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The Grass Land Loosener is designed to alleviate compaction in the soil.
Distributed in New Zealand by Carrfields, Grange Farm Machinery is based in the Holderness region of East Yorkshire – an area known for heavy, claybased soils that need to be shown respect and careful management.
Over the last decade or so, the company has developed and manufactured a range of products that cover many aspects of soil and pasture management, including the Low Disturbance Loosener (LDL), Close Coupled Toolbars (CCT), The Strip Till Preparator, Heavy-Duty Track Eradicators and The Tine Drill Toolbar.
Here in NZ, Grange is gaining interest with a derivative of LDL, the Grass Land Loosener (GLL), which is available in 3m, 4m & 6m working widths, fitted with low disturbance loosening legs, allowing up to 300mm working depth, with a leg spacing of 500mm.
The GLL is designed to alleviate compaction in the soil, shattering and removing the plough pan to improve drainage and allow air into the soil whilst carefully managing minimal damage to the valuable sward.
The low disturbance legs and points provide a full width lift with minimal surface disturbance, aided by a forward-mounted cutting disc element that enhances the loosening element of the leg and eliminates the surface tension, thus reducing soil boiling in front of the leg, and easing the flow of any trash through the machine.
The linkage-mounted main frame is lifted and lowered into work on the tractor link arms, while front discs are controlled hydraulically to offer a good range of cutting depth according to surface conditions and to aid trash flow. The rearward packer is easily adjusted on a pin system and can simply be detached when not required by removing two bolts.
Carrfields reports that the machines are proving popular with direct drilling operators who want to lift and loosen the soil structure without disturbing the surface and creating another pass prior to drilling. The machine offers the versatility in loosening at full width with a packer of choice to enable a level weather-proof finish.
The LDL has been designed after listening to farmers who are experiencing compaction at depths of 6”- 8”, with the machine able to be used to lift at full width at depths of up to 12”, typically straight after combining to remove the compaction pan.
It has also become apparent that farmers are experiencing poor crop establishment and growth due to the compaction generated from increasingly heavy machinery traffic and rainfall, so Grange has added the option of easily converting the machine to become a Track Eradicator that can be specifically used to straddle tramlines for loosening purposes.
Options for the range include shear bolt or hydraulic reset on the loosener legs, hydraulically actuated front cutting discs for easy use in trash, a rear hitch kit or the option of substituting the packer and fitting a rear hitch to pull other implements.
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