The new 580 bushel air carts from the Case New Holland plant in Saskatoon are intended to keep pace with the increasingly larger drills found on more farms.
Big drills are not efficient without support from big carts, anhydrous tanks and liquid tanks. The new carts are intended to meet that need, with a 150 bushel larger capacity than previous CNH carts.
The red 3580 and the blue P1070 carts have three powder-coated steel compartments. The front tank holds 135 bushels, the middle tank holds 183 bushels and the rear tank holds 262 bushels.
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“The only way a big drill can be efficient is if you keep it running,” said Sheldon Gerspacher, New Holland marketing manager for crop production in Saskatoon.
“A 70 foot drill with a 300 bushel cart is not efficient. You’re always stopping to fill.”
Gerspacher said it’s important to match the cart to the drill. Once that pairing is optimized, the next step is to match the tractor to the combination. All three factors should balance.
The optimal drill/cart/tractor combination is especially critical with crops that have a narrow seeding window and in more northerly areas where the seeding window for all crops is narrow. He adds that horsepower should not be overlooked.
“With the challenging seeding conditions we had this spring, a lot of producers needed more horsepower. Bigger tractors are the next step for a lot of producers.”
Although there are carts on the market that carry more than 580 bushels, sales numbers are not high.
Gerspacher said the most popular size on the Canadian Prairies seems to be the 500 to 600 bushel category.
Even with the wet conditions this spring, he said the new 580 bushel carts were manageable because of their big tires. All four tires are the same size and the axles carry equal weight. The front pair are the steering tires.
Designing a bigger cart always starts with the tires and progresses up from there to the axles, hubs, bearings and undercarriage, said Gerspacher.
“To begin, you make sure you have enough flotation to support the target weight of the loaded cart.
“We had five New Holland carts out in the field this spring across the three prairie provinces. Although it was extremely wet in most areas, we did not encounter any issues with flotation.”
Both new carts use the 50 series downdraft metering system employed on previous Flexi-Coil carts and now available on all CNH carts.
This system divides product into equal sections for each primary line. Air and product are mixed in a parallel flow for smooth transition from meter box to distribution system. According to CNH, the system allows the operator to put down high rates of product without slowing down.
The back of the carts features a large staircase for safe operator access to the top hatches for filling and inspection. A 10 inch auger is standard.
Optional features include a rear hitch for towing additional trailing units and ultrasonic bin depth sensors. These give the operator simple fuel-type gauges to keep an eye on bin levels. All electronic systems are ISO 11783 compliant and can be controlled and monitored from the tractor cab.
The Case 3580 and the New Holland P1070 carry a suggested list price of $135,000.
