Farms & Farm Machinery #389

REVIEW
7
7. Plenty of technology in-cab for accurate
results
8. Individual coulter travel in action, thanks
to hydraulic rams working in unison
9. The disc angle is really some out of the
box thinking
Specifications
Controls RDS iSOCAN controls with GPS
forward speed monitoring
Transport 3m
Width
Other Two row coulter bar with a
row spacing of 166mm; LED
work, tank and road lights;
tank sieve; rollover hopper
cover; Mitas flotation tyres;
GPS forward speed sensor;
volumetric metering unit ;
closed circuit hydraulic coulter
suspension; 6 Ply 4.00–8 Kevlar
shield pneumatic press wheel;
ergonomic hopper access steps
with built-in toolbox; 166mm
Coulter row spacing; large
capacity hydraulically driven fan
with oil cooler; Cat III Linkage
mounted drawbar; electric
switching system for headland
management
Pros
Individual hydraulic coulter pressure
Low disturbance coulters reduce opportunity
for weeds and faster grazing
Disc angle and pivoting coulter allows it to
contour follow exceptionally well
Clever New Zealand-designed transport wheel
contour following
Large hopper with three distribution metering
systems
RDS variable rate control
Half-width drilling
Two-point linkage meaning great turning circle
even with duals
Up to 300kg coulter pressure
Low draft requirements
Cons
Coulters need to be manually sucked in before
transport (to take under three metres). If not on
the road this is not necessary
A step around the rear of the drill would make
loading the fertiliser bin easier
SEED HOPPER AND METERING
The large hopper holding 5,000 litres can either be seed only
or have a 50/50 seed/fertiliser split. A small additional seedbox
was also incorporated in the test machine. In this case, three
individual metering units supply different products to the coulter
where they are mixed in the seed tube as it enters the ground.
The seed and fertiliser are 40 per cent more capacious than the
Accord metering system it’s based on, while the small seed unit
uses the standard Accord system. Accord has a reputation for
unreal accuracy combined with stainless steel components for
longevity. The RDS Full Artemis controls is the in-cab controller
with GPS speed reading. Each individual metering unit gives
variable rate application on the move.
The test machine was also equipped with an electronically
controlled actuator, which allows half-width drilling, where 50
per cent of the distribution head cutting off seed supply (or
seed, fertiliser and small seeds) to half of the machine width to
8
9
reduce overlap or at headlands. This, along with the hydraulic
diverter for folding the machine, is mounted on a separate
controller under the RDS display.
Other features of the tank worth mentioning are the large steps
at the front with integrated toolbox. The rollover cover is one
piece and easy to unfold, although, like most European drills, it’s
set up for loading with a telehandler.
Loading ferttiliser into the back tank could be niggly, as there’s
no real way to untie the fertiliser bag from the walkway. Easy
inspection holes on the side of the hopper by the distribution
heads makes for easy serviceability, as does the amount of room
under the seed hoppers for bulk unloading and calibration.
Fitted with a Cat III linkage mounted drawbar, this allows for
tight headland manoeuvres even with duals. The hydraulic
folding coulter bar maintains transport widths of under three
metres on all models, although, this requires all coulters to be
sucked in manually before transport.
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