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A custom-built, eight-row, linkage-mounted precision planter for South Catlins-based ag contractor, Hamish Golden.
A custom-built, eight-row, linkage-mounted precision planter is enabling Hamish Golden, a South Catlins-based ag contractor, to direct-drill a range of forage crops without any loss in accuracy or yield potential.
The unit comprises eight Kinze 3005 row units, each fitted with Ag Leader’s high-tech SureSpeed metering and SureForce downforce regulation systems and mounted to a customdesigned three-point linkage tool bar, with 15 to 20-inch rowing spacing for different crops.
The unit comprises eight Kinze 3005 row units, each fitted with Ag Leader’s high-tech SureSpeed metering and SureForce downforce regulation systems and mounted to a custom-designed three-point linkage tool bar, with 15 to 20-inch rowing spacing for different crops. SureSpeed is an integrated 1.7 or 3-bushel hopper, singulation, metering and powered delivery system that achieves precise seed placement at any operating speed from 2 to 19 km/h, placing the seed in the furrow at the same speed as the tractor. SureForce automatically adjusts the downward or upward pressure in each row unit to maintain a consistent planting depth across varying soil types and planting conditions, using dual-acting hydraulic actuators that produce up to 295kg of downforce and up to 115kg of uplift. Both systems are controlled using the Ag Leader InCommand display, which also controls the tractor’s auto steering system.
The unit was constructed by long-standing friend, Spencer Marshall, who also operates a precision planting business each summer. The machine’s row units were sourced from the US, the SeedCommand equipment from Un Earth Ag in Rotorua and the display and steering systems from Advance Agriculture in Gore.
“All told, the planter cost about $225,000 to construct, excluding labour; more than you’d pay for a conventional planter, but there is nothing like it in the country,” Hamish says.
Finished in mid- November, the planter was immediately put to work planting a 2.7ha swede crop on Hamish’s 400ha family sheep and deer farm. The crop yielded about 20 t/ha, with test runs at speeds of up to 17 km/h achieving the same placement accuracy as the more usual drilling speed of 8 or 9 km/h. Hamish went on to plant 325ha of forage crops across 36 Southland and West Otago farms over a hectic eight-week period last summer.
“To be honest, it was a bit stressful trialling a new machine,” he says. “We have a few issues but two of them were my fault. Everyone held their breath for a few weeks, but the crop emergence was perfect.”
After working in the US, Spencer Marshall returned to NZ just as fodder beet was starting to take off. It had had to be precision planted but as the nearest contractor was 50km away, he saw an opportunity and set up his own contracting business in 2016. Today, Precision Direct Drilling plants more than 800ha of forage crops throughout Southland and West Otago each summer.
After working in the US, Spencer Marshall returned to NZ just as fodder beet was starting to take off. It had had to be precision planted but as the nearest contractor was 50km away, he saw an opportunity and set up his own contracting business in 2016. Today, Precision Direct Drilling plants more than 800ha of forage crops throughout Southland and West Otago each summer.
Spencer notes, “I specifically wanted a trailed machine for greater visibility in front of the tractor, a large hopper and the ability to direct drill a range of crops”.
Once again, each row unit is equipped with Ag Leader’s SureDrive electric drive and SureForce hydraulic downforce systems. SureDrive automatically adjusts the speed of the planter’s existing meter to maintain a constant planting rate around turns and precise end-ofrow shut-off. Each row unit is completely independent in terms of its metering and downforce.
“You can waste a lot of seed, particularly when you’re not working in a nice, squared-shaped paddock, so I estimate I’m easily saving 10% in seed costs for my clients.”
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With the biannual Italian EIMA machinery Expo less than a month away, Case IH has taken out a Technical Evolution award for the Advanced Vehicle Suspension system available on its Optum 360–440 series tractors.
The Advanced Vehicle Suspension system, available on Optum 360, 390, and 440 models, responds to changing conditions, automatically adjusting how the suspension reacts to absorbs shocks and controlling vehicle movement.
In operation, sensors monitor the vibrations transmitted from the tractor chassis to the operator cabin, allowing the system to adjust suspension damping in real time. The control system incorporates key priorities, such as comfort at lower speeds and stability as speed increases, while also reacting to factors such as lower tyre pressures, where the tyres absorb more of the initial shock.
Case IH said as suspension requirements change throughout the working day, as tractors move between the paddock and road transport, the system manages suspension response in the background as tasks, speeds and conditions change, leaving the operator without the need to make manual adjustments.
Richard Hollins, Optum series tractors global product manager, said: “Pioneering technology must earn its place in the working day. Farmers and contractors will judge an investment by what it delivers, including manageable ownership costs, dependable up-time and the versatility to tackle different jobs. With AVS, we are putting intelligent control to work for comfort and stability, without giving the operator another setting to manage.”
Organised by FederUnacoma, the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation, the contest has been part of EIMA since 1986, with the Technical Evolution distinction awarded to products that introduce original improvements to solutions already manufactured or patented.
www.caseih.com
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