Written by Justin Roberts
Last year LEMKEN launched its Solitair 9+ pneumatic seed drill. This year, the company has launched a development of the machine which has, as a notable innovation, the ability to sow two adjacent rows of seed at different depths.
Termed the “Duo” version, the new drills come with a divided seed hopper.
This gives a wide range of options for simultaneously spreading seeds and fertiliser. The company also suggests that it may also be used for sowing catch crops.
A significant development of the Solitair 9+ Duo is the divided seed hopper which, in total, can hold 1,850L. This capacity can be split 50/50 or 60/40, depending on needs.
Two ways to set up LEMKEN drill
There are two basic ways of setting up the drill which LEMKEN terms ‘single-shot’ or ‘double-shot’.
In the single-shot version, seeds and fertiliser are combined downstream from the two metering units in each of the two hopper segments.
The seed and the pellet are guided to the double disc coulters via a seed pipe and deposited in the furrow.
This arrangement enables a suitable application of fertiliser to be added for winter sowing to promote a healthy establishment of the seedling.
For late season sowing, a complete fertiliser application may be made.
Double-shot drilling for increased flexibility
The double-shot set up provides a much wider range of possibilities. With this system, the seed and the fertiliser pellet flow separately to a double disc coulter via doubled distributors in two seed pipes.
They can then be spread either in a single row, as with the single-shot method, or separately and alternately in two rows, following a quick exchange of the tramline cartridge in the distributor.
By distributing the seed and pellets this way, the deposition depth of every other row can be adjusted via the pressure roller. It is possible to sow with a depth differential of up to 5cm.
This allows two different seeds to be placed at different, optimum, seeding depths, or inter-row fertilisation to be applied while seeding.
Whichever method is used, an automatic mechanism is integrated into the distributors to preserve tramline spacing.
The drills will be available in working widths of either 3m or 4m and orders are being taken for delivery in January 2022.
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