Sabre Drill

Ours was one of the very first Sabre Drills [of the new generation] arriving on farm in January 2020.

We shallow cultivate with the Weaving Shortdisc, then follow with the Sabre Drill into various soil types and conditions without fault and with great success. We are finding that with the Sabre tine delivers great yields and soil health is improving. It certainly is well engineered and very simple, drop it in and go, the tractor purrs along at 1400 revs about 10/12k all day long. After our 3-metre combi drill, it’s certainly a game changer - no worries about running out of fuel now in a day, in fact 2 days of sowing to one tank and almost a week’s worth of drilling in two days now.

We can’t afford the luxury of two drills, nor do we need two drills. The Sabre does it all, and probably one of the best investments we've made. 

Why did we choose Weaving’s Sabre Drill? We made the move after our previous disc drill couldn’t handle wet conditions. Seeing what the Sabre Drill could do, it was a no-brainer. It really makes precise crop establishment simple.

It’s done a great job so far. We went with the 4800M model. The output is unbelievable, you can cover a lot of ground and the pivoting wings follow the contours nicely. The crops all look well. I can’t fault the Sabre Drill really. It’s so cheap to run and, in today’s world, that matters.

I’ve drilled any time from August right up until December in quite heavy soils. No matter what the conditions are, we can always get on and drill. We can also combine the Sabre Drill with other equipment to fully lean into low disturbance crop establishment, so we’re ready to meet all the new environmental management requirements.

So far, the Sabre Drill has been brilliant. It’s excellent value for just how powerful and low cost to run it is, and can do the same job as other drills, if not even better.

The new Sabre is a joy to use. Hassle free, built well, and it really cranks out the acres. I can easily do 130 acres on one of my big days, which is good enough for me. Seed placement is very accurate, and easy to set up. Trash flow (summer or Spring) was brilliant with the four rows of tines. it basically doesn’t block up. Calibration and metering are excellent, and easy to do.

I’ve seen some lovely thick crops, which have hugely helped suppress black grass. I’ve had wheat yields this year that I haven’t had for the last ten years. I have a lot of flint, and tine wear has been a full set in one season. This equates to £3.50 per acre metal costs, which is really good for my soil. 

So, all in all, very pleased indeed. If anyone is wondering if the Sabre can be a true single pass drill - I can absolutely confirm it can. It’s tough, and it’ll keep going and going. Superb service from Weaving as a company, and nothing was any trouble for them.

On the 1,150ha we farm, blackgrass is an area of concern, so a minimum tillage establishment regime has replaced ploughing for most crops. After buying one of the first of the new design 6m Sabre drills last year and been impressed by its performance, we asked Weaving to supply the larger 8m version the following spring, and so far, it’s proving equally good.

The previous model with three tine rows worked well, but the extra clearance and open design of the four-row version is an improvement, and we have seen this on both our 6m drill last autumn and the newer 8m model too. It’s easier to see all the tines, and if coulters become blocked then this is quickly noticed as seed spills out of the vent. The zig-zag harrow is another improvement. Our new 6m Sabre drill was used last autumn in wet conditions and the harrow remained clean, where the press roller of the previous drill might have blocked with sticky oat straw residues. The harrow is effective, seed is covered, the surface is left level and it’s suitable for all weathers.

Operating costs are low. The low power requirement saves fuel and the only soil wearing parts are the tine points, and seed tubes located at the rear of the coulters – both of which are easily and quickly changed.

The farm operates the 8m Sabre drill behind a John Deere 8370RT twin-track crawler which has more than enough power and works at speeds up to 13kph on our heavy clay loam soils.

Here in the heart of Wiltshire just on the edge of Salisbury plain, we are a mixed farm covering around 1450 acres with arable and suckler herd enterprises. This is split up typically with 700 acres of arable growing WW, WB, WOSR, SB, SO, and S.Beans and 750 acres of grass providing grazing and silage for 300 suckler cows and followers.

All straw is removed and all FYM put back on the arable ground. Historically we have always plough­pressed or Weaving Subdisced followed by a 3m Kuhn LC3000 power harrow combi drill.

Looking to save money and speed up the operation with less soil inversion, the new Sabre Tine Drill and LD Top-Soiler seemed to tick the box. The Sabre is very simple to use and most importantly very versatile. The Sabre allows us to drill in and on any type of cultivated soil or direct, in the right conditions, this versatility is a must on our varying soil types. With its large hopper capacity and 5.4m width to match our 27m tramlines and at 12 kph, our higher work rates have allowed us to make considerable savings.

Due to the farm traffic from the straw removal and FYM applications we opted for the 4m LD Top-Soiler which lifted and loosened the soil leaving it a weatherproof state ideal for the Sabre Tine Drill to follow after a chit. The LD is simple but very effective, its low disturbance legs do a great job under the surface but leave it relatively undisturbed on the top.

The key when using it is getting the right speed, we find 6.5-8kph ideal, the LD depth will obviously vary between soil types and conditions but typically use it between 7 and 9 inches, relieving compaction in the seed and early rooting zone. Both implements are pulled by a Case Puma 200CVX which handles them both comfortably.

This system has reduced our establishment costs by two thirds without any noticeable yield loss, and with the added benefit of being able to travel with following applications due to firmer soil conditions. Whether you’re farming conventionally or keen to move towards a more regenerative approach this combination ticks the box. 

2022 has been our first year with our 7.2m Sabre Tine drill. I purchased the Sabre because it did a different job to the two existing drills we have, one an old tine drill and also a wheat disc drill. The Sabre drill has a solid leg giving direct drill potential and there are no following tyres as with our disc drill, giving potential to drill in testing conditions.

 We started off with our Sabre direct drilling our OSR, we cut the stubble long to hide the OSR from the flea beetle. We used the main hopper to apply TSP and the rear Stocks applicator to drill OSR mixed with Berseem Clover. The Sabre drill’s calibration is very accurate, calibrate 3 times and they always come out the same, all our OSR has grown well, we planted 70 seeds/metre and I am very happy with the establishment. There was initially a challenge with straw build up around the tines - which has seemed a common theme amongst farmers in 2022 - but moving the tines forward should alleviate this next year. 

We used our disc drill to do the bulk of our wheat drilling, it has a split hopper, we drill base fertiliser at the same time. When the weather came wet, we used the Sabre drill and it worked exceptionally well, I would have no hesitation using it as my main wheat drill. We actually tried the Sabre drill direct on OSR stubble and the establishment has been fantastic, it is likely I will direct drill all my wheat behind OSR next year.

Lastly, we drilled 200 hectares of winter beans this year, they went in beautifully with the Sabre drill and my first observation when they came up was how even the establishment was, every bean grew.