The family-founded company Amazone is a household name when it comes to fertiliser spreaders, powered as well as non-powered soil cultivation equipment and seed drills, with the introduction of sprayers in recent years. The German-manufactured brand aims to be up there as a market leader in the plough business after acquiring Vogel and Noot in 2016. Since then, Amazone has worked hard on developing what it believes to be a market-leading range of ploughs. Amazone has three series of ploughs – Hektor (semi-mounted), Cayron (mounted) and Cayros, which is also a mounted series of ploughs. With the Cayros being its latest series introduced and claimed to be a very suitable plough for the Irish market, we decided to investigate what the range has to offer.
The Cayros M, XM, XMS, XS and XS pro mounted reversible ploughs are available in two to six furrows for tractors from 50hp to 380hp. All Cayros ploughs feature, as standard, a stone safety device with shear bolts and a mechanical furrow width adjustment in four steps. As a special option, the Cayros S version is available with a fully automatic hydraulic stone safety device and the Cayros V with hydraulic furrow width adjustment.
Michael Kelly and David Borland.
We joined David Borland of Farmhand as we travelled to the farm of Michael Kelly, Crakenstown Farm, Ratoath, Co Meath, to view Michael’s Cayros series plough, which he recently purchased from Maher Tractor Sales, Dunsaughlin, Co Meath. Michael is a beef, sheep and tillage farmer, growing cereals for his own feed use. He is one of the first Cayros series plough owners in the country.
Similar to tractors, the sky is the limit when spec’ing out a plough to suit particular ground and, more so, the farmer.
Michael opted for the flexible universal Cayros XMS 4 – 850 S plough. This particular plough, with its robust beam and legs, is by no means entry level, and is built for tractors up to 200hp/147kW. Farmhand claims this plough is one of the best suited for the Irish market as it suits the majority of farmers/contractors, not being too big nor too small for the increasing horse power of the tractors in Ireland today. The Cayros XMS 4-850 S comes standard with a 100mm diameter turnover shaft on an adjustable tapered roller bearing with beam dimensions of 150 x 100 x 8mm (12mm wall thickness on five furrows).
Amazone Cayros XMS 4 – 850 S Plough
Michael’s plough features a mechanical furrow width adjustment, with stone protection via standard shearbolt design, along with Amazone’s hydraulic stone release system on each leg, WXL 430 C-Plus bodies (main competitor to KV28 bodies), reversible pointed shares, cross shaft cat 3N with integrated quick-coupling balls, cross-shaft adapter kit to increase lifting height on headlands, G1 grass skimmers, full set of notched disc coulters, full set of tail pieces and a suspended rear rubber depth wheel (600 x 220mm). This combination retails at a price of €28,074, making it competitive on price for a plough of this specification.
Michael was also very impressed with how well the plough packs turned over clay and how even it was
In addition, Amazone offers five different plough bodies, including a slatted mouldboard. From having a chat with Michael, it was clear that he was more than happy with the plough. He expected nothing less from the brand, already owning an Amazone one-pass system that works well for him. Having ploughed roughly 220 acres, it was evident there was minimal wear having dealt with some very hard heavy clay ground. Michael reckons 250 acres and upwards can be achieved on a set of new points. This is due to Amazone’s unique heat treatment plus hardening process. This treatment claims to result in prolonged longevity, high-impact strength, less pulling power required and so reduced fuel consumption. So, in essence, the plough is achieving what Amazone markets as one of the key features of its design. Michael was achieving on average speeds of 6.5km/h at 1400rpm, which he seemed rather satisfied with.
Fully automatic hydraulic stone safety release.
He was impressed with the wide channel width left behind from the Cayros plough after letting it out to 44cm along with the use of WXL 430 C-Plus bodies. It left a channel wide enough to fit tyre sizes such as 600s and 650s. This was a problem Michael faced with his previous plough – the narrower channel meant when he changed his tractor, his wheels were driving on the previous furrow due to the fact they were wider. This left behind a corrugated-like pattern when the field was tilled, even though the plough was set to its maximum width.
Michael was also very impressed with how well the plough packs turned over clay and how even it was, leaving it “nice and tight”, he said. This meant the clay was much easier worked when entering afterwards with his one-pass due to the tractor not sinking into the ploughed ground as much as before. This reduces the load on the tractor, and the amount of fuel used.
To summarise, overall Michael is very impressed with the Amazone Cayros XMS 4 – 850 S, having ploughed in a range of conditions following the tough weather of 2018 so far. The main reasons are the ease of use and how it enters hard ground, its build quality and, most importantly, the quality of work it leaves behind.
Asked what he would improve about the plough, Michael said: “It just needs to be somewhat easier to work on while in the field. There is a range of different bolt sizes which need to be opened when making adjustments, meaning more time is required to do so.”
Features of the Cayros XMS Series plough
The first main feature of the Cayros plough is the optional hydraulic stone release protection system, which is connected to a nitrogen-filled piston accumulator. The hydraulic pressure can be smoothly adjusted from the driver seat, to increase or decrease the pressure required to trigger the release. This claims to consistently guarantee optimum ploughing with greater ease.
When triggered, the plough body pushes a piston into the accumulator via the hydraulic cylinder.
The gas is compressed and automatically returns the body to its initial position after passing the obstacle. This all happens smoothly compared with the abrupt bang of the traditional spring protection systems.
Greater lifting height
To increase the lifting height of the plough, the lower link cross shaft can optionally be provided with an adaptor, which pushes it into a lower position and thus increases ground clearance during lifting, making headland turning easier. This was an option Michael went for when buying his Cayros XMS 4 – 850 S.
Optional lower link cross shaft to increase plough height, a swell as integrated ball system.
An integrated tapered ball design is also included for reinforcement. “That is a great job, simple but effective,” he said.
Mechanical variable width
The standard furrow width adjustment can be altered in four steps by manually pivoting the leg fixing consoles. In this way, the plough can be easily adapted to different applications (soil conditions, tractor, etc).
Mechanical variable width adjustment
When the furrow width is adjusted, all the soil engaging metal and support wheels are also automatically adjusted. No additional correction is necessary. There are four different widths to choose from – 32cm, 36cm, 40cm and 44cm.
Michael is running the plough at the 44cm setting.
Hydraulic Damper
As standard the Cayros plough series come with hydraulic damping with an adjustable shock absorber for guaranteed gentle changeover of the wheel when reversing the plough at the headland.
This shock absorber can be adjusted manually by turning the throttle valve gradually, increasing or decreasing the speed at which the wheel changes over.
Hydraulic wheel damper, included as standard in the Cayros series of ploughs.
The family-founded company Amazone is a household name when it comes to fertiliser spreaders, powered as well as non-powered soil cultivation equipment and seed drills, with the introduction of sprayers in recent years. The German-manufactured brand aims to be up there as a market leader in the plough business after acquiring Vogel and Noot in 2016. Since then, Amazone has worked hard on developing what it believes to be a market-leading range of ploughs. Amazone has three series of ploughs – Hektor (semi-mounted), Cayron (mounted) and Cayros, which is also a mounted series of ploughs. With the Cayros being its latest series introduced and claimed to be a very suitable plough for the Irish market, we decided to investigate what the range has to offer.
The Cayros M, XM, XMS, XS and XS pro mounted reversible ploughs are available in two to six furrows for tractors from 50hp to 380hp. All Cayros ploughs feature, as standard, a stone safety device with shear bolts and a mechanical furrow width adjustment in four steps. As a special option, the Cayros S version is available with a fully automatic hydraulic stone safety device and the Cayros V with hydraulic furrow width adjustment.
Michael Kelly and David Borland.
We joined David Borland of Farmhand as we travelled to the farm of Michael Kelly, Crakenstown Farm, Ratoath, Co Meath, to view Michael’s Cayros series plough, which he recently purchased from Maher Tractor Sales, Dunsaughlin, Co Meath. Michael is a beef, sheep and tillage farmer, growing cereals for his own feed use. He is one of the first Cayros series plough owners in the country.
Similar to tractors, the sky is the limit when spec’ing out a plough to suit particular ground and, more so, the farmer.
Michael opted for the flexible universal Cayros XMS 4 – 850 S plough. This particular plough, with its robust beam and legs, is by no means entry level, and is built for tractors up to 200hp/147kW. Farmhand claims this plough is one of the best suited for the Irish market as it suits the majority of farmers/contractors, not being too big nor too small for the increasing horse power of the tractors in Ireland today. The Cayros XMS 4-850 S comes standard with a 100mm diameter turnover shaft on an adjustable tapered roller bearing with beam dimensions of 150 x 100 x 8mm (12mm wall thickness on five furrows).
Amazone Cayros XMS 4 – 850 S Plough
Michael’s plough features a mechanical furrow width adjustment, with stone protection via standard shearbolt design, along with Amazone’s hydraulic stone release system on each leg, WXL 430 C-Plus bodies (main competitor to KV28 bodies), reversible pointed shares, cross shaft cat 3N with integrated quick-coupling balls, cross-shaft adapter kit to increase lifting height on headlands, G1 grass skimmers, full set of notched disc coulters, full set of tail pieces and a suspended rear rubber depth wheel (600 x 220mm). This combination retails at a price of €28,074, making it competitive on price for a plough of this specification.
Michael was also very impressed with how well the plough packs turned over clay and how even it was
In addition, Amazone offers five different plough bodies, including a slatted mouldboard. From having a chat with Michael, it was clear that he was more than happy with the plough. He expected nothing less from the brand, already owning an Amazone one-pass system that works well for him. Having ploughed roughly 220 acres, it was evident there was minimal wear having dealt with some very hard heavy clay ground. Michael reckons 250 acres and upwards can be achieved on a set of new points. This is due to Amazone’s unique heat treatment plus hardening process. This treatment claims to result in prolonged longevity, high-impact strength, less pulling power required and so reduced fuel consumption. So, in essence, the plough is achieving what Amazone markets as one of the key features of its design. Michael was achieving on average speeds of 6.5km/h at 1400rpm, which he seemed rather satisfied with.
Fully automatic hydraulic stone safety release.
He was impressed with the wide channel width left behind from the Cayros plough after letting it out to 44cm along with the use of WXL 430 C-Plus bodies. It left a channel wide enough to fit tyre sizes such as 600s and 650s. This was a problem Michael faced with his previous plough – the narrower channel meant when he changed his tractor, his wheels were driving on the previous furrow due to the fact they were wider. This left behind a corrugated-like pattern when the field was tilled, even though the plough was set to its maximum width.
Michael was also very impressed with how well the plough packs turned over clay and how even it was, leaving it “nice and tight”, he said. This meant the clay was much easier worked when entering afterwards with his one-pass due to the tractor not sinking into the ploughed ground as much as before. This reduces the load on the tractor, and the amount of fuel used.
To summarise, overall Michael is very impressed with the Amazone Cayros XMS 4 – 850 S, having ploughed in a range of conditions following the tough weather of 2018 so far. The main reasons are the ease of use and how it enters hard ground, its build quality and, most importantly, the quality of work it leaves behind.
Asked what he would improve about the plough, Michael said: “It just needs to be somewhat easier to work on while in the field. There is a range of different bolt sizes which need to be opened when making adjustments, meaning more time is required to do so.”
Features of the Cayros XMS Series plough
The first main feature of the Cayros plough is the optional hydraulic stone release protection system, which is connected to a nitrogen-filled piston accumulator. The hydraulic pressure can be smoothly adjusted from the driver seat, to increase or decrease the pressure required to trigger the release. This claims to consistently guarantee optimum ploughing with greater ease.
When triggered, the plough body pushes a piston into the accumulator via the hydraulic cylinder.
The gas is compressed and automatically returns the body to its initial position after passing the obstacle. This all happens smoothly compared with the abrupt bang of the traditional spring protection systems.
Greater lifting height
To increase the lifting height of the plough, the lower link cross shaft can optionally be provided with an adaptor, which pushes it into a lower position and thus increases ground clearance during lifting, making headland turning easier. This was an option Michael went for when buying his Cayros XMS 4 – 850 S.
Optional lower link cross shaft to increase plough height, a swell as integrated ball system.
An integrated tapered ball design is also included for reinforcement. “That is a great job, simple but effective,” he said.
Mechanical variable width
The standard furrow width adjustment can be altered in four steps by manually pivoting the leg fixing consoles. In this way, the plough can be easily adapted to different applications (soil conditions, tractor, etc).
Mechanical variable width adjustment
When the furrow width is adjusted, all the soil engaging metal and support wheels are also automatically adjusted. No additional correction is necessary. There are four different widths to choose from – 32cm, 36cm, 40cm and 44cm.
Michael is running the plough at the 44cm setting.
Hydraulic Damper
As standard the Cayros plough series come with hydraulic damping with an adjustable shock absorber for guaranteed gentle changeover of the wheel when reversing the plough at the headland.
This shock absorber can be adjusted manually by turning the throttle valve gradually, increasing or decreasing the speed at which the wheel changes over.
Hydraulic wheel damper, included as standard in the Cayros series of ploughs.
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