Boy's toys..

..definitely not one for the girls!

This is my new seed drill/planter. The technical bits. It's land wheel driven, (the front wheel with the teeth). This drives a chain which turns the sowing shaft. There is a range of interchangeable cogs with 9, 10, 11, 11, 13 and 14 teeth which give a range of revolution ratios, which is the main control for seed spacing. The sowing shaft passes through the clear plastic seed hopper, and has a seed roller fitted. I have a range of rollers, in which the hole size varies, and the number of holes per roller. Number of holes range from 3 to 24, and the size from small (2 or 3 mm) to large (7-10 mm). The seeds drop from the hopper down a tube into a slot cut by the central plough, then covered by the trailing plate, and firmed by the rear wheel. The handle can be adjusted for height, and even from side to side so you don't walk on the row you've just planted. The sowing depth can also be adjusted with a spanner.

It will sow brassicas salad and carrot seed through to peas and beans, at spacings of 25 mm to 250 mm.

Will still have to sow a few things by hand, but it will cut down a lot of time in the spring, and through into summer by not having to thin plantings excessively..

music