For all those farmers who wished they’d bought one of the last Concord drills before they were discontinued, here’s some good news. The Concord is back.
Despite the long list of advances in precision seeding technology born here on the Canadian Prairies in the past two decades, there are still many farmers loyal to the old Concord concept.
Many owners think Case pulled the plug too soon on the popular shank drill and say their Concord offered excellent packing and uniform seed germination.
In fairness to CNH, it should be noted the Concord was a monster of a machine to pull down the road in transit mode.
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Once CNH decided to turn Sask-atoon into its seeding centre, it was obvious that the narrow fold Flexi-Coil design would be the basis of all future CNH drills. The Concord became obsolete overnight because of its bulk.
Fargo, North Dakota, was home to the original, so it’s appropriate that Fargo is also home to the newly reincarnated Concord style implement, called simply the Amity Air Till Drill.
Launched in 1996, Amity specializes in tillage and seeding equipment. Wil-Rich developed the revised Concord that Amity acquired.
“Guys really did have an affection for that old Concord drill,” said Jack Oberlander, manager of the seeding division at Amity.
“The new drill we’re building is very similar (to Concord) but it has a very narrow fold. In the transport position, it’s only 21 feet wide, whether you buy the 40, 50 or 60 foot drill.”
The 40 foot drill is a three section frame with a single inner wing, 90 degree folds and manual wing locks.
The 50 and 60 foot drills have a five section frame with flat fold outer wings. The 60 foot drill has a 90 degree fold inner wing. The 50 foot drill has an 85 degree fold inner wing.
“The key factor in the success of the Concord had been the packing system. It had five packers on a walking beam. But on our new drill, every walking beam is independent. Each one is individually sprung, so we have more uniform ground contact.”
Oberlander said each walking strut carries two packer wheels and has its own compression spring. Each strut has an adjustable, replaceable pivot wear bushing and side support washers.
Although the spring tension on each strut can be individually adjusted, he said the factory setting should be good for nearly all conditions. The rear of the drill is supported by the packer wheels when seeding.
The fully pneumatic packer tires are 5.5 inches wide and are the same as those on a Concord. The 26/6.50-15 Stubble Guard Tread tires are an off-the-shelf item from Titan.
A significant change in the tire department is the addition of carrying wheels for transport.
The drill frame now lifts, so the transport wheels instead of the packer wheels support the weight of the machine. The transport wheels have their own dedicated hydraulic system.
Oberlander said the wide seedbed lets producers put all fertilizer down with the seed for a one-pass direct-seeding operation.
All ground opener attachments developed for Concord over the years will fit the new drill, including the dual placement anhydrous knives for putting down all seed and fertilizer in the same pass.
All drills are built with a 10 inch row spacing. With the standard Wil-Rich chisel plow shanks, there is 33 inches of under-frame clearance.
Frame construction is a four-bar setup with four inch lateral frame tubes.
The standard hitch is a heavy duty unit with rigid tongue and Air System hydraulic supply hoses.
Optional disc levelers are available to mount the shanks.
Oberlander said a limited number of drills are available now for fall-seeded crops, and Canadian dealers will have drills delivered this winter.
Depending on the openers and options, the price ranges from $3,000 to $4,000 per foot of width.
The new drill will be on display at the Big Iron Show in Fargo Sept. 9 to 11.
For more information, contact Amity Technology at 701-232-4199 or visit www.amitytech.com.
