Drill's precision metering system offers farmers more choice

This is said to give farmers a choice of metering technologies that allows the machine to be individually adapted to the requirements of the farm.

There are five models – the CV CX, SV, SX and RV – offering 6 to 36 row configurations. In addition to the new metering systems, the machine features a new clamping profile for easy row adjustment.

Having run AirVac and AirSpeed metering systems on development machines, the company reports that farmers were impressed by the simple handling, reliable singulation and the precision placement and embedding of all seeds.

AirVac uses a vacuum for reliable singulation and high precision at sowing speeds of up to 12km/h, offering flexibility in a wide variety of crops and range of sowing conditions. This enables the sowing window to be extended in wet seasons.

AirSpeed uses overpressure for precise singulation, giving perfect plant spacing at high operational speeds. It also offers consistent embedding of the grain by means of a shot system and catching roller for maximum power and efficiency.

Both systems can be used in crops including maize, sugar beet, sunflower, soya and rape. The goal is to handle other seeds such as beans and peas in the future.

The scraper assembly does not need to be adjusted or changed between crops. It only requires a swap to the correct metering disc, therefore reducing seed handling considerably. A grain sensor provides information about the singulation accuracy in both electrically driven systems, while technologies like SectionControl and VariableRate for individual rows can still be used.

A re-engineered seed body delivering higher stability and increased hydraulic coulter pressure is connected to the main frame.  Meanwhile, a new clamping system makes it easy to reconfigure from 12 to 8 rows as required.

Fertiliser is applied via a single disc fertiliser coulter with individual depth control, said to be helpful on heavy, sticky soils. The fertiliser coulter is attached to the row unit, allowing row spacing to be easily adjusted.

Maestro CV and CX models offer working widths of up to 6m and although they feature new technology, the machines are easy to set up with clear design and use of well-proven Horsch components.

Both models can now use a central hopper for seed and fertiliser – known as Main Tank Supply (MTS) – or a large fertiliser hopper and individual seed tanks as with the previous Maestro.

Capacity of the CTS configuration is 3,000 litres for fertiliser and 800 litres for seed. The fert-only central tank set up offers 3,000 litres with 70 litres of seed per row hopper. In addition to the 8- and 12-row versions, a new 9-row version is available. The current Maestro SW will be replaced by the Maestro SV with AirVac (V) metering system and SX with AirSpeed (X) metering systems. These single grain seed drills will be available from 9m to 18m working width with 12 to 36 rows.

www.norwood.co.nz