How to make the Slide Hammer Seeder

[@davidholgate7832]

Dr. Brennan, what a great tool, a great paper describing it, and and even greater video!! really good job, sir! i'll definitely use this tool come Spring '24 in Upstate NY to plant sweet alyssum, and other small seeds like maybe basil, etc. and, smart to make it fun! an entertaining training is more successful than a boring one! job! thanks, again, and, take care! dave

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

Thanks Dave for your comment. I'm glad you found the paper and video helpful. That's my goal. Take care, Eric

[@Dan-hw4wo]

This could be truly revolutionary. I imagine this being automated with a solenoid actuator instead of a human hand, instead of 1 seeder you could join 5 or 10 of them together in a row and plant a whole bed in one pass! No need to make furrows either! Thankyou for making this

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

Thanks. I agree that there is lots of potential. I've been thinking about ways to automate this for larger scale, so stay tuned and feel free to share any design modifications that you try.

[@WowCoolHorse]

@@EricBrennanOrganic yeah this just sparked an idea in me for using this system with something like the low cost "Acorn" agro-robot being built by Twisted Fields farm

[@kirkbarley4999]

Thanks for sharing this. I’m installing my Permaculture main crop zone, and was having difficulty with my ground cover and herbaceous layers, just too many plants to start or buy. Now I can plant those layers with seeds!

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

You're welcome.

[@jayp4083]

Oh my, what a fun project. Will make one next week. Delightful. Thank you Dr. Brennan. Sweet alyssum will be a part of the veg. garden!!!!!

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

You're welcome Jay P. Enjoy. You might also be interested in my other videos that highlight the value of sweet alyssum and other aspects of biological control here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sH3Ze39-ereMgKs

[@christinekiehl4390]

yes, appreciate the PDF printable directions!

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

You are welcome.

[@PilgrimFalcon]

Thank you. Great video!

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

Thanks, You're welcome.

[@fernandopachecomuguertegui5422]

awesome !!! thank you very much

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

You're welcome. Thanks.

[@JimBridgerHarney]

First, cool project! I wish there was more USDA/UC Extension content in video format! Second, would it make sense to attach something like this to the interior of a wheel on a tractor so it would plant a small amount of seed with each wheel rotation? Bet the whole mechanism could be made small and light enough to attach with magnets. Figure this should be workable for the mid-size tractors used with veg crop production.

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

Hi Jim, thanks for the nice comment. I agree that more ag scientists and extension people at the USDA and with the University of California and other states should be using KZbin to share their good information. Here's my latest paper on this issue. Brennan E.B. 2021. Why Should Scientists be on KZbin? It’s all About Bamboo, Oil and Ice Cream. Frontiers in Communication 6:586297.www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fcomm.2021.586297 and my video on this issue is here kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpXJkGmdl759pJI I encourage you to reach out to Ag science and extension people to encourage them to use video. Your question about the wheel mounted slide hammer is something I've also wondered about. I'm confident that it would work and have thought some thing like this could be attached to a vegetable seeder or transplanter so that an interplanted seed like sweet alyssum could be planted at regular spacing along with the vegetable seed lines. There is hand pulled drum seeder somewhat like this that's used for rice planting, but it does use a hammer. Here's video to that: | Direct Paddy Seeder | Rice Drum Seeder | Farmer Friendly Rice Seeder | Coimbatore Creatives kzbin.info/www/bejne/iH7EY4Spl5abZpY Take care, Eric

[@lmack3024]

Have you used it to direct seed through straw/hay mulch or into grass sod? Seems like it would be very useful for that, if it'll penetrate to the soil okay

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

Interesting question. I have not tried this. It seems that it might work if the seeding rate was high.

[@customcutter100]

Excellent video and idea. I'm wondering if it could be used for seeds like carrot, onion, and lettuce? Also how do you think it would work with round seeds like collards, turnips, cabbage, etc.?. Or would they be too easy flowing and not bridge properly? Thanks for the video.

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

Thanks. Great question. Round seeds were really well, but so do irregularly shaped ones. I've not tired it with the ones you mentioned but I don't see why they wouldn't work. It's just a matter of getting hole that's the correct size for the seed. See more details in the paper I published about it. You can download the paper from the video description . Take care

[@martinzupet3359]

Thanks for sharing, great work. I have a question about the direction of planting. In the video demonstration and the paper, the planting shoe makes a hole behind the spot where the seeds fall. If the planting shoe was behind the planter (or turned 180°), then the planting shoe would open up a hole because of the forward motion. When the hammer is struck, the seed then falls through the pipe and slides down the shoe into the hole. Is the current design meant to leave the seeds on the surface? Thank you, M

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

Hi Martin. you're welcome. Thanks for the nice comment and question. The planter is meant to put the seed under the soil surface, and does a nice job of doing this. The depth of the seeding can be adjusted somewhat based on the position of the foot plate. Hope this make sense. Take care, Eric

[@Davesothoth]

Very interesting, thanks

[@EricBrennanOrganic]

You're welcome