Contractor loves tempo planter
RK Flint Contracting, at Ngatea, Hauraki Plains, has been running a Vaderstad Tempo F8 precision planter since September.
The machine, developed over five years, was launched last week at Agritechnica, Hanover. Production will begin early next year.
The Tempo design stems from the largest research and development project the Swedish family-run business has ever done, says the New Zealand distributor. The result is "one the most of innovative seeders of recent times."
Vaderstad says maize, corn and sunflower differ from grain in the way they achieve optimum yield potential: the seeds need to be planted at only 8-10/m2, evenly spaced and at a specific depth for optimal emergence. This the Tempo does with great precision, the maker says.
"We see enormous opportunities in Hungary, Ukraine, France, Germany and Russia", says Lars Thylén at Väderstad. "Countless" field trials were done there. New Zealand buyers are also likely to appreciate the results of this exhaustive testing and development, the company says.
To minimise vibration at high outputs (created by high forward speed) the row unit is designed with trailing gauge wheels, connected to a walking tandem. This ensures a smooth ride of the row unit and thereby a true depth precision of the seeds. To ensure optimal seed-to-soil contact the row unit has a press wheel directly after the seed tube.
A Vaderstad designer, Gert Gilstring, says the new metering and delivery system supports pressurised seed transport, making the planter insensitive to slope, vibration and speed.
Earlier this year a Ukrainian farmer, Sergei Doktorov, planted 333ha of corn and 110ha of soybeans with the Tempo. The planter's capacity made it possible to plant 120ha of corn in one day.
A CB Norwood (i.e. Vaderstad) Globetrotters tour in July visited the farmer's operation two hours south of Kiev and the group saw for themselves the results of these planting trials. Even at high speed the seeding operation was promising, the company says.
Doktorov had been curious about how the Tempo would cope with speed and accuracy. The seed depth placement was on average 5.2 cm and the variation less than +/- 0.3 cm. "The result was far above our expectations", says Doktorov.
Tel. 06 356 4920
www.vaderstad.co.nz
www.vaderstad.com/tempo
