They had for some time been looking at a Horsch drill owned by a neighbour, seeing it well-built and doing a “great job”, says C B Norwood Distributors.
And because the Rathgens could find nothing better, two years ago they bought a Horsch Pronto DC6 drill from Johnson Gluyas Tractors, Washdyke. One year later they bought a Horsch Terrano MT4 cultivator.
It had been taking them five passes to prepare a paddock for cereals. Now with the Horsch cultivator and drill, it is down to three and Nigel thinks two may be enough. Depending on the crop, some paddocks are now done with a single pass and drill.
All their cropping – about 800ha – is for seed: grass, brassica and cereals. “We needed to get our seed crops into the ground faster,” says Nigel, “The new gear cuts down our work by at least a quarter.”
The Horsch Terrano MT4 cultivator is 4.0 m wide with two rows of discs, two rows of tines and levelling discs. It’s designed for heavy soils, important to the Rathgens on their compacted sedimentary Claremont soils with poor drainage.
“The tines rip down to about 250mm, while the discs work the top 50mm. That means they’re improving drainage but not bringing up the subsoil to mix with the aerobic top layer.”
Nigel also owns a grubber that he uses to break up turf. This year they spread mulched straw in some paddocks rather than bale it, and the grubber wouldn’t go through it, but with its high clearance the Terrano did. “We did two passes with the Horsch cultivator and then drilled. The second pass really buried the trash.”
Nigel had had problems working dry ground. Not anymore. “We bought a block this year that was bone dry and had no work done for years. The Terrano worked it and sold itself on that. “It leaves a good level seedbed and it is well made. I’m impressed with how well it is built. It would take a dumb driver running into something to break it.”
Nigel pulls the Horsch Terrano with a Case IH MX230.
The Horsch Pronto DC6 drill is quite different from the Rathgen’s old drill. It is bigger and fully computerised. Nigel soon got his head around the computer. The drill consists of two sets of discs, then packers, openers, rollers and fingers on the back to cover up. The front discs can be set for different depths and Nigel usually only works the top one to 50mm.
The rows are spaced at 150mm, with variable depth. It has a seed box for small seeds, which Nigel is considering using for carrots, because it can accurately deliver low rates. “The Pronto drill is easy to calibrate. You weigh the seed as it goes through the rotor and it’s calibrated.”
The drill is said to take no more than 30 seconds to go from transport mode to operating mode, and it is done with the push of a button and pull of a lever. The computer tells the driver what range of speeds is possible. Nigel says 12-14km/h works best. He pulls it with a 200hp tractor.
“On the flat you’d get away with something lighter but we need the power because our land is hilly and you need the speed or it doesn’t finish properly.”
Tel. 06 356 4920
www.horsch.co.nz
