The boss at home is looking at getting some min till cultivation equipement for an 1100 acre arable enterprise. However he doesnt want to go much about 190hp with the tractor as that would then mean investing in a larger drill etc. We currently plough all the land fairly heavy clays, running a TM175 with a 6 furrow + cracker following with a couple of passes with a simba double press with leading ripper tines (pulled by a TM 155) and then putting the drill back on the 175 a KRM 4m powerharrow combi. Any ideas what machines could work with only a slight increase in Hp. Personally i dont see why they cant invest in something like a 5.5m top-down and vaderstad rapid drill or simba free flow and then hire a challenger in over the autumn to pull them in 2 passes (maybe 3 if the top down needs another pass). Anyone got any ideas?

Can I ask why you dont go straight in behing the plough with the krm ?

Have done in the past but it slows the drill down alot. Also doesnt work well if the soil is too dry at time of drilling and if it was wet during ploughing then the cracker will just slit the furrow rather than breaking it apart thus leaving large lumps that the power harrow drill cant cope with.

If its heavy clay then going straight in with the combi will probably not make a great job and really wear your metal. For 190hp, you could manage a 3leg subsoiler and some type of disc based kit like a topdown (?), or just a simple set of discs and trailed press. A lot will depend on your rotation and trash management, for example a long rotation with pulses, rape, linseed, wheat and barley will be a lot easier to manage than continuous wheat. Also depend on you giving up the plough or not, as to get the full benefits you want the plough in the nettles! A rotation of wheat,barley,rape,wheat,linseed - taking the barley straw off, and you can avoid plouging full stop.

Personally I would ditch the tractor and invest in a 250hp crawler to do the work as you have the acres to justify a small machine. Then a 5 leg subsoiler would do the job too and you could use it to put the rape in, and beans if you want. If you do choose to put winter or spring beans in with a cultivator then you could easily have a 6 crop rotation which would let you grow some colossal wheats!

Freeflow or a 4m disc drill will be well matched. Again, a lot depends on your view of trash management IMHO.

train, i know what you mean, it takes my heavy clay 3 days after ploughing to become dry enough to cultivate.(at best) sometimes i power harrow and leave it for another day.

I have just drilled a field ploughed  on 15 oct. it has taken till now to dry out, that is dry enough to power harrow/drill,just, it certainly aint dry.

it looks like the somme on the endriggs, struggling over the straw swathes still unbaled.

On your acreage I would not hesitate to buy a 3m Sumo Trio and put it on a 200hp tractor. It could sow all your oilseed rape and prepare the seedbeds for the wheat. A new one costs about £15,000 and you can take the discs off it and use it as just a subsolier if required. It can be upgraded at a later date to fit a drill to it for wheat but this will only work on lighter soils.

John Barton - formerly known as Bartonhallfarm but I cant log in for some reason.

totally agree with that. we have just bought a trio for the same jobs,inc sowing cereals.

i can hire you a claas challenger for back end work if you like too.

Hi I have read your message with interest.

You can do all you wish to do and not spend a great deal of money.

I offer consultancy service's to farmers who have successfully done what you are describing above.

If I can help then please give me a call. The first phone call is free!

regards

Steve

01452 862686

Sorry gave wrong number!

01452 862696