Big Boys big capacity
Big Boys big capacity
STANDEN Engineering has adapted its Big Boy planter to enable the high seed rates required by growers of salad potatoes to be achieved.
Designated the Goliath, the two-row trailed planter has a 3500kg capacity hopper and employs four rows of cups to feed two openers, an arrangement which doubles the planting rates.
Designed to sow four lines of seed in a single bed (Quad system), the planter is said to be capable of planting up to 10ha a day (25 acres).
Seed can be sown at up to 25cm (10in) centres and from 10cm to 70cm (4in to 27in) spacings.
Seed spacings and seed rates, says Standen, are maintained irrespective of any changes in forward speed of the planter. A constant supply of seed for the cups from the hopper is achieved by conveyor belts which are activated automatically when more seed is required.
Specification includes a hydraulically adjustable drawbar and a steerable rear axle.
Priced in the low £20k mark, Standen says it aims to put out 20 to 30 machines next year. *
The new Goliath planter from Standen Engineering is designed for growers wanting to sow at high seed rates for salad potato production.