Soil sampling from your ATV
17 March 2000
Soil sampling from your ATV
FOFAR-based dealer Campmuir, used Precision Farming 2000 to launch its Danish-built soil sampler – the Wintex 1000.
Designed for use with ATVs with a minimum of 250cc capacity, the Wintex 1000 is designed to take soil samples from a depth of up to 30cm (12in).
Power for the soil sampler is taken directly from the ATVs crankshaft and transmitted to a hydraulic pump via a belt drive. The pump powers a double acting ram through solenoid-operated spool valves which extend and retract a soil probe.
On the downward stroke – the probe – is fed into a sleeve and rotated to provide a boring action into the ground. For sampling hard soils, hydraulic ram pressure can be controlled to prevent the ATV being lifted off the ground.
Campmuir claims the probe with plain cutting edge enables a completely uniform soil sample to be taken, unlike an auger which is only capable of sampling the top soil.
The Wintex 1000 is designed to work with most types of GPS controllers, and is capable of taking up to 25 batches of 16 core samples an hour, according to field directions given from a prescribed soil map.
Claimed to work within an accuracy of 1m to 2m, the Wintex 1000 is priced at £4995 with hydraulic pump, tubes, fittings and electrical switches. *
The Wintex 1000 soil sampler from Campuir is designed to take soil samples from a 30cm (12in) depth.