Quality of planting work provided by the 3m wide mechanical seed drills from Amazone, Pöttinger, Howard, Lemken and Sulky came under the profi test spotlight last month. But other key attributes, such as machine design detail, are important too
Despite the enormous rise in interest in cultivator drills, and the continuing popularity of the power harrow/drill combi, there is still big demand for the relatively simple mounted drill – for several reasons:
■ Power harrows are often used in solo operation
■ The drill can be mounted direct on the tractor without the use of a cultivator beneath
■ A solo mounted drill can work with a range of different cultivators
■ A new mounted seed drill can be purchased to supplement existing tillage equipment
■ Power harrow and drill may be from different makers.
Attachmentto the power harrow
Mounting the drill unit to the power harrow presents very few difficulties either with the rigid-type Amazone system or on the others with their height-adjustable designs. Pöttinger uses one stand while Howard and Sulky both employ the two. But the stands do make the job slightly more time-consuming than it is on the ‘stand-less’ Amazone and Lemken drills. Plus points go to the quickcoupling bar on the Sulky drill.
All the machines’ tramline control electric cables and bout marker hydraulic hoses were long enough, except on the Amazone, which needs an extension. Amazone says it plans to fit a longer electric lead on future machines. There are no hydraulic hoses on the Howard drill, where a convenient linkage system automatically operates the unit’s bout markers on the headland.
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