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Leesburg, Ohio | Obviously you think you can handle a planter perfectly and I cannot. And you are ignoring that fact that no matter how "skilled" one is at lowering/raising at the exact right time, on non-square fields you will always have triangles of double-planted areas (unless you leave triangle of un-planted areas.)
I accept your theory that we raised late/lowered early because we knew the row clutches were there to do it for us. But even if we were "perfect" like you every time, we would still have the overlapped triangle areas on every pass. That is just the simple fact of geometry that cannot be disputed. And that is where the math comes from that tells me in theory we should be saving 6-8%. And we are, plus some. Fact. And that is supported by the fact that since we have had row clutches, we have gone from running short on seed every year, to having significant amounts of seed to return, with no change in our method/math for calculating what we order per acre.
Yes, planter size does make a difference.. I stated above that we use 40' planters. We have almost no square fields in this part of the country. That means most of our fields have curved or angled boundaries. The math tells me that on a 40' planter, I will average 20' of overlap around a field (because the area of a triangle is half that of the same-sized rectangle). Take a 40 acre square field as an example: The distance around said field is one mile, or 5280 feet. If it is not square, that distance increases, but we will just use one mile to be conservative. A 20 foot wide average swath for one mile around a field is 2.42 acres overplanted. (20'x5280'/43560sq.ft./ac.=2.42ac.) 2.42ac./40ac.=6.06% savings. Note: this math is accurate for a square or rectangular field planted on an angle with point rows all around...Irregular/curved boundaries (which we have in every field) adds to that savings, because the irregular boundary is longer around than a square field would be. This calculation totally ignores waterways running through the fields, which adds more to the amount saved, and I suspect that is partly where our 15-16% number comes from, since ALL our fields (except one) have multiple grass waterways that are NOT "square with the world".
You say you haven't saved a dime. Ok. That is because you are perfect, and because you are ignoring irregular fields. I am not perfect, and I have no square fields. So, I guess in your words, I DO, in fact, have "very weird" fields. The math does not lie. | |
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Convince me electric drives will put money in my pocket
