Ultimate Guide to buying a trailed combination drill 2022

A couple of models have fallen by the wayside as others have come into the Ultimate Guide category for trailed full-width cultivating drills.

These machines deploy tines or discs – and often paddle levelling tines, packer tyres and other elements – to create a finished seed-bed ahead of the coulters.

Horsch

At Horsch, the “wide row” version of the 6m Focus 6.50 TD, with coulters spaced 250mm or 500mm, has been dropped.

But other 6m configurations remain for an implement that has two rows of spring-loaded tines ahead of levelling and mixing discs, plus a mid-mounted packer, to prepare the ground.

They comprise 20 rows at 300mm spacing, 34 rows at 176mm and 17 rows at 353mm, so buyers still get a reasonable choice to suit their growing system.

And among the Pronto disc cultivating drills, the 12m SW in seed-only and seed/fertiliser configurations has been dropped to leave a range that now spans 3m to 9m.

Lemken

The familiar Compact-Solitair line-up has been slimmed down with the removal of 6m KH (seed-only) and KHD (seed and fertiliser) models, as Lemken introduces its new replacement – the DT (Disc Trailing).

Available so far in 4m and 6m widths and 125mm and 167mm row spacings, the newcomer is designed with greater configuration versatility and lighter weight.

Up front, paddle levelling tines or a soil consolidating tyre packer are available, followed by two rows of 465mm Heliodor serrated discs for an aggressive treatment or two rows of wavy discs for less soil disturbance.

A finger tine harrow precedes mid-mounted packer wheels and an optional Trapeze ring roller with adjustable pressure across the two packing elements.

OptiDisc double-disc coulters follow, which on combi models also serve to place fertiliser unless the double-shot system is added, comprising another set of disc coulters that place fertiliser separately below the seed.

Pottinger

The latest-generation Pottinger Terrasem design now includes 8m and 9m sizes © Pottinger

The Terrasem seed drills have come in for some attention.

As well as the usual optional paddle tines, two rows of discs, mid-mounted tyre packer and twin-disc openers, the latest-generation 3m, 4m and 6m machines gain increased hopper capacities.

The seed-only versions get a 20% increase in capacity from 3,000 to 3,600 litres, or a 17.5% gain from 4,000 to 4,700 litres.

The pressurised hopper of the seed-plus-fertiliser Z variants are increased by 5% from 4,000 to 4,200 litres, or by 10% from 5,100 to 5,600 litres.

The 5,600-litre hopper is standard on the newly-introduced V 8000 D and V 9000 D of 8m and 9m working widths that replace the last of the C-series drills.

While broadly similar in concept, the main difference with the latest-generation machines is that the cultivating discs – and the fertiliser coulters on combination models – are arranged at an opposing angle across each of half of the two rows, effectively forming an X pattern.

This aims to counteract the lateral tensions and movement that can arise when the front-row discs are angled in one direction and the second row in the other, and help keep the drill consistently running true.

Terrasem D Z combi models can be used for drilling seed only, seed with fertiliser or two different seed mixtures, as well as additional micro-granules or a companion crop.