The Horsch DS/D 4 double-disc drill debuted in the UK at the recent Cereals ’98 event (profi 8/98). Here we concentrate on the DS/D 4’s smaller sibling, the 3m wide DS/D 3, and put to the test its impressive claims for low-cost, high-output planting.
Horsch has traditionally built its machines big – from the massive Terra-Trac three- and five-wheeler tractors to its 9m wide, prairie-style seeders. Big machines for big farms. But from 1997 that all changed, with the company looking to take its designs down into the larger volume sectors and attract sales from smaller farmers. A typical example of this scaling-down policy is the 3m wide DS/D 3 double-disc coulter drill, featured here.
Soon after it was launched we tested the DS/D 3 and its distinctive cultivator unit with double-disc coulters. The standard DS/D cultivation unit comprises ground-driven rotary harrows carried on four shafts, which are arranged in an X-configuration. Working depth is set from the cab via two hydraulic rams. In addition, the angle of both leading shafts can be altered by setting screws where the individual shafts are spring-suspended from the frame to give a trailing action and to provide protection against most impacts.
