Amazone at Cereals 2003
Amazone will be exhibiting a range of equipment on stand 747 at Cereals 2003. Some of the newest products to be displayed will include new sizes in the Catros compact disc cultivator range and the AD-P 403 Special seed drill.
Following the successful introduction of the Catros 6000 compact disc cultivator to the UK market, Amazone has launched a number of new working widths - both rigid and foldable. The foldable Catros is now available in working widths of 4m, 5m and 6m; all fold to 3m width for transport. In addition, there are rigid versions with working widths of 3 and 4m.
The Catros is designed for both shallow mulching in of green manure crops and also seedbed preparation. The fast working of stubble provides intensive mixing of soil tillage to shallow depths which means that volunteer grain and weed seeds will germinate quickly. Additionally, plant residues and green manure crops help protect the soil against erosion and capping.
The Catros consists of two gangs of concave discs and a rear wedge ring roller. The front and rear disc gangs are diagonally opposite to ensure intensive mixing of soil and plant residues. Each gang incorporates maintenance-free rubber sprung mountings allowing contour following to ensure accurate working depths and to prevent damage in the event of an obstruction.
The rear mounted wedge ring roller with a diameter of 580mm controls the working depth of the Catros; this can be adjusted effortlessly without tools. The roller re-consolidates the soil in strips, preserving soil structure and ensuring moisture retention.
The Catros features a three-point linkage mounting, making it extremely compact and manoeuvrable - ideal for fast working on small plots as well as large areas and substantially reducing headland compaction problems. Compared with conventional cultivators, the Catros is capable of faster working speeds and demands lower fuel consumption by the tractor. Another benefit to the farmer is that the Catros can be folded from the tractor seat.
Also on display will be Amazone's new 4m version of the AD-P Special pneumatic pack top seed drill - the AD-P 403 Special. As with the 3m version - the AD-P 303 Special, the 403 with its 750 litres seed box capacity (1000 l as an option) is mounted onto the soil tillage implement using a universal coupling triangle. This considerably simplifies the mounting onto other manufacturers' soil tillage implements.
The 4 m ‘Till and Drill’ combination consists of an active soil tillage machine, roller and coulter unit. The soil tillage is used in conjunction with either the KE 403 rotary harrow for working after the plough or the KG 403 rotary cultivator, which allows an entry into a plough-less seedbed preparation ideal for mulch drilling.
The packer roller is crucial to the performance of any sowing combination and hence the AD-P 403 Special can be equipped with either 600mm diameter steel packer or a 580mm wedge ring roller. These ‘In-line’ rollers, of a deliberately large diameter to prevent ‘sledging’, run in front of the coulters re-consolidating the soil and activating the capillary water draw system up to the sowing area. The re-consolidated soil provides uniform conditions for the coulter and thus ensures a smooth run and an accurate depth control of the coulter. The roller is designed to create strips of consolidated soil directly ahead of the coulter, which then place the seed into a firm, level surface. This ensures seed soil contact and the perfect growing environment free of slug damage. The soil between the rings is left unconsolidated to provide the necessary loose soil for the following harrow to cover the seed. This loose, upper soil area not only prevents capping and increases moisture retention but more importantly when used in conjunction with a mulch drilling technique gives the soil surface a chance to ‘breath’. This aids aerobic exchange to create the ideal medium for speeding up crop residue breakdown, reducing disease carry over - especially Fusarium - into the following crop.
Amazone offers either the proven WS Suffolk coulter, with it’s bolt on coulter tip, or the RoTeC disc coulter for use in heavy difficult drilling or where surface straw residues are present. This general trend towards seedbeds with incorporated straw makes the RoTeC coulter with it’s 32cm diameter stainless steel disc, a cast seed guide and with up to 38kg of down force, the ideal coulter system for creating the perfect straw free seed placement furrow to ensure the best possible germination.
The ‘Vario’ gearbox in combination with the patented staggered fluted metering system meters seed rates accurately from 2 kg to 400 kg. The translucent distributor head is located outside the seed box to allow the continuous monitoring of the seed flow from the tractor cab. When creating tramlines the surplus of seed is returned to the seed box by means of the return to tank system. Easy cleaning of the seed box is ensured as all seed guide hoses are placed outside the seed box. This is of particular convenience when wanting to change the seed variety. The blower fan can be driven either mechanically by PTO or hydraulically and the centre bout markers hydraulically fold to the vertical.
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For Further Press Information:
Paul Brook
Freestyle Marketing Communications Ltd
Tel: (0115) 985 6954 Fax: (0115) 985 6955
E-mail: paul@freestyleuk.com