Flexibility is the word that sums up why father and sons farming team PJ, Declan and James Davis are happy with their Amazone Cirrus pneumatic seed drill.

They have the machine since the autumn of 2012 and are happy that it gives them the flexibility to handle a range of crops and ground conditions.

The Davis family farm an extensive acreage of wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape crops on their home farm at Kilberry, between Monasterevin and Athy, as well as on a number of farms some distance away.

Ground condition will vary across the farms and it’s useful to have a seeder that gives them flexibility to sow after tilling in the traditional way, as well as minimum tillage sowing.

“We sowed some Einstein wheat around the yard in Kilberry last autumn with the Cirrus, following three runs of a disc harrow, with no ploughing and we are very happy with the condition of the crops today,” said Declan.

“The ground got one run of the disc to encourage greening up, followed by two subsequent runs before we went in with the Cirrus. The coulter settings were lower but, other than that, there was little need to make any other adjustments,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean that we will get rid of the plough,” added PJ. “That situation was unique last year and the dry conditions allowed us to use the minimum tillage approach to good effect, but that mightn’t happen every year and the plough has its place.”

“This approach allowed us to get ahead of the traditional ploughing and tilling operation on the farm,” said Declan, “and it did show us how flexible the machine can be if the conditions are right.”

The 4m-wide drill uses the Amazone RoTeC+ Control coulter system. The main sowing disc coulter is a large 400mm angled disc made of wear-resistant boron steel and, combined with the special furrow former, gives reduced soil movement.

Sowing depth

The depth guidance roller provides the basic setting of the sowing depth at shallow seed drilling by means of adjustment of the coulter pressure.

What Declan likes about the drill is the way that the four-rib pattern special Amazone 400/50 22.5 tyres provide a consolidated area below the seed coulter in advance of the seeding process. These wheels are pumped to 4.3 bar (63psi).

“This gives a firm seedbed into which the seed is sown that’s not too deep or compacted for the seed to emerge and gives an even sowing pattern,” he said.

There are eight wheels in total across the rear of the machine, but ahead of the sowing coulters. Four of the wheels can be lifted hydraulically for transport and for tighter headland turns.

The 16 seeding coulters can be lifted independently to allow the machine to drive through soft spots.

Declan operates the drill at a forward speed of 12km/h, which he feels gives more even sowing and less wear on the machine’s soil-engaging parts. “We have over 1,500 acres sown with the machine so far and there is little sign of heavy wear. We expect that we will sow close to 4,000 acres before we need to replace any of the discs or the coulters, based on our experience to date,” he added.

For the past season, the Amazone Cirrus 4002 was pulled by a relatively new Case IH Puma 160 tractor and it had ample power, said Declan. Before that, they had it on one of the farm’s two Fendt 820 tractors.

“With the Case IH tractor, we will sow about 150 acres or two days’ work on a full 350-litre tank of diesel,” said Declan. “We consider that a reasonably economical rate of work with a machine that has the capacity to sow close to 80 acres per day.”

The Amazone Cirrus, with a list price €85,000 plus VAT, is imported into Ireland by Farmhand. The Davis family bought it through Joe O’Toole Machinery in Tullow, Co Carlow, following a demonstration trial on their farm.