Adding an air seeder to cultivation kit isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. To help get it right here’s some tips from Austrian maker APV, whose kit is widely available in Ireland and the UK
Combining cultivation and seeding in a single pass is a good option when intercropping, undersowing or reseeding, and one way to do it is to team a new air seeder with an existing machine. Whatever combo you have in mind, best results come when seed go in the right place — and for that to happen, your spanky new seeder and its outlets have to be mounted the right way. To see how best to do it, we took notes as APV’s fitters added a PS300 M1 unit to a Väderstad Carrier 540.
Pick a seeder: APV’s options
There’s no shortage of choice, as APV offers tank sizes from 40 to 1,600-litres and some 400 configuration options. Fan drive can be electric or hydraulic, while the seeder’s metering unit needs 12V power. Working widths span 1.0m to 24m; outlet numbers run from one to 32 depending on machine width, and there are four different control panels; fitment can be to existing rear- or front mounted equipment.
It follows that a sound idea is to take advice from your supplier before ordering. Fitting can be done on-farm if you are (or have) a reasonably competent fabricator; the kit’s instructions are fairly comprehensive. And while APV lists optional factory brackets for a wide range of machinery, you’ll have to roll your own for an application not covered.
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