Which power narrows are easiest to drive

[Boomerang]

Given same soil conditions which power narrows are easiest to drive, currently have a 3m khun takes a lot of driving , and also have a 3m pegoraro easy to drive not as heavy, tines not blades plus more rotors over same width. Would like to swap both in and replace with easy driving machine that 80hp is man enough for.
Its boss of pegoraro but struggles with khun.

 

[Exfarmer]

The power is generally dictated more than anything by the rear roller and the depth of work

 

[FarmerFrank88]

Our old mashio takes needs the power of our new kuhn. The kuhn weighs nearly twice as much and has 10 rotors to the mashios 12. But the kuhn can go much faster and do the same job so not much in it. Imo all older lighter ones with cage rollers not sharkfin type rollers take less power so I'd look out for a nice older machine if possible.

 

[Lincs Lass]

Blades will drive easier than tines ,80hp would run a 4 mtr at 2 inches deep but bury it full depth and it would stand it dead ,then you have to consider pto speed ,,a 540 will be different to a 1000 .

 

[Robt]

Some power harrows are 3 rotors per m and some 4 per m. In general 4 rotors per m take less power as you are effectively turning a smaller rotor thus needing less power.

 

[agcon1]

we ran a maschio combi for 12 years and thought that was easy enough....had 180hp on it...swapped this spring for a kverneland and it doesnt even know it there....rotors are arrange at slight angles to each other on the kv, as opposed to 90 degress to each other on maschio, does same if not slightly better job as well, same number of rotors

 

[ED.D]

Used to have a 4m Kuhn and a 4m amazone both with packer rollers working the same field, same size tractor, same depth, same number of rotors and the amazone was easier to drive and left a better finish.

 

[Dman2]

We ran a 3m Maschio with a lely combination drill for years with a Case IH 844xl (80hp)
Reasonably heavy land
Now have 140hp on it FFS

 

[Dian Landman]

Anyone running lemken, kverneland or pottinger? Looking at a 3-3.5m setup with a drill on. I believe a 6195M would be enough for a 3.5m setup?

 

[Boomerang]

The power is generally dictated more than anything by the rear roller and the depth of work

Partially true , rotors per m, blades or tines, how much soil you move with levelling board. Soil type 540 or 1000 ,All have a bearing on how easy it is to drive ,depth is just one factor .

 

[snipe]

Biggest thing will depend on what gears are in the gearbox. Can make any power Harrow easy or hard to drive.

 

[Farma Parma]

We ran a 3m Maschio with a lely combination drill for years with a Case IH 844xl (80hp)
Reasonably heavy land
Now have 140hp on it FFS

240 engine hp on 3m kuhn here heheee not blown it up yet!! but iam not going really any faster coz of the extra horses.
Limiting factor is how good a job the tines make
Kuhn n mashio PH here & cant say i can tell much difference in hp they need.
seeing ive got plenty hp options on either its not a consideration

 

[Matthew Britton]

We ran a 3m Maschio with a lely combination drill for years with a Case IH 844xl (80hp)
Reasonably heavy land
Now have 140hp on it FFS

Don’t tell the direct drillers they will tell you it’s all the fault of your power Harrow.

 

[Alistair Nelson]

Def go for 4 rotors per meter and blades and without compromising power rating relative to what you require lighter the better. The next saving would be with the roller particularly when its wet. Packer Scraper's act like a brake, Crumblers are a nightmare don't bother, Coils absorb less power but aren't great when its sticky if you get soil inside the coil but if you haven't got a drill onto you may just get away with it. The best one for absorbing less power is something along the lines of a guttler as you don't have that scraper acting as a brake just a tine to pull the soil from between the rings but they are v v exp. The next thing on 3m with out a drill is to check when max power is available in the tractor engine range relative to 540 and 1000rpm engine speeds and then choose one accordingly. Then setting the depth and the levelling board will govern power requirement as the levelling board obviously governs the amount of soil held back in the rotors.

 

[Boomerang]

Def go for 4 rotors per meter and blades and without compromising power rating relative to what you require lighter the better. The next saving would be with the roller particularly when its wet. Packer Scraper's act like a brake, Crumblers are a nightmare don't bother, Coils absorb less power but aren't great when its sticky if you get soil inside the coil but if you haven't got a drill onto you may just get away with it. The best one for absorbing less power is something along the lines of a guttler as you don't have that scraper acting as a brake just a tine to pull the soil from between the rings but they are v v exp. The next thing on 3m with out a drill is to check when max power is available in the tractor engine range relative to 540 and 1000rpm engine speeds and then choose one accordingly. Then setting the depth and the levelling board will govern power requirement as the levelling board obviously governs the amount of soil held back in the rotors.

This
Some good points to note thanks,
Would you say 540 pulling soil with levelling board would do a better job than 1000 without pulling any soil.?
I'm also considering putting a pan cracker close coupled if I can lift it
Thoughts please ? Any good ? Should make harrow easier to drive ,not sure if it's swings and roundabouts tho.

 

[JeremyD]

Lely/Tulip Roterra probably easiest to drive power wise in my opinion.

 

[mixed breed]

Biggest thing will depend on what gears are in the gearbox. Can make any power Harrow easy or hard to drive.

I'll 2nd this. When I got my kuhn 3004 it was set up to turn the rotors very fast, excellent tilth but with only 105hp up front, forward speed had to be lowered. soon got tired of that so after a skip through the book i found I could swap the gears round. So tried it, it now makes a more than satisfactory job and I can fair mouse on at the job.

 

[ridger]

Anyone running lemken, kverneland or pottinger? Looking at a 3-3.5m setup with a drill on. I believe a 6195M would be enough for a 3.5m setup?

Pottinger here, but they are no good since they went away from one piece tines. They break off most days, never lost one one piece tine, but the new system is hopeless. On our land anyway

 

[Alistair Nelson]

1000 / 540 input speed doesn’t make a difference it’s about the actual rotor speed that the gearbox creates. You need the levelling board to hold the soil in the p/h but the key is to not try and hold up too much soil. Pan cracker would help in a lot of ways but obviously will move everything back meaning more lift required and you have the draught requirements of tines to consider but the rotors won’t have to work as hard perhaps a better option may be a decent set of track eradicator as they should allow you to have the powerharrow shallower as it’s making the seedbed not removing the wheelings. Same possibly a front press as a 1.5m would just take out the hump created between the wheels whilst a full width would this and also firm the ground ahead of the wheels meaning they wouldn’t sink in as far meaning you can set the powerharrow shallower. Hope some of this makes sense.

 

[yellowbelly]

Biggest thing will depend on what gears are in the gearbox. Can make any power Harrow easy or hard to drive.

^^^^This - coupled with the use of a clod board/comb to hold soil in for extra 'pulverising'.

Read the instruction book - you can make 'em all as hard or easy to drive as you like.