Willow Farm Machinery shows new subsoiler

New from Willow Farm Machinery is the Neolab twin bent-leg subsoiler. Developed in partnership with French maker Carre, it gets 600mm legs as standard or optional 700mm legs that the firm says should create more under-beam clearance for travelling over trash. The shear-bolt protected legs are adjustable and the point-to-point distance between the two rows is about six inches longer than rivals’ machines, says Sean Stanfield of Willow. At the back, there’s the choice of either wavy discs or a DD packer. The drill has a Stocks hopper – a combination that was first seen on Carre’s grassland kit earlier this year. Available as a rigid 3-3.5m machine or 4-5m folding version, the smallest has 12 tines and requires 160hp, while the largest needs as much as 260hp.

Dale Drills Eco-Drill

Dale Drills has made several changes to its specialist strip-till drill, ready for the autumn drilling season. Most notably, it’s meant adding an accumulator in the tine hydraulic system, which the company says should maintain an even pressure to the tines. It says this has reduced horsepower requirement by about 8% (120hp should be adequate to pull a 6m Eco-Drill). Other changes include a new curved hopper and more durable parallel linkage bars that allow each pair of tines to follow the contours of the ground. The firm’s range extends from 4-12m and a host of hopper capacities up to 4.5t are available. All drills are capable of supplying seed and fertiliser and the most popular 8m version costs £60,000.

Gregoire Besson Helidisc

The French company’s new Helidisc combination cultivator is available in two configurations to suit different soil types. For light land it has two rows of angled discs on trailing arms, either side of three rows of spring-loaded tines. At the back is a new double press. For those working on heavier land the spring-loaded tines are replaced with deeper working versions. Front and rear discs are hydraulically adjustable and different points can be attached to the tines. The cultivator combo should be available next year.