Cultivator makers are used to having to come up with new designs that will work fast and in a variety of conditions. The latest of these is the Titan Power-Drive from East Yorkshire maker Cultivating Solutions.

This one-pass machine, seen at this week’s Lamma show, uses a combination of deep loosening legs, shallow surface working discs and a profiled packer roller. But what’s unusual is its Power-Drive system.

This uses packer rollers that are driven by internal hydraulic motors powered by a self-contained oil system from a pto-driven pump. They provide assisted drive to the whole tractor/cultivator combination and are said to be aimed at farmers wanting to operate wider cultivators on the same size tractor. Alternatively, they could allow growers to downsize their tractor, saving capital outlay and fuel use.

The Power-Drive packer roller operates through a load-sensing system, with the level of assistance able to be set from the tractor cab. This assistance is constantly applied irrespective of the forward speed of the tractor and works up to a maximum of 18kph forward speed and 100hp additional tractive effort on the 6m model.

Forward speeds of 10-12kph are preferable to achieve the optimum low disturbance loosening, says the company. Farmers wanting to achieve high workrates now have the option of operating wider primary cultivators than previously possible.

Power-Drive models up to 8m working width will be available and they are suited to heavy soil types too. The company says this extra traction also allows wheeled tractors to perform the tasks that normally require a crawler tractor.

Equally, a lighter or lower horsepower tractor can be used and the extra ballast weight typically added to tractors to maximise traction can also be removed. Alternatively, wider cultivators can now be employed using existing tractors where higher work rates are desired for large work loads.

Modern tractors typically provide approximately 70% of available engine horsepower at the drawbar, points out the company, whereas using the pto as well can make up to 90% of engine horsepower available, allowing more efficient use of total power.

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