Grain and oilseeds growers – as well as contractors – operating in smaller fields and across fewer hectares are being catered for by 3m and 4m rigid-frame additions to Horizon Agriculture’s DSX no-till disc drill line-up.

A 105-140hp tractor should be sufficient to achieve outputs of up to 2.5ha an hour, reckons Horizon.

See also: Direct drills revisited: 6m Sly/Horizon Boss

The small trailed units mirror their bigger siblings in being available with a choice of four row spacings from 167-250mm and the ability to apply fertiliser along with the seed as standard.

At the core of all Horizon DSX trailed and MDSX mounted drills is a row unit comprising a parallelogram linkage with hydraulic pressure control and a single “undercut” opening disc.

Sowing depth is regulated by a wheel positioned in line with the seed boot, and individual coulter arm lock-up allows for wide row placement and the ability to sow an inter-row companion crop.

Tank configurations

The new 3m and 4m machines can have a fully integrated 250-litre hopper for small seeds or micro-granular products located between the pressurised 1,700- and 2,100-litre main tanks – the latter expanded to 2,300-litres without the supplementary container.

Liquid fertiliser can be applied from an optional 750-litre tank mounted over the 560mm or 750mm wide transport wheels positioned right at the back of the drill.

These new variants follow the introduction of up to 9m versions of both the DSX and MDSX (the latter a toolbar unit working with a front-mounted hopper) and revised row units that are both narrower and lighter than before, are attached to a stronger profiled toolbar, and have self-adjusting, more wear-resistant seed boots.