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EQUIPMENT | SEEDING
BY RON LYSENG
WINNIPEG BUREAU
WAHPETON, N.D. — The Sunflower
9800 Single Disc Drill introduced
by Agco this summer is
designed to work at speed.
“If you don’t have the power to seed
at a minimum of 5.5 m.p.h., then you
need a bigger tractor,” said Mark
Wyrick, global product manager for
Agco-Amity.
He said seven to nine m.p.h. is typical
in fields where rocks are not an
issue. When rocks are an issue, six
m.p.h. is more appropriate.
Seed bounce is not the problem a
person might imagine when running
at those speeds. Wyrick said the 9800,
one of the heaviest drills on the market,
is designed for higher speeds and
to keep the openers at a constant
depth.
It’s called a single disc drill, but
each trailing arm actually carries two
sets of paired discs mounted six
inches apart. There’s a nine inch gap
on the field surface, which is not disturbed,
and then two more sets of
paired discs on the next arm. The patent
refers to it as opposing single
discs.
“I suppose you could also call it a
paired row because the two discs
work in conjunction with one another.
They depend on each other,” said
Wyrick.
“The discs fracture the soil and lift
it. While the soil is lifted, the seed is
placed into the soil. The soil then falls
back over the seed row, preventing
seed and fertilizer from bouncing
out. Speed is an essential part of the
plan.”
Wyrick said the angle of the discs is
critical in lifting the soil and letting it
fall back over the seeds. The concept,
which was engineered and patented
in Australia, is aimed at dry regions
where farmers want an absolute
minimum of soil disturbance, he
added.
The disc on the left side throws soil
to the right side, and a distinct line in
the field delineates where the disc
travelled. The field to the left of this
disc is undisturbed.
The same action is repeated with
the disc on the right side throwing
soil to the left. The field surface to the
right, outside the seed zone, is left
untouched.
Amity Technology thought the drill
would be a good fit for drier regions of
North America.
It bought the patents and now
manufactures the drill in the Agco-
Amity joint venture factory in Wahpeton,
N.D.
Amity field tested 25 units in 2008,
fine tuning the geometry of the discs
to suit heavy clay soil.
The discs have what amounts to five
degrees toe-out. The leading edges of
the two discs at the nine o’clock position
are farther apart than the trailing
edges at the three o’clock position.
The pair of discs are six inches
apart, and their action creates a six
inch wide cultivated seedbed for two
rows of seed.
The discs also have three degrees
positive camber, so the bottoms of
the discs at the six o’clock position are
closer to each other in the soil than
they are at the 12 o’clock position.
“You can run granular fertilizer
with the seed or you can add an
optional mid-row bander for any
form of nitrogen fertilizer,” said
Wyrick.
“The mid-row disc is mounted
ahead of and centred between each
pair of discs. So you have nitrogen
down the middle with a seed row
three inches off to each side.”
Most drills run the gauge wheel
next to or close to the opener, but the
9800 packer tires do double duty.
They pack the seed row and hold the
discs at the precise seeding depth set
by the operator.
Locating packers on the trailing
arm well behind the opener allows
dirt coming off the discs to flow back
to cover seeds without interference.
This design reduces the amount of
crop residue tucking into the seed
trench, eliminates sidewall compaction
and leaves a six inch wide
strip of black soil to promote soil
warming.
There are no springs on the trailing
arms. Instead, there is only one
hydraulic cylinder for each arm.
Depth control collars on those cylinders
hold the frame at the correct
height.
The discs seed shallower as the
frame rises and deeper as the frame
lowers. Seed depth goes from zero to
three inches.
Down pressure adjustment is onthe-go
from the cab. A display panel
in the cab allows the operator to
monitor toolbar down force.
The single disc drill was designed to
be simple with a minimum of moving
parts. The design of the trailing arm
eliminates more than 75 percent of
the moving parts normally associated
with conventional single disc
drills.
Two grease zerks on each arm
require service every 25 hours. All
bearings on the discs and packer
hubs require greasing once a year.
“From the start, the Sunflower 9800
PRODUCTION
THE WESTERN PRODUCER | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | DECEMBER 13 , 2012
Agco’s single disc drill runs at higher speeds
Australian design | Heavy, high speed drill enables farmers to seed at 10 m.p.h.
MARK WYRICK
AGCO-AMITY
The Sunflower 9800 Single Disc
Drill behaves more like a paired
row drill. The six inch tilled strip
has two seed rows. The nine inch
undisturbed strip between the
tilled strips remains intact, even
when the drill is running nine
m.p.h. | AGCO PHOTO
The Agco 9800 is one of the heavier machines in the small grains marketplace. It relies on a single disc and
trailing arm design. | AGCO PHOTO
was intended to be a minimal soil
disturbance drill for small grains in
dry areas,” said Wyrick.
The machine is effective in high
residue conditions, he added.
“We sell a lot of them in western
North Dakota and up around Regina
and west from there,” he said.
“Without changing anything, the
drill works equally well in no-till,
minimum-till and conventional tillage
situations.”
Wyrick said the drill is a good match
for the new 9900 series stainless steel
air cart or it can be configured to work
with any other brand of tank.
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It can double chute with anhydrous
ammonia, liquid or granular nitrogen.
The SF 9800 is available in widths
from 30 to 60 feet. Power requirement
is relatively low at seven to nine
horsepower per foot of drill.
For more information, visit www.
sunflowermfg.com.
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