The Cereals event in the UK last month displayed a huge selection of tillage farming equipment. While the grain prices remain volatile, there was some interest in the bigger kits on show.
With problems of black-grass reported here, manufacturers seem to be focusing on direct drills to tackle the problem.
New Holland launched the Dual Stream header, designed for CR and CX combines.
The header features a secondary knife system mounted on rollers at the rear, designed to cut the stubble separately and reduce the amount of material going through the combine, increasing capacity.
Output
The company suggests that it can boost output by an average of 15%, with 25% possible in UK conditions. Using a reciprocating knife originally designed to cut reedbeds, the system is said to use just 6hp, and will be available for the company’s 7.6m, 9.1m, 10.4m and 12.5m (25ft, 30ft, 34ft and 41ft) headers in 2016.
New Holland’s combine specialist Nigel Honeyman points out that the Dual Stream should allow operators to use a wider header on the same size combine harvester, giving extra capacity at lower cost.
It can also be retrofitted to existing combines, without modification on CR models.
A number of updates have been made to Amazone’s AD-P combination drill, which represent 25% of the small drill market.
The lower and wider hopper now has a capacity of 850 or 1,250 litres, and a new fan is operated by 21 litres/min oil flow for lower fuel consumption.
Now available in electric-drive only, speed sensing is via radar/GPS or from an ISO socket with direct drive metering for simplicity.
Extra support
The AD-P can be fitted with Amazone’s new RoTec+ coulter, which has extra support to counter side forces. It uses a single disc for improved soil flow and there is a new cracker disc roller option for the power harrow.
A remote terminal on the drill allows calibration without returning to the tractor.
Amazone also reports increased interest in the placement of autumn P at drilling, and it showed a grain/fertiliser version of the AD-P Super.
MDT showed the new Wile soil compaction tester, a manually operated probe, which uses a pressure gauge to indicate the level of compaction at a range up to 400mm deep. An adjustable collar on the probe allows the required depth to be set, and the unit is priced at £185, excluding VAT.
Pöttinger teamed the production version of the Aerosem 3002D drill with a non-powered Fox 300D disc cultivator – interchangeable with the Lion power harrow as the season progresses. The Fox cultivator offers a high-speed, low-wear and low-power requirement when conditions are suitable, Pöttinger points out.
Available in basic or variable-rate seeding versions, the Aerosem drill can be fitted with a Suffolk, single- or double-disc coulter.
The working widths are 3m, 3.5m and 4m and the close-coupled design reduces tractor lift requirement.
Precision drilling
Pöttinger reports that the drill has also been successfully used for precision drilling of maize and sunflowers using a seed slot former and firming roller integrated into the Dualdisc coulter.
While many might consider a coulter-only drilling system to be a step backwards compared with cultivator-type drills, Lemken says that the minimal disturbance its Solitair 12 affords will go some way in preventing black grass germination while drilling.
Available in 8m, 10m and 12m working widths, the latest Solitair model offers eight-seed metering systems and distribution heads.
Lemken says that this IsoBus-ready drill can be combined with GPS to provide automatic section control and start/stop for its eight equally spaced sections.
Sophistication extends to GPS tramlining too.
After an A-B line has been entered, the drill will automatically install tramlines at the desired spacing, avoiding the need to reset the tramline mechanism when dealing with field obstacles.
Equipped with a 5,800-litre seed hopper, the Solitair 12 is priced at £115,000, excluding VAT.
Kverneland showed a new design of depth wheel for its 150B, 150B Variwidth, 150S, ES and LS ploughs.
Double-depth
The double-depth wheel system, available in steel and rubber tyre formats, avoids the need for any turnover and damping mechanisms.
Its location has been brought forward from the rear of the plough beam, placing the wheel within the working width of the plough, making it easier to plough headlands, says the firm.
A pin lock affords depth adjustment in 19mm increments.
Aimed at black grass management, the front-mounted Dal-Bo tined harrow can be combined with a trailed set of rolls to scratch its way through stubbles while spreading chaff, to encourage weed seeds to grow. The 6m wide harrow is available in a basic two-row tine configuration or more extensive four-row format, with machine weight shared between the castor-type front guide wheel and the tractor’s front linkage.
With hydraulic folding for transport, the Frontstrigle 600 is priced from £9,075, excluding VAT.
Claydon used Cereals to show off its 8m Hybrid T drill – a big brother to the firm’s 6m model. Clearly aimed at those with big fields and lots of horsepower, the 8T weighs about 11t and needs a minimum of 450hp. It can work direct into stubbles or on min-till seedbeds.
This drill, costing £99,950 excluding VAT, boasts a 5,500-litre capacity seed hopper with a 60:40 split for those seeking to apply fertiliser with seed. A five-camera monitoring system, LED work lights, half-width shut-off and a single point of depth control for its five wheels are features of this latest drilling leviathan.
Spaldings has developed a mobile weighbridge which offers static, pallet and dynamic weighing – the latter weighing while the vehicle is driven over it, suggested by the company to be ideal for satellite grain stores, etc.
A key fob system allows the unit to be programmed to record weights against a vehicle registration, fleet number or type of load and the data shown on the control panel can be printed off or downloaded via an SD card. A wall-mounted digital readout can be added to inform the driver of the weight. Up to 10,000kg per axle can be weighed, and the weighbridge can be used on any surface and moved between sites in a truck bed or trailer or installed permanently in a concrete pad.
It is priced at £6,595, excluding VAT.
Interest in power-harrow drill combinations is again gathering pace, says Horsch, which used Cereals to show its Pronto 6KR – a trailed, 6m combination.
Replacement
Based on the existing Pronto, but using a Kuhn power harrow to replace tine and disc cultivation elements, the 6KR’s trailed configuration and 2,800-litre seed hopper affords weight transfer through the drawbar, on to the tractor.
With the link arm height set, raising and lowering the unit on headlands is achieved through the chassis’ rear wheels.
Needing a tractor of about 240hp to operate, this version – complete with cracker packer – is priced from £91,410, excluding VAT.
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