Trivett and Sons’ tine toolbar drill has been highly commended.

After battling several challenging autumn campaigns, Lawrence Trivett, brother Alistair and dad Andrew decided to rethink their drilling fleet.

That meant offloading their underperforming 6m Amazone combination, which struggled to bury seed on the heaviest clay ground and couldn’t be easily split up to use the power harrow or front hopper separately.

See also: Tine Toolbar Drill outperforms trailed discs in the wet – and dry

In its place came a Horsch Avatar SL with accompanying Partner FT2000 twin-compartment front tank, and a 6m Kuhn HR power harrow sporting a rear three-point linkage.

Reluctant to commit too heavily to a no-till system, they hatched a plan to build a versatile toolbar that could be mounted behind the power harrow as a combi setup or used alone as a lightweight tine drill.

Onto the split-fold frame went three banks of JJ Metcalfe legs, their generous 176mm row spacing allowing enough room to maintain steady trash flow through what is a relatively short implement.

Behind them comes the Trivetts’ heavy-duty take on Amazone’s HD harrow.

The V-shaped splays are made of Hardox, and the intention is to fit carbide strips to the outer edges where they get the most wear.

Distribution system

Seed and fertiliser from the front hopper is transferred along tractor side pipes with quick-release fittings to a pair of Horsch distribution heads that allow for half-width shut-off.

They also bought tramlining kits for each side and accommodated a central mounting plate for a MiniDrill, which can be bolted on to apply Avadex or slug pellets via rear spreader plates.

Total expenditure was £17,000, excluding the power harrow and front tank.

As well as being cheaper than a ready-made alternative, it gives the Warwickshire-based contracting operation the option of parting all the elements for use independently or marrying them to form a combination drill when conditions allow.