K-Hart has taken a big step forward when it comes to its toolbar offerings with the launch of its Spyder frame.
The Spyder is a complete redesign that offers features unavailable in competitor toolbars.
It uses folding technology that makes the frame take the shape of a spider where the internal wings initiate the fold-up movement and the external wings roll inward with their outside edges staying close to the ground.
“When we fold up, there’s a wheel in the back corner that rotates 90 degrees, and then as the intermediate wings start folding and the outer wings just follow along the ground until it gets to a point where it actually lifts off the ground,” said Ken Parson of K-Hart.
He said he was not aware of competitor frames that used this folding technique, which enables the largest Spider offering to fold down to 17 feet 6 inches wide and 18 feet high for transport.
The 60-foot frame has the same transport width but gets down to a 16-foot transport height.
Growers can choose from 40, 60, 66 and 70 foot toolbar widths. The weights vary from 38,000 pounds for a 40-foot unit to 68,000 lb. for a 74-foot unit.
The Spyder also has a unique row-unit mounting assembly the company calls the clam shell linkage arm that enables the openers on the front rank to move backwards when lowered, while the openers on the back rank move forwards.
“It brings the opener ranks closer together when the openers are lowered into the ground. The reason that you like to do that, is that it decreases the variability in row spacing when you’re turning,” Parson said.
“When you lift them out of the ground they widen apart which gives you access to the openers. So, a human can get down the centre between the openers and access them for whatever you need to do on disk.”
Inter-row fertilizer coulters are available, which can be hydraulically lifted out of the way when not required. A second product distribution system is installed when the coulters are added.
Multiple row spacings are available from 7.5, 9, 10, and 12 inches.
“It does differentiate us a bit from the competition. I think that we’re the only ones that offer that narrower spacing on the larger units,” Parson said.
The Spyder can be set up for either tow-between or tow-behind configurations, and is compatible with all major air cart systems.
An all stainless steel and product distribution system built by Agri Stainless come standard.
“Depends on how many openers you have, but there’s anywhere from 6 to 15 ports, on each manifold,” Parson said.
“We can set them up with as many primary runs as a guy desires. The 40 foot has been set up with six primary runs and the 60 and above are set up with eight primary runs.”
Previous K-Hart frames had one set of wheels in the middle, while the Spyder has been modernized with tires on the front and back of the frame so that it can better follow the ground.
K-Hart said the standard tire package provides the most flotation of any disc drill on the market.
The Spyder can be fit with two styles of openers, the 4612 the company has sold since the mid 2000s, and its 8612 that hit the market a few years ago and is now the company’s primary opener.
“It’s a double disc opener, the discs actually run on an angle to the ground in the direction of travel. So, we call it the undercut because it actually cuts into the soil, lifts a soil flap, and deposits the seed in there,”
The K-Hart Spider frame is built in Winkler, Man., and the 8612 openers are built in Elrose, Sask.
