Earthway Garden Seeder

[Humburger]

I did a search and found much information on this seeder, but I would like to hear some stories from this past summer's gardens.

How did the Earthway Seeder work this past year? I have saved my money and now I am about to get one. I just need a little more encouragement.


Thanks!

[mistletoad]

We don't use ours as much as I thought we would. No complaints about it really, but if you inoculate your legumes you won't be able to use it for planting those (they clump together something awful when they are wet) and I can't manage to keep it in a straight line without walking behind it but I don't like to walk on the growing beds so that's a bit awkward.

[MaineFarmMom]

I cut down on the amount of seed I plant and increased yield with the Earthway. I was planting too thickly. I have two tied together so that I can do two rows at a time.

[sammyd]

We inoculate our peas and don't have a big issue with ours.
A lot nicer than another brand we have tried. It is easy to operate, easy to adjust depth and the row marker is handy.
We plant pretty much everything with it and wouldn't be without it.

[Murray in ME]

I really like my Earthway. It's one of the best investments I've made. They make seeding so much faster and easier. So much easier on my back.

[Randy Rooster]

I use mine only for okra and sweet corn, but it works well for them

[rufus]

I bought mine used from a guy at work late this planting season. In fact I worked up some extra ground so I could try it out. I only used it for 5 75 foot rows of sweet corn and after about 5-10 minutes I was done planting!!! Was a little hard to keep the rows straight since I didn't start off straight but this should be able to be handled with a string on the first row. I did notice that I had been planting too much seed and spacing too close together. I can't hardly wait till spring so I can put the planter through it's paces but yes, I think it's worth it's price in labor/seed savings.

[AnnieinBC]

I used mine for the first time this year....LOVE it! Especially if you are doing long rows, it was amazing to me how fast I got the seeds in the ground....

Annie

[Windy in Kansas]

They are an okay beginners planter but far from the precision they claim, and it takes quite a bit of seed just to keep a usable amount in the hopper. I guess I'm too picky but would rather plant by hand than slobber in the seed with one of those. I bartered my away this spring to a fellow poster on these forums.

For market gardeners or those with much deeper pocket there is a 12 volt vacuum push seeder available now that catches my eye. If I didn't already have two units of precision planters I would be looking at one of them. A true precision planter can virtually do away with the thinning of crops--a job I don't like.

[tomstractormag]

Windy,
Whats the name of the 12v push planter. I have an earthway and find it OK not great.
I plan to build a 1 row planter using a finger pick up unit that John Deere uses on the field planters. This machine I will be able to use on my small tractors as I plan to plant a few acres of corn in 09.
If the prototype looks good I would be interested in custom building more to sell.
Tom

[Windy in Kansas]

It is made by Sutton Ag. http://www.suttonag.com/SeedAce.html Don't choke when you see the price. You most certainly pay for precision but such a unit requires less seed since it does it accurately, requires less time to thin a crop, etc.

Speaking of John Deere planters--the old JD Flex-71s would make great units for larger seed. They were simple and such a workhorse and reliable that Yetter bought the rights to continue manufacturing them. The parts even interchange. http://www.yetterco.com/prod_p_71seriesplanterunit.php I used Flex-71s for sowing milo and found the six row unit to be very accurate. Since they are older units a person can sometimes stumble onto them at farm auctions for not much money. Back in the 1970s I paid $125 per unit. I'd like to have about four rows of them now to plant milo, corn, and beans. They use the plastic plastic plates which are pretty cheap but can also use the metal ones.

One fellow in NE Kansas buys all he can get his hands on, refurbishes them, and sells two units on a toolbar for deer crop plantings via Ebay for big bucks.

[goatsareus]

we have used the earthway garden seeder for many many years, it is worth its weight in gold, for our old backs . Our garden is 100'x100'. We do use a string to get straight rows, it takes longer to set up the string than it takes to plant the seeds. It is a joy to use, because planting takes minutes, even with our large garden.

[Farmerwilly2]

I used one for the first time this year, I was happy with it. Having to do a little thinning was offset by reducing the stooping to hand plant/dribble seed. I did find a fine tilth was needed for it to operate well (hitting clods just sent it crazy). I do have to modify the handles as the thing is designed for short people and not us tall folk. Then again I had to put an extension on my tiller for the same reason.

[WisJim]

I find that it takes way more seed than I use just to fill the hopper enough so it works, so it is a waste of time to try to use it for small seed. It might work for beans, corn, and peas, but we plant a lot of varieties and not a lot of each of them. Our smaller seed like carrots we plant in wide rows or square plots and the seeder doesn't work well their either.

[Windy in Kansas]

WisJim, the Stanhay push planter here works quite well on very small seed amounts.
http://www.suttonag.com/Stanhay.html

I have toolbar mounted models which are about the same. The downside is that seed belts are used for accurate delivery and sending off seed getting a belt or belts punched to your specifications can be costly on initial start up. For true precision and accuracy it is recommended that each year sized seed be sent to the company for a specific belt to be made just for that seed. I'm tight fisted so use the same belts and without sized seed and they work fine. A vacuum planter would probably cost about the same and alleviate the belt costs but since I've already got the planters I'll stick with them.

[Farmerwilly2]

I found I could sow beet or turnip, just tilted it to the right a mite and away they went.

[Barefeet Farms]

Originally Posted by Farmerwilly2

I do have to modify the handles as the thing is designed for short people and not us tall folk. Then again I had to put an extension on my tiller for the same reason.

I'd be interested to see how you extend the handles...we have the same trouble here! Everything is too short! :-)

Barefeet Farms

[Murray in ME]

Originally Posted by Barefeet Farms

I'd be interested to see how you extend the handles...we have the same trouble here! Everything is too short! :-)

Barefeet Farms

http://johnnyseeds.com sells handle extensions for the Earthway in their professional catalog and web site. They look to be just 2 pieces of flat aluminim bars that bolt on to extend the handles. I'm probably going to be ordering a set myself before planting time.

[Farmerwilly2]

Originally Posted by Murray in ME

http://johnnyseeds.com sells handle extensions for the Earthway in their professional catalog and web site. They look to be just 2 pieces of flat aluminim bars that bolt on to extend the handles. I'm probably going to be ordering a set myself before planting time.

Pretty much what I had in mind, along with a wider handle on top (Childs bicycle handle if I can find one). My tiller needed a longer pipe and a "s" hook to extend a linkage. It made a heck of a difference being able to stand normal rather than work in a stoop.

[GreenGardenJoe]

Once you get your money saved and decide it is time to purchase one, here is a great site to visit, www.gardenharvestsupply.com