Schaffert Seed Rebounder Review:
Context:
I’m part of a small family farm located in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We primarily grow seed crops (Annual and Perennial Ryegrass, Tall Fescue, Red Clover, Crimson Clover, and Radish). All of these crops have a relatively shallow planting depth, typically around ½”. Some of our production is grown under contract and these contracts often stipulate that the crop must be certified. This certification typically requires several crop inspections and there are rigorous standards for how much crop can be outside of the drill row (often times no more than 1%). The reason for this is it’ s impossible to tell if crop outside of the drill row is from seed bounce or volunteer from a previous year potentially from a different variety. If you fail certification in the best case, you will have your sale price docked and in the worst case it may void the contract and leave you without a home for your crop (in a poor market this will mean a significant price reduction and possibly not being able to find a sale for that crop for several years). Needless to say, seed bounce is not acceptable for us. Which leads me to the intended benefit and why we installed our first set of Seed Rebounders.
Intended Benefit:
The first time I took apart one of our openers on our drill I was appalled. The seed tube ended at the hub where the double discs bolt on. From there we had been relying on gravity to guide seed to the bottom of the furrow, which is not ideal for the small seeded crops that we grow. There was absolutely nothing behind the seed tube to keep the seed in or direct it down. As I installed the Seed Rebounders, I immediately saw that wide-open gap to the back of the double discs get filled. Between the bracket and the Rebounder, the only place left for the seed to go was to the bottom of the furrow. After using them in field we saw a significant reduction in seed bounce, if not an elimination of it.
Unintended Benefits:
With our shallow planting depth (typically ½”) we tend not to use much to close our furrows because of the risk of moving seed out of them. These Seed Rebounders have acted as a closing system for us. They gently pull loose soil around the furrow back in over the seed without moving the seed out of the furrow. This becomes all the more important because of one of our biggest pests in our region, slugs. Slugs cause nearly $100 million worth of damage to the $500 million Oregon Seed Industry annually (Capital Press & Oregon State University). As my dad has said, “Every time we leave a furrow open, we’ve built a home for slugs and when we drop seed into it, we’ve set the table for them.” These Seed Rebounders don’t decrease the slug population, but they do help us manage the risk for early season damage (which can be the costliest). By closing the furrow, we have managed our fields to not create a slug home where our crop is sprouting. This by no means solves all of our slug problems but it is an indispensable tool in our management of this pest.
Straight Shot:
Over the years we have been using more biological products in our fertility program. These include microbial inoculants as well as plant and microbe stimulants. Many of these products can be damaged and even killed with UV exposure, AKA direct sunlight. The Straight Shot has allowed us to shift our starter fertilizer from being banded over the row to being applied in furrow with the seed and covered with soil. This allows the more sensitive products in our starter mix to have a better chance to be fully effective. There are still many variables that are outside of our control that can affect how well our biological products work but this tool has taken one major variable (sunlight exposure) out of the equation.
My family farms in the central Texas Blackland’s, we have been running the rebounders for about 12 years now. Before we put them on you would be walking behind the planter and find seeds on top of the ground. After we installed the rebounders, that was eliminated, keeping the seed in the bottom of the trench properly placed. We have tried other firmers before, none have done the job that the rebounders have produced. Would highly recommend them to any fellow farmer.
In 2006, 2 neighboring farmers in our area each own John Deere planters, one with Rebounders and one without Rebounders. The only thing that divides them is the county road. They planted their soybeans at the same time in the same soil type and conditions.
We had a dry season and the farmer with the Rebounders on his planter had a good uniform stand of soybeans and the other farmer without Rebounders didn’t get all his seeds covered and had a stand of various heights due to the dryness and having to wait for a rain to get the rest of the seeds to emerge. The season continued dry.
During early September with the fields drying down across the hills and valleys and maturing at the same time the farmer with the Rebounders will be able to harvest sooner because of uniformity. The farmer who didn’t use Rebounders still has green soybeans in the valleys and will be waiting for his later soybeans to mature.
I run a John Deere 7300 8 row 30 and I wouldn’t run without Rebounders. I really like the Rebounders in cotton planting. Better seed depth and all in the bottom of the furrow.
I had one missing last year during cotton planting. The seed spacing was not as good and the depth was better on the other rows. I saw seed close to the top on the row that was missing the Rebounder and it didn’t come up til it rained.
I have a White Planter 8180, 16 Row and this is my 2nd Set of Rebounders. I had white Rebounders first and went to orange and they last a lot longer. I am very happy with their performance and helped the germination. On soybeans we got an unbelievable stand. Any seed that hit the ground grew. We had better seed to soil control than without Rebounders.
With the competitor’s brand on I would find seeds pressed into the side walls of the furrow. Then I switched to the Rebounders and now I find all seeds in the bottom of the furrow.
Very satisfied with the Rebounders. We had a great stand with the Rebounders. They are very easy to install.
This past winter, I installed Rebounders and Mohawks on half my planter. Once spring came, I put them to the test.
Intially, the Rebounders would ride on top of the ground. I called Paul and he told me to check my seed tube guards and disc openers and replace if needed. My guards were a little worn, but not to the point they needed to be replaced. However, a new Rebounder needs to have a new seed tube guard to perform correctly. My disc openners measured 14 7/8″ across and kept them on the planter.
I trimmed the Rebounders just a hair on a bench grinder and installed new seed tube guards. Reassembled the planter and off to the field I went again with much better results.
What I like most about the Rebounders over a seed firmer is the ability to find your seed and none of the seeds are pushed into the sidewall. The Rebounder gently pushes the seed down to the bottom of the trench where it should be.
To those of ya’ll looking at purchasing Rebounders and Y-Nots for your planter I can honestly say there are worth every penny.
We put them on our planter when it was new to be able to apply liquid fertilizer. We apply 7 gallons of fertilizer with the Rebounder Y-Not set up. We have not had a problem with the fertilizer getting on the seed. If I had a planter that was not set up for liquid I would still want the Rebounders on my planter.
What I love about Rebounders is that the seeds are in a straight line in the seed trench and are in the ground. When I say in the ground I mean they are buried in the bottom of the trench. There is great soil to seed contact.
We farm in the black land of central Texas. One concern we had at first was if the Rebounders would pick up the wet black soil. They never have. We have balled our planter up and the Rebounders were clean of mud. We are replacing our Rebounders and Y-Nots after 6 planting seasons. We did not look at anything else.
The Rebounders really work well on the Tye 15′ Drill. You don’t see any beans uncovered like I used to before I put the Rebounder on. There’s more uniform depth placement also.
