This document gives a brief description of the three types of Seeders Ndume Ltd offers.
All three Ndume Air seeders have none of the complex parts normally associated with conventional seed drills – no gears, no clutches, no discs or springs. A conventional 16-run seeder has 16 separate metering units for sowing seed and 16 units for sowing fertilizer. The Ndume Air Seeder has one metering unit for seed and one for fertilizer (or two of each unit on the larger machine). The metering units are the fluted roller type made of steel and run on sealed ball bearings. Seed and fertilizer distribution is carried out by air through one distributor head (or two heads on the larger machine). There are VERY FEW MOVING PARTS TO GO WRONG. As a result, the Ndume Air Seeder is simple to operate and very simple to maintain.
Air for the system is provided by a fan (two on the larger machine) driven by the tractor PTO shaft. On all three versions, the cultivator section is mounted on a three-point linkage system behind the seed box. Lifting and lowering of the cultivator is carried out by one double-acting hydraulic ram. Power for the ram is supplied by the external hydraulics on your tractor. When lifting the cultivator out of the ground the drive wheel for the metering units automatically lifts off the tyre and seeding stops. When lowering the machine into the ground the wheel re-engages and seeding restarts – there are no in and out of gear clutches.
The Ndume Air Seeder is a two-in-one machine – seed, fertilize and cultivate – all with one machine! The Seeder can be used in planting a variety of crops: beans, maize, wheat, barley, oats, sorghum, rice and many others. On the smaller 10, 12 and 14ft. standard models, the cultivator can be disconnected from the seeding unit and used separately, mounted on the tractor 3-point linkage. This facility is available on the conventional and press wheel versions only.
Air Seeders are available in mounted 9 and 10ft versions, and trailed options of 10, 12, 14, 16, 19 and 24ft. working widths.
Conventional Planter
This planter is used in conjunction with conventional cultivation techniques, whereby the planter is used after a good seed bed has been prepared by a combination of normal tillage implements – ploughs, harrows and cultivators. The seed and fertilizer are put into the ground behind heavy duty, easy-flow, spring tines – similar to a triple ‘K’ tine. Each tine is fitted with a reversible bar point, detail of the tine is shown below. The tines are designed to vibrate as they go through the ground, helping to discard residue around the tine shank. Tines are mounted on a 4-bank frame with 18” spacing between banks. Inter-row spacing is 7” when using the conventional planter. Because of the large inter-tine spacing, seeding into trash or straw is no problem for the Ndume Air Seeder. Seeding depth and covering of seed is controlled by spiral rollers mounted on the rear of the cultivator.
Press Wheel Planter
This planter is designed to operate in rougher, more ruggedly prepared seedbeds. In line with this, the tine on this planter is considerably stronger in its design. In addition, instead of covering the seed with our standard spiral roller, we now fit a bank of press wheels to this machine. Each tine is followed by a press wheel which ensures that the seed is covered and makes sure of a good seed-to-soil contact. The addition of the press wheel has resulted in excellent germination. Press Wheel planters also enable you to moisture-search in awkward planting conditions. As an example, if the top three inches of soil is dry but there is plenty of moisture below this level, the press wheel planter allows you to plant the seed into the moisture but only cover it with 25mm of soil. This means you get the crop up and growing on time. Press Wheel version has an inter-row spacing of 10”. Tine legs are made of steel channel boxed in at the back for maximum strength; a reversible point of 2” wide is fitted to each tine. Each tine is fitted with a coil spring. Tines are fitted on 3 banks so inter-tine spacing is 30” Again, because of the large inter-tine spacing, seeding into trash or straw is no problem for the Ndume Air Seeder.
The Presswheel Planter can now be fitted with a Direct Drill tine with an edge or point which causes minimum ground disturbance. The seeding tube is adjustable forward and backwards as well as up and down to ensure good seed placement.
Ndume Direct Drill Planter
The Ndume Direct Drill Planter is designed to give your seed the best start up possible. The point is designed to penetrate your soil to a depth of 5” to 7”. Your fertilizer is put down directly behind this point to the same depth. As you travel forward the soil falls back in behind the point and covers the fertilizer. The seeding parallelogram contour follows 12” behind, opening up a small slot to put in the seed. The seeding depth is controlled by an adjustment at the press wheel which follows behind the seeding point. Move the wheel upwards and you plant deeper, downwards and you plant shallow. The press wheel has an adjustable spring which will increase or decrease the amount of pressure on the wheel. The press wheel is manufactured out of steel (or rubber as an option), running on two 6205 sealed bearings with dust covers fitted. The wheels are fitted with scrapers. The tine is fitted with a 5/8” shear bolt which will only break if a solid object is encountered. This tine is designed to break through hard ground and not ride out of the soil as a hydraulic brake-away tine tends to do.
The Direct Drill version has a inter-tine (row) spacing of 12” to 15” All tines can be fitted on a 100 x 100mm beam of a wall thickness of not less than 6mm. The tine can be fitted with a disc coulter ahead of the tine if trash is a problem.
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