 | Earthway 1001-B Precision Garden Seeder with 6 Seed Plates |
| List Price: | $119.99 |
| Price: | $89.55 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
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Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
31 new or used available from $84.00
Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #632 in Home Improvement
- Brand: EarthWay
- Model: 1001-B
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.88" h x 7.52" w x 27.31" l, 22.50 pounds
Features
- Garden seeder designed for easy, efficient, effective planting
- Automatically spaces seeds at ideal intervals
- Tough, weather-resistant construction; assembly required
- Includes 6 seed plates
- Available seed plates for separate purchase
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Product Description
The Earthway Precision garden seeder provides a more efficient way to seed large vegetable gardens and flower beds The seeder comes with six standard seed plates for seeding sweet corn, bean, peas, carrots, beets, and radishes: install the appropriate plate, and it will automatically space seeds at the ideal length. It also opens, closes, and packs the soil, and even marks the next row ahead of time. The seeder is made from tough, weather-resistant materials for years of trouble-free operation. Assembly is required. Additional seed plates are available for purchase separately.
Amazon.com Review
If you're looking for a more efficient way to seed a large vegetable garden or flower bed, consider the Precision Garden Seeder from Earthway Products. The seeder comes with six standard seed plates: install the appropriate plate, and it will automatically space seeds at the ideal length. It also opens, closes, and packs the soil, and even marks the next row ahead of time. Note: assembly is not for the faint of heart and requires at least 20 minutes with a few basic tools to complete.
Customer Reviews
Almost more of a specialty tool
While this is a good tool on the whole -- and not too expensive either -- it still isn't for every gardener nor for every purpose in the garden. To remove all doubt, perhaps it should not go without saying that this is not a tool for making hills for melons, squash, or zukes. It will not help you with transplants such as tomatoes, nor will it handle seed potatoes. No, this seeder is for rows of things like beans and corn, and in these cases it shines. I still think, however, that you have to be planting a pretty big garden to make it worth your time to set-up the Earthway seeder, learn to use it, store it, and maintain it.
On the pro side, for instance, I used my new Earthway seeder to plant more than 700 row-feet of popcorn. Wow! The Earthway seeder practically paid for itself that day, since it allowed me to plant the entire plot in less than 45 minutes and with no bending over! I also used it to plant plots of field corn, beans, and beets.
Here are my notes, for what they're worth:
1.) Have freshly tilled, fine, debris-free soil. It is difficult to push the seeder through crusted soil or anything with too many lumps in it, and you won't get those perfectly straight rows if you're struggling just to move forward. Also, too much surface trash will be a problem for the little chain that drags behind and covers the seed. Hint: do "dry runs" with the seeder at the proper depth, but without seed in the bin. This will give you a sense of how well it's going to work before you commit your seed, and it helps to mark your rows in advance too.
2.) Have enough seed, and watch the seed plate closely as it turns. If the seed bin gets low, the pockets in the seed plates will often fail to scoop up the seeds in a regular fashion. You'll end up with a lot of skips. Of course, if you're not buying your seed at least ¼ pound at a time, I'm not sure why you'd want this tool anyhow.
3.) Select your seed plate carefully, and if needed test it with the seed before use. (Attach a plastic bag under the seeder or something.) For example, I had a limited quantity of small soup beans. I popped in the bean plate and made two rows. Before the end of the second row, however, I was out of seed, which should not have been the case. I didn't figure this out till after the seeds sprouted: that seed plate scooped up those small beans two at a time and double-planted the first row, leaving insufficient seed for the second row.
4.) If you are considering the Fert-A-Ply attachment for the seeder, re-think that. I did not realize till the attachment arrived that I could not use it at the same time as I planted -- meaning that it took re-configuring the seeder and another full set of passes to apply an amendment to my rows. Also, the construction and the few moving parts of the attachment are extremely chintzy. I could not get mine adjusted well and used quite a bit more expensive material than I intended.
5.) The assumption for the Earthway seeder is that your seed is dry. If you like to soak your seeds before planting, or if you want to wet-innoculate things like green beans before planting, I don't think this is the tool for those cases.
6.) I have not tried the seeder with pelleted seeds of any kind, but I bet it would work well for that. Again, pick your seed plate carefully.
7.) Of course, straight rows are an advantage for mechanized cultivation equipment in your garden or even for zipping through the rows with a wheel hoe or high-wheel cultivator. Even if you're not obsessive about straight rows, however, this seeder still can be a time- and back-saver.
I hope this helps you to make a more informed choice.
Not What I Expected 
I have a fairly big garden, so I decided to make my life a little easier next spring, and thus I bought this seeder. However, so far, it's not what I thought I would be getting as far as a truly precision planter is concerned. The seeds dropped irratically and/or popped out of the bin because the plates would bind up then suddenly spring loose. I used different sized plates trying to find that exact match with the same results. I contacted the factory by email (their response was very quick) and was told to use bee's wax and soap to make it work correctly. For the price of the unit, I expected something with less "after-market engineering" required by me to make it funtion as advertised. I refuse to admit defeat, so I'm keeping it and will continue to practice with it until spring. If it or I don't get better, I know where you can get a used one cheap next summer!
Too awesome for words!
First of all, I'm a gardener from way back. I helped my mom weed her flowers when I was still in the womb. I love garden gadgets and all things bliss-enhancing. When I was a teenager my grandfather bought the first incarnation of the Earthway Precision Garden Seeder and it was love at first shove. Not only does it plow the furrow, it plants the seeds at a precise depth and covers them up, it also marks the next row for you so that your garden doesn't sprout into a psychadelic homage to 1970's acid waves. I love, love, love this little jigger! It clogs from time to time, but if you're watching every perfect little seed get tucked away neatly into it's new earthly bed, you'll catch it before you have to re-plant the entire garden. What took my father and me 2 hours last year to do by hand, we did in under 15 mintues using this little gem. An entire garden planted in 15 minutes! And not only that, but we hand-sowed a 1/4 acre plot of corn in under 25 mintues, stopping to pass off and admire the absolute fantastical spectacle of it all as it was happening. LOVE this thing!
