PIONEERING DIRECT DRILLING - 1965 TO 1993 Written by Dave Ablett. I started direct drilling in 1965, and for 21 years was at the front end of spreading the word. I started on machine design and manufacture and was responsible for the first commercially produced and sold seeding machines in the UK in 1967 and in Brazil in 1973. In those early days direct drilling was mainly promoted by the desire of chemical companies to promote sales of herbicides. I was employed by ICI ( under its various names!) and all my design and development work was given to machinery manufacturers free of charge. In those early days considerable problems were encountered because of the lack of follow up herbicides. My main design and development work was done in co-operation with Howard Rotavator Company in the UK and their Brazilian associate company FNI. In those early days the size of a seeding machine was restricted due to the size and hydraulic capacity of tractors.
The first direct drill I was involved with was the “Fernhurst coulter system” on a Massey standard seed drill. It proved to be an efficient rake when working where there was surface trash.
mainly intended for grassland renewal, kale seeding and cereals.
Press Day at Stock, Essex Full width cultivation dropping seed into moving soil
Fernhurst coulter – small disc and coulter shoe
The final design was launched to the press in 1967 on a farm in Essex. Because of my involvement in design and development Howard Rotavator Company asked me to operate the machine for the launch.
Seed placed in narrow slot
OK when no surface trash
As a result of these trash problems it was thought that a powered slot cutting system would cope better with any crop residues. The first “Rotaseeder” had normal rotavator blades and moved all the soil. In reality the seed only needed to be introduced into the soil with the least soil disturbance possible so the blades were cut down to provide a narrow slot. Moving from complete width rotavating to narrow slot cultivation with coulters placing seed into the slot was a major step forward in maintaining crop residues on the soil surface. The Rotaseeder was 12 DIRECT DRILLER MAGAZINE
Development field work was carried out throughout Europe. A major demonstration tour through France, Germany, Spain, Holland and Denmark was done in 1966 to get farmer opinion on system.
Rotaseeder. Wheat direct drilled into cereal stubble
Prototype
Setting off across the water !
In 1967 the main problem faced by the Rotaseeder was that cutting blade wear was too severe when seeding ISSUE 17 | APRIL 2022
