Best-known in Irish machinery circles for its grassland equipment, Pöttinger has been manufacturing a range of tillage equipment since 1975. This venture was first initiated when Pöttinger purchased the Landsberg plough. Here, we take a look at the company’s latest innovations on the tillage side of the business.

Plough

The plough still plays a pivotal role on many farms in Ireland. Pöttinger recently introduced the new mounted Servo 45 M series, which will sit in between the smaller Servo 35S and the larger 45S. The latest ploughs have been developed for the 140hp to 240hp class. These mounted reversible ploughs will be available in four-, five- and six-furrow models. The ploughs are all offered as “Plus”, which includes hydraulic furrow width adjustment.

The four- and five-furrow models will be offered as “Nova” and “Nova Plus” versions. The Nova models will have hydraulic trip legs and a triggering pressure of 1,900kg. This hydraulic overload protection of the trip leg system offers an adjustable triggering to protect the plough.

The new series is available with an inter-body spacing of 95cm or 102cm and an under-beam clearance of either 80cm or 90cm as an option. It also has less moving parts, all of which are now spring protected.

Unlike previous Pöttinger ploughs, the alignment cylinder on the new series has no memory function. Instead, it uses a simple sequence, which Pöttinger claims is more reliable.

Traction

Pöttinger says that its traction control expansion module enables the weight of the plough to be transferred to the tractor. As a result, Pöttinger says there is no need for ballast weight on the rear wheels of the tractor. The weight applied to the rear axle of the tractor is infinitely variable and can be adjusted hydraulically between 600kg and 1,500kg without leaving the cab.

The 46W body on the Servo 45M means that it is suitable for tractors with 710 tyres. The plough has a higher headstock with four-fold adjustable through axles and four top-link positions.

Servomatic

The 45M is equipped with the Servomatic control centre. It makes matching the plough to the tractor easier, with no fine adjustment needed.

The furrow width of the first body and pulling point can be adjusted individually without affecting each of the other furrows. With the Servo Plus, hydraulic furrow width adjustment guarantees synchronisation of the first furrow width and the pulling point.

On the Plus and Nova Plus versions, an optional hydraulic frame pivoting system is available, which Pöttinger recommends for the five- and six-furrow ploughs. This allows for a tighter rotation funnel for higher ground clearance when reversing, and a lower load on tractor and plough.

The turnover shaft on the headstock of the Servo 45M has a diameter of 130mm while the beam link is a casting, rather than being welded. Pöttinger claims that this new design from the headstock to the reversing unit and plough beam tube increases the bending resistance by up to 25%.

The new plough series has a reduced number of greasing points in comparison to the previous series. The replaceable bar points now feature armouring as standard. The ploughs are available with a selection of mouldboards, from short turning to long drawn-out furrow bodies to slatted mouldboards.

Multiline

Pöttinger’s Multiline concept combines either the disc harrow or stubble cultivator with a seed drill, while both machines can also be used individually. These machines are available in working widths of 3m and 4m and come with Pöttinger’s new tyre packer. The tyre packer is used to raise the combination drill through a double-acting remote valve, raising to a ground clearance of 27cm.

Either the Vitasem or Aerosem seed drills can be attached or detached to the disc harrow or stubble cultivator.

Terrasem fertiliser and seed drill

The Terrasem drill offers direct fertilisation for the precision application of fertiliser and seed in a single pass. The Terrasem is equipped with Pöttinger’s new intelligent distribution system (IDS).

This features a seed return system using a patented funnel system back into the air stream. IDS allows each coulter pipe to be switched individually, which automatically reduces the seed rate in the metering system during tramlining and half-width drilling. The excess seed is then returned to the riser tube via a funnel system.

Fertiliser is applied on the Terrasem using the Dual-Disc coulter. This method involves depositing fertiliser between each double row using the coulters on the disc harrow integrated into the Terrasem seed drill. The placement depth of the fertiliser can be adjusted independently of cultivating and sowing depth.

Terradisc 8001T/10001T

Although Ireland will most likely never be a big market for Pöttinger’s new 8m and 10m disc harrows, it’s worth mentioning that it is one of the first Isobus-compatible disc harrows on the market. Pöttinger is using the new Expert 75 Isobus terminal, a touchscreen terminal with a scroll wheel that can be used with all Isobus-compatible machines.

The Terradisc offers a choice of working depths from 5cm to 15cm. It uses a twin-arm system, where two forged carrier arms are welded to the clamping bracket.