“In order to conserve moisture and the structure of our light soils, we don’t use the plough,” says Christian Odinga. “But we do have a problem with a hard pan at a depth of 40cm to 50cm, which prevents plants getting their roots down any deeper.”
To break through this pan, the farm runs an Agrisem Combiplow subsoiler. The 3.0m machine has four auto-reset legs that can be used down to 60cm depth. Christian wanted to operate the Cultiplow with his trailed Horsch Pronto 3DC drill in tow, so the local Agrisem dealer fabricated a coupler to go between cultivator and drill.
A laser cutter was used for the holes in the four 20mm thick plates. The plates were then welded vertically to the frame for the roller. The lower link arms were also cut from 20mm the headland, the hydraulic
panel, lower links and the crumbler swing in towards the legs to bring the weight closer to the tractor. For this reason, the hydraulic panel is connected to a top link to keep it parallel. The ISObus cable was long enough, so runs directly from the tractor to the drill.
“Our Fendt 936 is struggling when pulling the combination at 8km/hr, but we have noticed better growth both in maize after a break crop and in winter cereals, as the plants are not saturated in winter and the roots can get down deeper.”
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