A new electric drive seeder for oilseed rape, grass seed and cover crops has been launched by Spaldings.

Designed for mounting on cultivators, subsoilers, rollers and harrows, the Vento 8 pneumatic seeder is a new model from German manufacturer Lehner. It distributes seed – and also granular herbicides such as Avadex – from up to eight splash-plate outlets across any width to 6m.

The kit comes with a frame for mounting on a subsoiler or cultivator for low-cost sowing of oilseed rape and cover crops, and on rolls or a flexible tine harrow to broadcast grass seed for rejuvenating pasture or to establish a new ley.

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It has a 230-litre steel hopper with seed level sensor and full-width agitator, and the cartridge-type metering roller can be pulled out for cleaning or to reconfigure the cell rings for different seeds and granules. Three cell sizes are available – for oilseed rape, for grass and cover crops, and for granular herbicides – and blank segments can easily be added or removed for different working widths.

The seed rate can be adjusted on the move using a turn-and-click dial on the control box to compensate for cobbly seedbeds and other factors that may affect establishment. Fan speed is adjusted in the same way to suit working width and seed type.

Users can store up to 20 calibration settings for different seeds and granules, and the controller also displays working hours, single job and accumulated area readings, power consumption and supply voltage and an icon that confirms metering roller rotation.

Prices start at £4,975, including the mounting frame, control panel and cabling, 25m of flexible pipe and eight stainless steel broadcasting deflectors.

Dutch Openers

© Spaldings

Spaldings has also added min-till and direct drill coulter points from Canadian manufacturer Dutch Openers to its spare parts list.

The Universal series coulters offer a choice of low-draft points for single- and double-row seeding, band sowing and liquid or solid fertiliser placement.

They can be installed on a number of tine drill makes and models used in the UK and Ireland, with replacement bodies or frogs making it easy to convert to the new points.

Common features include wear-resistant tungsten facing, a prominent leading point for good soil penetration, and a shallow wing angle for low draft. The back of the rear-delivery points is designed to resist being plugged up in wet soils.

Priced from £42.30 to £92.70, each are a 25mm (1in) single-row point; 50mm (2in) and 127mm (5in) band sowing points; and double-row points in 64mm (2.5in), 89mm (3.5in) and 127mm (5in) sizes.

When the liquid or solid fertiliser delivery tubes are attached to the back of the double-row points, fertiliser is placed between and 9.5mm (3/8in) below the seed rows.

A leg conversion for Horsch CO and Sprinter tine drills enables any of the Dutch Universal coulter points to be fitted to these ploughed land or min-till tine drills for sowing into stubbles.