The Taege seed drills are 23 drop at 121mm tyne spacing, the drills use sponge rollers for the metering system which stop any damage to the seed and they are also the most accurate delivery system on the market for a direct drill.
Mark Rose is the manager at Lake Coleridge station and has experienced using both a contractor and hiring seed drilling equipment from Quality Ag Hire and says he found the flexibility of hiring the equipment an advantage to his needs. “For me hiring from Quality Ag Hire was all about the timing of getting our seed in the ground with weather and everything else happening around us,” says Mark. “I had to decide if I was going to hire a contractor or hire the equipment for drilling our seed and use our staff to do the work. Due to the weather conditions I decided to hire the drill as our contractor wouldn’t have been able to get the job done in the time frame I had. “If you hire a contractor you pay different rates. If they do the drilling you are also paying for the tractor, plus the man to drive it, plus the drilling costs.”
Mark hired two Taege seed drills off Quality Ag Hire because of the amount of land he had to work on and he says he was happy with the per hectare rate he had to pay. The Taege drills are equipped with the large S tynes which penetrate very hard ground and give excellent vibration for tilth and getting the seed through the drill. The drills are fitted with broadcast systems, with the option of two hoppers to add fertiliser or different seed – all the drills are fitted with tyne harrows.
“We already have the drivers on staff and it came down to convenience. A lot of time in this country we need to get the seed in on time and can’t afford to wait for the contractors to be able to fit us in. At times dry hire is more convenient for our needs.” Mark’s contractor couldn’t get to the station in the time frame necessary due to his work load and having a dry hire meant they could get the work completed.
“We pay a per hectare rate when we use dry hire. You pay for the hours that you do on the equipment but you don’t have to pay for an operator. “Quality Ag Hire help us set up the machinery and gave us a demonstration and instructions on how to use the equipment.“ Mark says he had reservations to dry hire to begin with as he didn’t know how they would go but his neighbours had a Taege drill and they were getting good results so he figured it worked fine. “Once the drills were set up, my staff worked well with no major problems. They are fairly basic machines and I think once you have had a tutorial anyone can work them, especially if you have a good driver.
“I didn’t have reservations about using a contractor. The contractor we used in the past was very good – it was more about timing, as I tend to want things done on time as you have to control what you can when you can.” He says you do need a tractor and a driver to do it yourself, whereas a contractor would operate it all himself. There are pros and cons depending on the situation. “Dry hire overcame the timing issues and gave me more control. We had no major problems and I think hiring would be a cost saver if you have a small to medium amount of hectares to drill. “We have a large property so hired two drills. I would certainly hire again. The gear is tidy and the company are very good to deal with.”
