North Yorkshire importer KRM has added a twin-hopper model to its range of Spanish-made Sola mechanical box drills.

The introduction of the 3m-wide SD-3115 follows increased demand from growers looking to lay seed and fertiliser simultaneously, in part because of the availability of grant funding – to the tune of 60% of the cost of the machine – through the Farming Equipment and Technology (FETF) fund.

Headline features include a 424/442-litre split tank for the two products, and the option of an extension that ups the capacities to 490 and 510 litres, respectively.

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These feed two separate metering units with dedicated drivelines, the seed shaft using a sliding roller setup that can apparently handle everything from rapeseed to peas and beans.

Underneath are 16 narrow, low-disturbance SM tine coulters, with fertiliser placed directly behind the tungsten coulter tip and seed placed just above it.

These rigid, heavy-duty fitments are identical to those on the SM-P and SM1909 drills and, thanks to their forward angle, they should comfortably work directly into unmoved soil, in lightly disturbed seed-beds and on ploughed ground.

The coulters are set across three rows on a box-section frame, with a stagger of 40cm to encourage trash to flow freely.

Each mounting point incorporates an auto-reset spring to provide some protection from immoveable subterranean obstacles.

They provide an effective spacing of 18.75cm which, says KRM, is just enough to make inter-row mechanical weeding feasible later in the season.

Angled harrow tines follow out back to level and firm the surface, bout markers come as standard, and a basic RDS control box deals with tramlining.

Pre-emergence markers are available as an option.

The retail price of the SD-3115 Grain and Fertiliser is £23,250.