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At a recent press camp, the family-owned Lemken Company showcased its latest products and innovations to an audience of 130 international journalists from more than 27 different countries. The venue was the 10,000ha Gsuk family farm in Hungary.
From its plough range, Lemken displayed its mounted Juwel 8 M and MV models, which are available in three- to seven-furrow options. The M means this is a simpler version of the current Juwel 8, with all being done manually as there are no electro hydraulics.
Controlled plough
To cater for the increasing popularity of ISOBUS-controlled ploughs, the new TurnControl Pro system is now available on the market. This system allows all plough adjustments such as working depth, angle, width, front furrow etc to be made from the tractor cab provided the tractor is fitted with load-sensing hydraulics.
Moving to the semi-mounted plough, Lemken showed the Diamant II, which is available in five- to nine-furrow options. The latest version has OptiLine and hydraulic traction increase which Lemken claims is a first in the semi-mounted plough market. This system allows the operator to adjust the plough’s line of draft. The hydraulic traction increase, which consists of a ram that transfers some of the plough’s weight through the top link and on to the tractor’s rear axle, results in less wheel slip and improved efficiency.
Mounted and semi-mounted
On the cultivator, side the Heliodor 9 disc harrow gains 45mm in disc diameter to 510mm, which allows it to work deeper down to a depth of 140mm. The Heliodor is available in mounted and semi-mounted formats with working widths from 2m all the way up to a massive 16m although it is unlikely that we will see a 16m version in Ireland anytime soon. To cater for the increased size and weight, the 8m, 10m, 12m and 16m Heliodors are mounted on to Lemken’s trailed Gigant system carrier, which is able to shift a portion of its weight on to the Heliodor in order to increase disc penetration when cultivating tougher soils.
Lemken still offers the Rubin 12 for customers who require cultivation from a disc harrow to a depth of 20-22cm. The biggest change to this range is that Lemken will have a new 7m wide version on the market for 2017.
Intense soil mix
Lemken also showcased the new 4-7m Karat 12, which is due to replace the Karat 9 in 2017. The main difference between the old and new version is an extra row of tines, four rows instead of three, which reduces the tine spacing from 27-28cm down to 23cm while the working depth range is 5cm to 30cm. The closer tine spacing gives a more intensive soil mix which, according to Lemken, should allow the Karat 12 to compete with disc and tine one-pass outfits from the competition.
Lemken also took the opportunity to show off its new Vega trailed sprayer which will be available with wider, rear-folding aluminium booms from November this year in sizes of 27m, 28m and 30m. The current Vega range of sprayers, which come in 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 litre capacities, are only available with booms up to 24m.
Coming to Ireland next year
The exciting news in the drill range is that the trailed Solitair 25 will be available in Ireland in 2017. The Solitair 25 receives a new plastic 3,000 litre seed hopper which is fitted with a full-width lid for easier filling with big bags. The 25 also has a new vertical seed dosing system and can be fitted with Lemken’s OptiDisc and OptiDisc M double-disc coulters, which was not an option on the previous Solitair 9 model. The Solitair 25 will be available in 4-6m folding units, while 3m, 3.5m and 4m rigid models will follow. The 25 can be paired with Lemken’s full range of power harrows and cultivators, making it a very versatile drill for varying soil conditions.
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