The two tractor dealers supplied all the muscle for the event, plus Richard Vickery’s enormous Case IH Magnum 340, while Kverneland supplied all the equipment. And a lot of it there was.

John Mulhall from Kverneland Ireland explained: “We demonstrated most of the Kverneland Ireland tillage line-up, including conservation tillage equipment such as stubble management tools like the Kverneland CLC cultivator. This is a stubble cultivation tool with 11 legs and two rows of discs. It works 80mm to 100mm (3.5 to four inches) deep and then the two rows of discs come in behind it, mixing and chopping the surface material.”

John claimed that the where there is a lot of compaction in tramlines, the CLC cultivator is a useful tool for re-levelling the soil and taking the tracks out.

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Not the only leggy-cultivator at the demo, attached to Richard Vickery’s Case IH Magnum was the McConnel Discaerator deep leg cultivation tool for potato, cereal and oilseed rape ground. It has two rows of legs working at eight to 20 inches deep, followed by two rows of discs and a packer roller. The 3m machine would normally be fitted with five legs but, for oilseed rape, this is increased to seven legs, according to John Colgan from Kverneland.

The McConnel Discaerator is equipped with a unique leg-protection system. The legs are protected with an air-release breakaway system as opposed to a hydraulic accumulator breakaway system. John claimed that this means all the legs are protected at the same time and can all break-back together if the machine hits a large obstacle. On a seven-leg system with accumulators, if two legs break-back, then the capacity of the accumulators is used up and the other legs are not protected (remain rigid). The theory of this system is that if you hit a big massive object then all the legs can kickback, according to John. The Kverneland Qualidisc, disc or stubble cultivator was also being demonstrated at the event. This machine uses two rows of independently mounted discs, followed by a packer roller. There are a number of packer roller options to suit different conditions.

Power-harrows & drills

On the seed drills and power-harrow side, they showed the folding 6m power-harrow, the F35 with a gearbox rated for up to 350hp. It is the heaviest power-harrow in the range with 60mm down shafts. John claimed that it is ideal for the bigger acreage guys who need to cover ground in a one pass combination.

Kverneland showed a new coulter fitting for the Accord S-Drill, which is the heavy duty version of the DA drill. The new CX2 coulter is a new generation of seed disc from Accord. The original CX disc coulter featured a curved disc and the maximum pressure it could exert on the ground was 25kg (per disc). The new CX2 disc comes with a straight disc and can exert a maximum ground pressure of 35kg per disc unit. John claims that this is better for autumn seeding being able to penetrate the soil better. The press wheels are also standard with the CX2 coulter.

For tougher conditions, Kverneland has the option of the CX Ultra coulter but this can be fitted onto only one model of the 3m mounted drill unit, the Hydra-Pro. John said that the reason for that it that the CX Ultra coulter is linked or anchored to the packer roller. “It can apply a maximum downward pressure of 50kg per coulter,” he said.

Plough body options

There was a variety of Kverneland ploughs at the demo. Kverneland in Ireland is promoting the use of the Kverneland No.28 mouldboard. It claims this leaves a wider furrow using bigger tyres such as 650s and 710s.

“With the No. 8 body, it tends to be at its limit, you could manage with the 650 tyre but anywhere beyond that it’s a problem. The No. 8 body would still be one of our best sellers and the No. 28 is the same mould and shape as the No. 8 body but it’s longer,” said John.

The No. 28 board will fit an existing plough with No. 8 bodies but, for Irish conditions, Kverneland recommend that a second stay to the board is used for extra support in stony Irish conditions.

The firm demonstrated its seven-furrow semi-mounted PG plough on the day which John said is for some of the bigger tillage men doing a lot of ploughing. Its land wheel is positioned two-thirds of the way down the plough which allows the plough to get in closer to the headland, according to John. The Kverneland five-furrow ES 85-200, which was also being demonstrated, is the company’s biggest seller in Ireland, John said.