December 22, 2016 | Kurtis Fafard

SH1- Not Your Average Test Rig

Meet SH1. SH1 is a Seed Hawk Seeding System with iCon Control. It includes a 980 Air Cart coupled with an XL Air Drill (84′ with 12″ row spacing). Seed Hawk Research and Development uses this test unit for both in-lab and in-field testing of new innovative features, like the Fenix III Seed Meter. In its short life, SH1 has already seen several different iterations of metering systems, as Seed Hawk continually strives to improve precision, reliability, and simplicity.

With the introduction of the Fenix III Seed Meter, we have put SH1 to work performing countless hours of technical seeding trials in our test field. The system was put through numerous tests including maximum rate, electrical capacity, load cell verification, a wide variety of different product tests… and the list goes on.

After testing and refining the design of all the individual components that make up the system, we put SH1 in the field and went to work seeding and fall banding for a local grower. The results of this testing were incredibly positive. See them here.

The SH1 won’t stop for winter. We’ll continue testing throughout, putting the machine through hours and hours of functionality tests. These in-lab trials are conducted with a static 980 Air Cart, with receptacles to catch the product that is metered and delivered to each section. There are no prototype components on SH1. Tests are conducted with actual production parts, This is ensures we catch as many potential issues as possible this winter, so our growers can look forward to a smooth spring.

The results from our Seed Hawk in-lab testing will be released early in 2017. Follow @SeedHawk for more information or visit our website at www.seedhawkseeder.com.