Crop establishment techniques have evolved immensely over the last few years with a huge emphasis now on seed nutrition at drilling time and a change in cultivation intensity to either much less or nothing at all. In light of these trends, Amazone Ltd will be keeping traditional alive by using this year’s Cereals event as the spring-board for all things new in regard to crop establishment. On show at Chrishall Grange in June will be new additions to the drill combination range in the shape of the Centaya-C 3000 Super along with the new shallow tine cultivator, the Cobra 6000-2TX, the Ceus 3000 trailed disc & tine combination cultivator. In the Sprays & Sprayer arena will be the big capacity UX 8601 Super trailed sprayer along with the recently introduced Pantera 4504 and the 3,500 litre wrap around, fully-integrated front and back tank, UF 2002.
Cobra 6000-2TX
The new, intensive shallow tine cultivator comes in working widths of 6 m and 7 m and utilises the standard semi-trailed TX frame format of swivel drawbar and braked, central running gear for perfect weight distribution, tight headland turns and safe, comfortable, high-speed travel on the road.
Consisting of 8 rows of tines at a tine to tine spacing of 13.3 cm, a tip to tip clearance of 80 cm and a frame height of 60 cm, it means that the Cobra is well capable of handling copious amounts of surface crop residues and high forward speeds without fear of blockage. Depth control is carried out utilising the forward-mounted support wheels and the rear packer rollers and this works on a parallelogram-guided system that links the front and back so that the rear rollers, or the optional double harrow, provide an even ground pressure at any working depth. Depth control can be manual or on the move from the tractor seat.
The ECO leaf spring tines can be equipped with a choice of narrow points or duck foot shares depending on the task in hand; when using the duck foot option, the tines have an overlap of nearly 9 cm. Maximum working depth is 13 cm. The Cobra can be specified with any one of 9 rear rollers or the double harrow.
This style of tine and tine layout makes the Cobra the perfect tool for generating weather-proof stale seedbeds ahead of the drill and it leaves the perfect finish and soil structure to adopt a late drilling date policy in a bid to control grass weeds. For seedbed preparation in the spring, the duck foot share leaves the perfect finish and crumb structure for spring-sown row crops and cereals.
Behind the tines, the trailing levelling system ensures a uniform, level finish before the following rollers.
For use in cover crops, the leading knife roller bruises the foliage speeding up the breakdown of the organic matter and presenting the longer stalks in the ideal orientation to be handled by the ECO leaf spring tines. For seedbed preparation, the front Crushboard can be specified as an alternative to knife roller.
Centaya-C Super grain and fertiliser drill combination
Centaya3000-C
The highlight of this new drill combination, the Centaya-C, is its 2,000 litre twin-chamber hopper. This makes it possible to apply several materials in one pass. The new Centaya-C Super is available in working widths of 3, 3.5 and 4 metres.
2,000 litre split twin-chamber hopper
The 2,000 litre twin-chamber hopper can be divided in a ratio of either 60:40 or 70:30 depending on the customer’s requirements. The special profile and the positioning of the metal hopper close to the tractor ensure a low lifting power requirement. This new hopper means that the new Centaya-C Super now offers the option of sowing seed and fertiliser, two different seed varieties or companion and under sown crops in addition to the main cash crop. These are of great benefit for weed suppression and for increasing erosion control and biodiversity. In addition, the simultaneous application of fertiliser is an efficient solution that leads to rapid seedling development and high field emergence. This sowing technique offers farmers and contractors a variety of establishment methods and a high degree of flexibility by the combination of seed and fertiliser. Moreover, fuel and time can be saved through a reduction in the number of passes.
Seeding at up to three different placement points
The Centaya-C Super can be equipped with either the RoTeC pro single disc coulter or the TwinTeC double disc coulter.
The 400 mm RoTeC pro coulter enables the application of two media utilising the single-shoot process. In this case, the individually-metered media are brought together in the single disc coulter and fed to a single entry point using the same conveying system. This enables, for example, fertiliser to be placed directly in the row along with the grain.
In conjunction with the TwinTeC double disc coulter, it is even possible to apply two different seed types or seed and fertiliser at two different entry points utilising the double-shoot process. In this case, the first medium is embedded in the seed furrow via the TwinTeC coulter and the second medium is conveyed to an additional outlet on the TwinTeC coulter via a separate conveyor system and placed in the soil in front of the depth guidance roller. This offset placement means, for instance, that fertiliser can be used precisely, thereby ensuring a more comprehensive supply to the plant.
The Centaya-C Super can also be used in conjunction with the GreenDrill 200 catch crop drill for the simultaneous sowing of catch crops or fine seeds. This combination allows a third material to be applied to the soil surface via baffle plates. In this respect, the seed is fed directly from the 200 litre mounted hopper down to baffle plates behind the seed drill.
QuickLink quick coupling system
The Centaya-C Super harrow-mounted seed drill can be very easily and quickly connected without tools to the various Amazone soil tillage implements via the QuickLink quick coupling system. Depending on the soil conditions, it can be combined with the KE 02 rotary harrow models or the KG and KX rotary cultivators. The Centaya-C Super can also be combined with the CombiDisc compact disc harrow for use on very light soils.
Ceus 3000 disc & tine combination cultivator
Ceus3000TX
Amazone will show the new rigid model of its trailed Ceus disc & tine combination cultivator in 3 m working width. The successful combination of discs and tines can therefore also be used on smaller farm sizes and with tractors from 150 HP.
The new Ceus 3000-TX is equipped with the TX central running gear and offers precision and versatility for both stubble and primary soil tillage, deep loosening and seedbed preparation.The combination of discs and tines means that the Ceus produces a perfect mix at working speeds of up to 15 km/h. Straw, stubble or catch crops are finely shredded by the up-front discs and then, in conjunction with the following tine segment, the organic matter is evenly mixed, even where large quantities prevail. This combination of tools enables the Ceus to create the best conditions for rapid decomposition and excellent field emergence with minimal disease pressure on the following sowing operation.
The functionality in detail
The leading disc element is equipped with large diameter discs which shred the organic matter and leave a fine crumbed soil structure for optimum sowing conditions. The discs are available in smooth and serrated versions and, thanks to the individual suspension, ensure a high level of through-passage and good contour following during their intensive cultivation. The stone release system via rubber spring elements is maintenance-free.
With a tine spacing of 40 cm, the following tine segment reliably incorporates any organic matter, even in large quantities, and is easy to pull while maintaining a high level of through-passage. The depth of the tines can be adjusted down to 30 cm. However, it is also possible to work shallowly, so that the point runs just below the working depth of the disc harrow in wet and heavy conditions. This loosens the horizon and creates a rough structure in the soil, thereby significantly reducing the risk of capping on these types of soil. A selection of different C-Mix shares is available for the tine segment. The extensive range offers the right share for every area of application.
The C-Mix Super tines are equipped with a pressure spring overload safety protection system for high levels of operational reliability, even under the toughest of conditions. As an option, the new C-Mix Ultra tines with automatic overload protection via hydraulic cylinders can also be specified for the Ceus-TX. Here the trip force can be infinitely adjusted up to 800 kg.
The tine segment is followed by a set of levelling tools, which can be equipped with smooth or serrated discs or spring tine levellers from choice. The height and inclination of the side discs can be adjusted separately to ensure optimum match up from bout to bout.
Eleven different rollers and various rear harrows are available for that final reconsolidation. The roller can be removed in particularly wet conditions, e.g. in spring, and work carried out without reconsolidation, so that the loosened soil can dry and warm up more quickly.
The option of hydraulic depth adjustment for optimum adaptation to the respective soil conditions is particularly convenient.
UX 7601 Super – the new long body trailed sprayer range
Out in front of the public for the first time in Britain is the new UX 8601 Super, the largest of the new 8,000 and 9,000 litre, long body, single axle trailed sprayers in boom widths up to 42 m.
For the new models, the chassis and drawbar are formed in one piece and are designed to keep the payload on the axle to within the legal limits by transferring weight from the spray tank onto the tractor rear axle. The targeted weight distribution ensures the tractor has sufficient traction as well as relieving the weight on the axle. The 2.1 m track, 28° steering axle gives tight turning circles and perfect tracking using the AutoTrail system which keeps the sprayer on track, even across slopes.
State-of-the-art operator station
The UX 7601 & 8601 utilise the new wet Amazone system with its Comfort-Pack plus touch-screen control panel and 60 litre, high-capacity induction bowl. The induction bowl has draw-out speeds of up to 200 l/min and will handle powders dry to ensure that the fill time of the sprayer is kept to the bare minimum. The operator experience has been well thought through with every function intuitive so as to be easy to sequence and stress-free. The automated filling processes ensure that the operator is able to maximise the time spraying and reduce the dead-time filling.
A boom ride that can only be dreamt of
The maintenance-free Super-L3 boom, in widths from 30 m up to 42 m, offers the perfect solution to getting the active ingredient to the target. ContourControl boom guidance and SwingStop vibration damping iron out both horizontal and vertical boom movement; and with positive and negative geometry, any acute topography can also be followed at the right height above crop. The boom can be independently-folded to navigate telegraph poles and other obstacles without having to worry about the other boom. Irrespective of how many sections are folded in on one side, the other side stays level and above the target, fold a section in and the section control sorts the nozzle switch off automatically.
The AmaSelect individual nozzle control means savings of up to 5% on the chemical bill as well as reduced lodging and no areas of weed resistance caused by under-dosing.
DirectInject
The UX 8601 Super on the stand will be equipped with the innovative, Agritechnica award-winning DirectInject system.
The DirectInject system has enabled AMAZONE to offer a system of direct injection of plant protection agents which solves, for the first time, the conflicting goals described above. The injection of plant protection agents can be started or stopped during application as required. The special feature of DirectInject compared to conventional systems is the fast response time of the injection process and its complete integration into the spray liquid circuit and operation of the sprayer.
With DirectInject, it is possible to respond individually to the needs of the crop in the field, reducing the usage of plant protection agents as well as the number of additional passes with the sprayer. This saves time, money and protects the environment.
DirectInject consists of an additional 50 l tank with its own metering system, which is integrated into the storage compartment of the UX 01 Super on the right-hand side of the machine. This means that the tank is also easily accessible from the ground and can be filled safely. The integration of these components into the storage compartment also provides optimum protection for all the equipment.
The major advantage of the technology is that DirectInject can work with undiluted plant protection agents. A mechanical agitator ensures that even plant protection agents which tend to separate remain homogeneous.
With many more innovations in precision seeding, fertiliser application, spraying and inversion tillage on the AMAZONE Stand 848 there is also plenty to come and talk about on our usual plot by the Sprays & Sprayers arena.
