Lemken has two new soil management tools expected to be available next year — a new slurry injection tool and a furrow press mounted to the tractor’s front.
Lemken’s Heliodor compact disc harrow will be compatible with a precision slurry spreader built by Vogelsang DosiMat DMX. The Lemken press release says the resulting combination is ideal for precise low-loss spreading and incorporation of liquid organic fertilizers such as slurry.
“The Heliodor is a sound basis for this type of application, as it is compact and low-draught. It only places a slight additional demand on the tractor’s lifting and traction powers,” says the release.
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The Vogelsang DosiMat DMX is known in Europe for uniform slurry distribution, which is consistent at extremely low and extremely high application rates, according to the release.
The work plan is simple. Slurry is fed into the DosiMat from above. It is mixed inside the device by a rotor equipped with cutting blades.
Fibre and foreign matter are shredded, thus avoiding blockages and enabling a precise volume to be applied according to a prescription map.
The ventilation system has been centralized for more uniform results and a curved plastic cover allows a larger housing volume. The machine can be adjusted without the need to change strainers or other components.
As well, there are fewer hex-head screw plugs so the housing can be opened quickly for easier rotor access.
Next, slurry is pushed into the individual outlets and passes via hoses to the area behind the Heliodor’s first row of discs, where it is injected into the soil.
It is incorporated by the second row of discs and the trailing roller, said Mark VanDeursen in a phone interview. VanDeursen is the Lemken representative for Western Canada.
“It drops the material directly in front of the second disc and it’s covered immediately. It’s a European design. They have very strict criteria for slurry injection. Slurry cannot be broadcast and then incorporated later,” he said, adding that the system with DosiMat works well up to speeds of eight miles per hour.
The flow is precise because the rotor has chopped all solids, straw and bedding such as wood products and even rocks.
The Heliodor DosiMat combo fits with current trends in fertility management. Rising prices for mineral fertilizers are forcing producers to use nutrients stored in their slurry. They are looking for precise application and immediate incorporation with a minimum of nitrogen losses, making the process compliant with water protection requirements.
Monitoring an implement in front of the tractor cab instead of dragging it behind gives an operator more precise control. If ballast is needed at the front of the tractor anyway, it can be done with a working machine rather than dead weight.
There’s also operator neck strain to consider, so looking forward is a benefit.
Lemken considered these factors when it designed its new front-mount furrow press with true tracking, according to a news release. Producers with small to medium-sized fields are looking at front-mount presses for reconsolidation and for ballasting their tractors when working with a three-point hitch and raised seed drill combination.
Lemken is launching an updated VarioPack, with hydraulically adjustable steering that works in hilly terrain or with GPS-controlled tractors. This enables precise pass alignment.
The true-tracking feature reduces driver strain because there’s no need to counter-steer in difficult conditions.
The steering system is preloaded mechanically or with the optional hydraulic cylinder that uses a nitrogen accumulator. This allows the pressure to be adjusted so the furrow press is safely returned to its central position for precise pass alignment.
This is particularly important when working on slopes or to prevent movement caused by a delayed response to the steering of a GPS-controlled tractor.
“When you get into hilly conditions or land where you’re heading down a slope, then the packer gains weight from that forward momentum,” says VanDeursen.
“Even a slight dip on the surface will cause a front-mounted implement to gain weight and push down. But the system senses this and releases some hydraulic pressure. It maintains a uniform down pressure uphill and downhill. It does this automatically.”
VanDeursen says he doesn’t see a fit for the system in broadacre farming on the Prairies. But in British Columbia or eastern Canada, where they do a lot of plowing, he thinks it will suit seeding rigs with a front-mounted VarioPack.
The combination may also be useful for vegetable growers and dairy farmers who depend on high performance forage fields.
“In Europe where they still plow, farmers use the VarioPack as the first tool over a freshly plowed field. It doesn’t pack the lumps down completely, but it does squeeze out the air pockets so you can plant.
“The VarioPack has been around for a long time, but the front-mount will have hydraulic down pressure so it’s capable of more things.”
VanDeursen says everything can mount on one tractor. The VarioPack mounts on the front, and the drill behind the tractor mounts on a three-point hitch, followed by the air cart with seed and fertilizer.
The new VarioPack keeps the time-tested hub-less furrow press design. The first models to be released in 2022 will be a rigid version with working widths up to four metres and a ring diameter of 90 centimetres.
There will also be a folding version with a ring diameter of 70 or 90 centimetres and working widths up to 20 feet.
