Practical test: Grégoire Besson Discordon 4.2m DXRV-HD cultivator For the fourth of profi’s detailed one-pass cultivator tests we profile Grégoire Besson’s 4.2m Discordon, which shouldn’t have too much left to prove as it has been around, in various guises, for the past 15 years. Andrew Faulkner assesses how this French stubble buster stacks up against today’s one-pass competition
They think it’s all over. Well, it isn’t. Not for now, at least. Despite the previous predictions of certain industry observers, it would seem that the popularity of onepass soil-loosening cultivators on the UK machinery market remains as high today as it has ever been.
Sales are in the region of 250 units/year, depending on exactly how the term ‘onepass cultivator’ is defined – depth of work etc – and UK interest has been roughly at this level for a number of years now. What has changed, however, is the type of UK farmer who is buying and thus the size of kit that’s being sold. Whereas five years ago, the likes of Grégoire Besson, Simba and Quivogne pretty much had the sector to themselves, pumping out a relatively modest number of monster 4.5m+ units, today’s sales situation has subtly shifted.
In 2007, smaller farms tend to have access to more tractor hp than before – often around the 200hp mark – which means that they can now enlist in this one-pass club, albeit with a newer generation of shallower working cultivator designs in the 3-4m width category.
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