

 

but what spacing are you using for your corn?

also are you using for interrow cultivation?

 

 

Hi Zeid,

My original planter was 2 foot spacings and last one 20 inch,haven't grown corn for a couple of years as the Fall Army Worm turned up in the area.Neighbour still grows a small plot of sweet corn every year using a walk behind tractor for seeding and inter row weeding but usually it's quite clean as he always uses attrizine.

One of our older members Wayned used to do inter row cultivation on his corn crops using a Ford 6600? not sure what planter he used.

Slugs 11 was using his rice planter on every 2nd disc so 20 inch for his cattle feed.

 

[Zeid]

Hello Farmerjo

glad to hear the 20 inches number come up ???? 

but what I meant for weed removal between rows what machine/peripheral/implement did you use?  or weed control was based on herbicides?

 

 

[farmerjo]

9 hours ago, Zeid said:

Hello Farmerjo

glad to hear the 20 inches number come up ???? 

but what I meant for weed removal between rows what machine/peripheral/implement did you use?  or weed control was based on herbicides?

 

 

Sorry 20 inch was wrong, for Wayned and my 2nd planter it was 30 inches.

Wayned used to cultivate in between rows but couldn't find any pictures on the old original thread of what he used implement wise.

I just use to use herbicides prior to planting as was using a no-till planter system.

This year i've bought the offset disc to relevel the fields and start again.

I have a home made cultivator but no good for row crops as it's on 13 inch spacings.

Will get some pictures together tomorrow.

Have you got any pictures or a website of the Yanmar planter your interested in.

 

[kickstart]

In my area it is 30 inches rows  ,now most farmers use a pre- emergence spray , (or Yar-Koom in Thai ) as FJ said  his local guy used  Atrizine, that is what we used to use a few years ago ,but that has now been replaced.

The other weed control, is when fertilizer is applied ,the rows  are ridged up at the same time giving some weed control, but some farmers do have a grass weed problem , with some farms even makes combining difficult. 

Something I have not seen is inter-row cultivation ,farmers seem to think after applying the fertilizer the crop fills the rows and weed do not grow.

If you had your own equipment it could be done. and  would it  be cost-effective cheaper than spraying ? ,but a lot of farmers use other farmers to all they work, to them, it would be  just another cost.     

[douglasspade]

2 minutes ago, kickstart said:

Something I have not seen is inter-row cultivation

Firstly understand I am "small scale" compared to you all out there. And sorry for the poor picture quality.

 

Been doing corn inter rows for about a year now, 8 rotations/harvests.

 

I got myself a 4 row planter/driller about two months ago for an 'iron horse' tractor. Plan is to do 5 Rai rice "organically" next year.

Used to plant corn manually that can take a 500m2 plot 3 days to complete alone. And I usually plant 2 adjacent plots, 3 times in 12 months.

 

I removed 2 tines from the seeder and only use 2 remaining. Also used the pipes from the removed tines that dropped the seeds and re-angled them to drop with the other tines. This helps me to drop a min of 2 seeds, max 4 seeds per 'hole', instead of min 1 and max 2 seeds per 'hole'.

This also increase the germination percentage overall as I am using the cheapest sweetcorn seed on the market with only 70% germination.

 

I plant 700mm, +/-200mm inter rows, at 250mm spacing between seeds.  In 2018 I still used sequential 750mm rows at 300mm seed spacing, my yields were 1500 to 1700 ears of corn per 500m2 avg. of marketable produce.

Inter rows on the same plots yield between 2000 and 2400 ears of corn avg.

Inter rows also assist in covering shade on the dirt in 4 to 5 weeks and I do not need any herbicide other than the edges of the fields.

 

There is very little corn done on big scale here in lower Isaan, the dry winters and lack of quality available water is a problem.

 

[Zeid]

Good Morning All,

 

Does the rise planter reaches depth?

 

For no tillage i was also considering but, you will need proper equipment for planting, and i think once that is figured out it is best way to go especially April may when it is very hot. Also what cover crop are you thinking of? (To create the rolled cover)

 

Siam implememts has some nice machinery with some duck foot tines, that is also adjustable  i think I will give it a go.

 

Douglasspade,

Thank you for the pictures.

Once it reaches silking stage can you please send some photos as well.

 

For yanmars please see below links and pictures they have two sizes

https://www.yanmar.com/th/agri/products/implements/y4700msc/

 

[Zeid]

Yanmar might actually  work for no tillage farming