Extending the sowing window is a major claim for the Progress drill from Sulky, a drill that was over seven years in gestation and is now available here in Ireland.
The ability to work in a wide range of conditions also brings the benefit of versatility when opting for a tillage system. The company claims that it can be used across the whole spectrum, from traditional ploughing to direct drilling.
Farmer input
These features are no accident, for before the engineers put pen to paper, they spent a year talking to farmers about what they were looking for from a drill.
The answer that came through loud and clear was a drill that could be used in all conditions for all systems, and while there are physical limits to what can be done in extremes of weather, the company feels it has happily met the second demand and gone a lot further in satisfying the first.
The secret, according to Garry Daly of the importers, Farmec, is the single coulter disc, and high coulter pressure, up to 100kg, that is possible with this drill.
It is akin to a Swiss Army penknife in that it can be adjusted to become the tool that matches the job in hand, he said.
With or without the plough
With plough-based systems coming under pressure, the Progress drill will help farmers transition to minimum tillage and then direct drilling without the need to buy three different machines, Garry believes.
This versatility is extended by the ability to use either a power harrow or set of discs in conjunction with the drill. Although this is by no means unique to Sulky, it does add to the overall flexibility of the Progress.
To further add to its range of uses, the tank can be divided into two and a separate, small seed-hopper bolted to the rear, allowing up to three products to be drilled in one pass.
Plane engineering for Progress
Evenly distributing that product to the coulters is another area where Sulky have applied a good deal of thought.
Although the mushroom distributor head looks much like any other, the airflow within it has been tuned with help from Airbus, whose factory is just down the road from that of Sulky.
One of the problems of distribution heads is that seed can become temporarily suspended in the up-draught as the air enters from below, leading to uneven distribution.
The engineers at Airbus suggested a few improvements to improve the dynamics of the airflow to ensure these pockets of suspended seed are not created.
Once the seed or granule has passed through a port in the head it is blown down the tube to the coulter, but just before it gets there an exhaust port allows the air to escape.
The logic of this is that air is not blown into the slit created by the coulter, which can impact upon the positioning of the seed in the soil.
Coulter choice
There are three coulter options available with the Progress drill: A standard Suffolk type, a twin-disc unit and the single Cultidisc option which, it is felt, gives the greatest versatility.
It is the single-disc type that is being demonstrated in Ireland, where the weather tends to limit sowing opportunities and min-till and direct drilling have yet to gain any great popularity.
The single disc is mounted at a 5° angle, opening a slit which is held open by the coulter chute down through which the seed drops by gravity and momentum.
The leading edge of the the chute is of hardened steel to reduce wear and it also acts as a scraper to keep the disc clean.
Consolidation with single wheel
Once the seed is planted it is immediately followed by a press wheel which seals the slit, and a tine then rakes the soil over the planted ground to leave an even finish behind the drill.
Of the three coulters available it is the single disc which can apply a force of up to 100kg at the end of the coulter bar. The Suffolk variant applies up to 20kg and the twin disc 50kg.
All of these are adjustable to match conditions and although 100kg pressure is possible it is unlikely ever to be required, according to Garry.
Seed rate also has a wide range of adjustment thanks to a two-speed metering unit. Changing the ratio is a simple matter of sliding a gear across in the box containing the drive mechanism.
Sulky Progress for all reasons and seasons
The Sulky Progress drill is on the market as a premium machine that offers farmers the opportunity to be far more flexible in their adoption and use of cultivation systems.
It does away with the need for separate drills to be kept on the farm and allows growers to take advantage of non inversion techniques when it is possible to do so. Contractors can also benefit by having one tool to suit their customers’ various requirements.
Taking the plough out of the tillage equation is not as straight forward as many outside of farming have come to believe, yet there are certain advantages in doing so and this machine can capitalise upon the opportunities when they present themselves.