Friday, 05 April 2024 09:55

Amazing Amazone drill - 75 years and counting

Written by  Mark Daniel
Amazone’s no-till drill. Amazone’s no-till drill.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the first Amazone seed drill – the 2m wide horse-drawn D1 launched in 1949.

Over the ensuing years, milestones have included the launch of the first seed drill combination, the RE reciprocating harrow carrying the D4 drill, in 1967. Indeed, this concept was so successful the company continues to produce thousands of drills each year that are mounted to PTO-driven KE rotary harrows and KG cultivators, or the non-powered CombiDisc.

In 1970 the company opened the Hude production facility in Oldenburg, Germany as a dedicated factory for drill and harrow production, employing experienced metalworkers who had been laid off in the collapse of the ship building industry in Northern Germany. The Hude facility continues to produce drill and harrow components, although assembly has moved to the nearby to the 18-line facility at Altmoorhausen.

Further highlights from the 1970s include the first commercially produced drill to offer a tramline system, the D7, while in the same era the EV Garant opened the door to 9m solo seeding and a 3m transport width, alongside the arrival of the NoTill drill as direct drilling became increasingly popular.

Eventually, the NT was replaced by the Primera which retained the same chisel opener principle but incorporated hydraulic folding and pneumatic seed conveyance.

Introduced in the 1990s, Airstar pneumatic seeders used a centralised metering system alongside a distribution head, feeding individual coulters via an air flow from the on-board fan. This offered the ability to completely empty the hopper, making it ideal for OSR and other small seeds where keeping a box drill covered over the full seeding width often resulted in large residues.

The introduction of pneumatic distribution systems also led to wider trailed drill working widths, such as on the Airstar Xact, and as farms continued to increase in area and min-till systems became popular, the larger tank capacity of the trailed Cirrus cultivator drill helped increase daily outputs.

The 250,000th seed drill left the factory in November 2019.

More like this

Tractor to help budding farmers

Jeff Farm is a 2433ha property near Gore, owned and run by the Salvation Army since the early 1950s after it was gifted by farmer Edmund Jeff, with the stipulation it be "used to train young people with a passion for agriculture, who would not otherwise have such a career option" - for a career in the New Zealand agricultural industry.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

BA Pumps expand

Cambridge based BA Pumps & Sprayers, specialists in New Zealand-made spraying equipment, has acquired Tokoroa Engineering’s product range, including the iconic Milk Bar mobile calf feeder products, alongside calf and feed trailers.

Entries open for innovation award

Fieldays and its renowned Innovation Awards are celebrating their 57th year, marking a longstanding tradition in the agricultural calendar, with the latter delivering a platform for problem-solvers to showcase their innovation to the primary industries.

Mounting kit helps with accurate metering, spreading

StocksAg has introduced a mounting kit to fit its Turbo Jet 8 or 10 units to pneumatic trailed SKY EasyDrills, allowing separate metering and accurate application of products like Avadex through an additional set of outlets behind the drill’s press wheel.

Featured

Massey Research Field Day attracts huge interest

More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

Boost for hort exports

The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.

National

OSPRI's costly software upgrade

Animal disease management agency OSPRI has announced sweeping governance changes as it seeks to recover from the expensive failure of…

Machinery & Products

BA Pumps expand

Cambridge based BA Pumps & Sprayers, specialists in New Zealand-made spraying equipment, has acquired Tokoroa Engineering’s product range, including the…

Entries open for innovation award

Fieldays and its renowned Innovation Awards are celebrating their 57th year, marking a longstanding tradition in the agricultural calendar, with…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

Not fair

OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter