German power curb
German power curb
GERMAN drill maker Horsch claims to have answered criticisms of high horsepower requirements for cultivator drills with its pneumatic CO/P 6.25, 6m (20ft) trailed machine.
The key, says the firm, is in the coulter design. By using one coulter to plant two rows – a Y-shaped splitter is positioned inside the coulter – Horsch reckons to have cut the power requirement from 190hp to 150hp.
"Using the Duet coulter to split seed distribution means we can still achieve a 12.5cm row spacing, but from half the coulters," explains Stephen Burcham, the firms technical sales engineer. "The drill has only 25 coulters and staggered in two rows, provides good clearance for trash."
"Its a design that reduces the power requirement and allows working speeds of up to 15km an hour to be achieved."
Developed for drilling into ploughed land, the new drill uses a combination of levelling tine boards and coulters to achieve a level seed-bed.
At the rear of the drill, a staggered row of tyre packers firms up behind the coulters.
Hopper capacity is 2500 litres, the weight of which is shared between the towing tractor and a set of castor wheels. This keeps the weight off the coulter frame and also means only the coulter frame is lifted when making headland turns.
Its Duet coulter system also carries a tube to enable liquid fertiliser to be placed behind the coulter point.
Prices start at £34,000 including tramlining equipment.