Amazone's latest D9 3000 3m mechanical drill, seen here mounted on an Amazone power harrow..
Amazone has launched a new range of D9 linkage-mounted mechanical seed drills and AD Pack Top seed drills.
The machines are characterised by their modern design and have a new model designation, where the X000 name stands for the relevant working width.
Both series include models in working widths of 2.5m, 3.0m, 3.5m and 4.0m; Special versions have the standard seed capacity whereas the Super version offers a larger hopper volume.
The most important innovation of the 000 series is the Roller Drill System (RDS) with the new RoTeC Control coulters and the new Roller harrow. RDS ensures a precise seed placement, even at higher forward speeds. Also new is the possibility to specify the machine with a coulter spacing of 16.6cm.
The focus of RDS is the philosophy of provifing precise rolling, precise sowing and flexible embedding. Amazone has perfectly matched the functionality of the wedge ring roller with the RoTeC Control disc coulters and then either the Exact following or Roller harrow.
 | The new AD 3000 Super
Pack Top seed drill with RDS Roller Drill System, consisting of wedge
ring roller, RoTeC Control disc coulters and roller harrow. |
Initially, the rings of the wedge ring roller reconsolidate the soil in strips where the seed furrow will be and into this smooth groove, the following RoTeC Control disc coulters travel extremely smoothly, creating a very precise furrow prior to embedding the seed into that reconsolidated furrow bottom.
The coulters are followed by either the Roller harrow or the Exact following harrow which cover the seed with loose soil or, in addition, where the Roller harrow is used, to press the soil over the top. The pressure on the roller harrow can be adjusted independently of the coulter pressure or, if necessary, the roller harrow can even be raised out of the way completely.
The special advantage of the RoTeC Control sowing coulters is the Control 10 depth guidance disc with a 10mm or Control 25 with its 25mm contact areas, fitted on the side of each sowing coulter. These discs, running directly next to the sowing coulters, ensure a more noticeably precise depth guidance compared with other coulter systems that are fitted with a firmly fixed depth guidance roller.
 | The RoTeC Control coulter fitted with the Control 25 depth guidance roller with 25 mm contact area. |
With a coulter pressure of up to 35kg, the actual effective coulter pressure is higher in comparison because the pressure is not split between the depth guidance roller and coulter, but is applied exclusively to the coulter. For rape sowing, or drilling cereals early in dry conditions, operating with less coulter pressure is possible without any problem.
In addition, all the models have been equipped with larger, more comfortable steps, wider loading boards and an optimised harrow retainer and adjustment system. Ease of operation has once again been noticeably improved.
As is already possible with the current series, the new seed drills can be combined with different soil tillage implements, following rollers and coulter systems to optimise the specification that suits the individual demands of different farming situations. For instance, the rotary harrow and the tooth packer roller with WS Suffolk coulters form a superb combination for sowing after the plough. For mulch sowing, however, the combination of rotary cultivator, wedge ring roller together with the newly designed RDS is recommended.
For more information visit: www.amazone.co.uk.
