Kverneland has launched a new range of seed drills for the autumn sowing season. The new U-Drill is a trailed seed drill combination and Kverneland Ireland, based in Kilkenny, will be hosting a series of demonstrations of the machine in the coming weeks.

The first model available in the range is the 6m wide U-Drill 6000 model. Different working width options will be added in the near future, as well as a grain and fertilizer option.

The drill is claimed to incorporate seedbed preparation, levelling, reconsolidation, seeding and pressing in one pass. It is designed for high-speed operation within the range of 10km/h to 18km/h.

The hopper volume is 4,350 litres. The seed is metered via two electric-driven metering units, which offer the possibility of GEO-control for variable rate seeding and half-width shut-off. They are located on either side of the hopper for ease of calibration.

The new drill has a headland management system that requires one double-acting valve to operate. This is the first drill from Kverneland with fully programmable headland control where everything is controlled from the Isomatch Tellus screen or the tractor’s own terminal.

One button initiates the headland sequence with the wheels, discs and coulter bar all capable of being set up to operate in timed stages.

The drill is built around a modular, central-frame concept. At the front, 800mm wheel packers level out the soil and break clods. This row of packer wheels can be lifted out of operation by a switch on the Isomatch Tellus terminal if not needed.

Following this are two rows of 450mm diameter conical discs, taken from the existing Kverneland Qualidisc cultivator. These are set at 125mm spacings. Depth adjustment of the discs is from the tractor cab. This is followed by an offset 900mm wheel packer.

Kverneland is using the new CD coulter in the drill. The company claims that this coulter requires less pressure to penetrate the soil, leaving more of the 100kg coulter pressure to be transferred to the depth and guidance wheels for better seed-to-soil contact.

Kuhn enters the strip till market

Kuhn Farm Machinery will be introducing its Striger still tillage machine this autumn for Irish and British farmers.

The machine will be demonstrated in Britain at the Tillage Live event, which takes place at Down Ampney Airfield, Gloucestershire, on Wednesday 10 September.

Kuhn believes that the latest strip tillage techniques are being met with increasing levels of interest from maize and oilseed rape growers.

It claims that strip tillage machines can deliver improved crop establishment while also reducing diesel usage and saving time during the busy cultivation and seeding seasons.

Kuhn claims that strip tillage techniques can reduce diesel usage by up to 80% compared with traditional ploughing techniques, or by 50% compared with normal min-till cultivation. And in a further claim, Duncan McLeish of Kuhn Farm Machinery believes that strip tillage can also reduce the time spent cultivating by up to 70% compared with ploughing and 50% compared with min-till.

Kuhn’s Striger strip tillage machine cultivates a narrow strip of soil into which seed can be directly drilled. It uses a row of opening discs to cut through stubble and surface residue which is then removed by a star-shaped trash remover. A tine, double-discs and tamping wheel follow to the seedbed, either side of which sits what is claimed to be a protective layer of surface mulch.

The Striger is available in six- to 12-row versions on either a 4.4m or 6m folding frame and as four- or six-row versions on a 3m frame, with the working components of each row adjustable from 45cm to 80cm to suit field conditions and to match seed drills such as Kuhn’s Maxima 2 precision drill.

The entry sterling prices plus VAT for the Striger drills start at £14,915 for the 3m unit with four rows and rise to £42,107 for the 6m wide drill fitted with 12 rows. Irish Kuhn agents are Cork Machines Ltd, WW Doherty Ltd of Adare and DS Logan of Ballymena.