The tyne set up was one of the major attractions that convinced Wick Dayman to become among the first farmers to put John Deere's new P690 Air Hoe Drill to work in Australia.
Located at Warburto, between Moonta and Wallaroo on the Northern Yorke Peninsula, Mr Dayman has recently started seeding and expects to hit full gear once some long-awaited rain arrives.
Farming with wife Charmaine, daughter Sarah, son-in-law Nathan, and three employees, Mr Dayman and Warburto Farms crop 4400 hectares.
In this year's rotation is wheat, barley, lentils, canola and peas.
Previously using a K-Hart disc seeder, Mr Dayman said there were a few factors that led the family back to a tyne seeder.
"We've been using a disc seeder for a while and with new pre-emergent chemicals an option we think we'll be better off going back to the tyne machine," he said.
The seeder's parallelogram tyne placement was also a lure.
It has 25.4 centimetre to 30.5cm spacing and new dual knife openers.
"The fertiliser tyne tills about 20 millimetres deeper than the seed tyne and it's offset about 40mm," Mr Dayman said.
This feature is designed to allow all seed to have equal access to nutrients, resulting in even crop emergence.
"It was the principle of how the parallelogram tynes work that attracted us to the P690," Mr Dayman said.
"The ability to vary the pressure on the sowing tynes while in the paddock, and the fact that it can be controlled from the cab will be a big advantage when we have different operators.
"It also gives us the ability to change tyne pressure on the go to suit our different soil types. We go from sandy loams to heavier grey ground closer to Wallaroo."
The P690 is also three metres wider than the Dayman's previous seeder which could result in more ground covered in a day when seeding hits full steam.
While the Daymans don't strictly run on controlled traffic tram lines, they do follow the same lines using RTK guidance.
Mr Dayman also expects the seeder's RelativeFlow blockage sensing to be a boost to efficiency.
The system, which has sensors located on all primary towers and secondary hoses, allows the operator to monitor flow rates of seed and fertiliser from inside the tractor.
"The blockage sensing is most definitely useful to us as it's important to identify problems before we get a potential blockage," he said.
Service and parts proximity make decision easy
Parts and servicing considerations, and familiarity with the John Deere brand and its machines were other considerations when Wick Dayman decided to purchase the P960 Air Hoe Drill.
"The purchase was a bit sight-unseen but I've used John Deere machines for pretty much my whole life," he said.
The Daymans have two S790 headers, a self-propelled John Deere sprayer, multiple R Series tractors and a variety of smaller tractors.
The new addition to the fleet was bought through Emmetts Kadina and assembled by Emmetts technicians and the Daymans.
Mr Dayman was looking forward to seeing how the seeder performed as they got deeper into their program.
"Farming is always evolving and changing and this is a natural progression for us," he said.
"We have a really good relationship with Emmetts Kadina for John Deere parts and service and it's only 10 kilometres from the main farm. It makes sense to have things all together."
