A new disc cultivator for ‘quick coupling’ to the Venta 1030 pneumatic drill adds drilling flexibility as an alternative to a power harrow combination, said Kuhn at this week’s Tillage-Live event.

The CD 1020, currently available in 3m and 3.5m formats, has two rows of 400mm diameter notched discs to create a fine seedbed to a shallow working depth in light soil conditions. It can also be fitted with the new Megapacker 590mm diameter roller and is designed to operate in combination at up to 15km/hr, or up to 4ha/hour in the 3m format and can also operate as a stand-alone cultivator.

The discs are supported by a single vertical arm, each holding two discs per arm. Together, with a good under frame clearance and a notched disc design that creates a self-driving action in plant residues, this allows the CD to operate effectively in trashy conditions.

These arms are fitted onto a cross-shaped profile, with polyurethane blocks providing both elasticity and durability. Side deflectors, fitted on a parallelogram and extending as far as the roller, ensure a level finish between passes.

Linkage between it and the drill is via a specially designed roller frame, a patented concept that creates a compact unit and ensures cultivation and drilling are fully independent functions. This helps facilitate quick interchange of tillage tools, with coupling estimated to take less than 10 minutes.

When the Venta 1030 is used in combination with either the CD disc cultivator or HR power harrow, a range of functions including seed rate, working depth, levelling bar position, central adjustment point, covering harrow, seed rate calibration and seeding depth can all be adjusted from the tractor cab. This also allows the disc cultivator or power harrow, and drill settings, to be adjusted quickly and easily to compensate for changing soil conditions.

The drill features an 1800-litre seed hopper and uses a fluted metering unit with large splines for grain seeds as well as smaller splines for seeds such as oilseed rape. Seeding rates can be set between 1 and 430kg/ha and there’s a speed sensing radar for precise seeding at up to 15km/hr.

Kuhn’s precision coulter bar, the Seedflex system, takes care of seed placement, with widely offset double discs mounted on a parallelogram to enable fast and accurate seeding. These maintenance-free coulters perform well in all soil conditions, from ploughed to min-tilled land, said Kuhn.