This year Horsch has made some changes to its line of tillage implements. The Joker high-speed compact disc series, which debuted in 2008, is probably the brand’s most well-known offering. The recently introduced RX is a brand new Joker platform that represents a fourth-generation version of the Joker line.
The new Joker RXs are available in working widths with increments every five feet from 20 to 40 feet overall.
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The RX models use a new mono-arm design with each one holding an individual disc blade, which is 66 per cent stronger than previous designs and incorporates minimum maintenance bearings, all of which helps hold the blade in a more precise position and angle. That eliminates any lateral movement and creates a more even field finish. The front and rear blades engage the ground at a 17-degree angle, allowing them to aggressively size and mix crop residue with the soil for faster decomposition.
The new Vortex concave-shaped Coulter can be ordered as an option for even more aggressive vertical tillage work. The new reinforced and improved Ring-Flex roller replaces the previous Roll-Flex version. This new roller offers more flexibility because some rings can be removed in wet, sticky conditions to minimize soil buildup.
The unique Cultro TC is also new to the Horsch lineup. Its design is a blend of a harrow bar with a light tillage implement, using tine harrow teeth and aggressive 30-centimetre diameter rollers that each have six mounted knives. The knives are protected from damage by rubber mounts to absorb shocks. The small diameter of the roller drums creates a high-speed rotation in the field for good residue mixing.
It can be ordered in a few different configurations to suit producers’ needs, such as including a rear rolling basket for firmer soil consolidation. The result is a light tillage implement capable of field speeds approaching 20 kilometres per hour. When working, the full weight of the implement rides on the rolling knives, allowing them to more easily penetrate the soil.
So, what exactly would you call the Cultro TC? Just exactly what implement category does it fit into?
“Good question,” says Laurent Letzter, managing director at Horsch. “This new tool doesn’t have a category yet. So, let’s call it a ‘chopping heavy harrow.’”
The Cultro TC chopping heavy harrow has a variety of uses, says Letzter. It has been put to work in stubble fields doing light pre-seeding tillage to stimulate weed germination and terminating cover crops. So, it fits in nicely with both conventional and organic growers’ tillage needs.
“It may just become the perfect evolution of what the regular straw harrow is used for,” says Letzter. “With this tool the straw would be broken a lot more for decomposition, it would favour some soil contact with the straw and allow better gemination of volunteers.”
The T12 model is available in a 40-foot working width. A smaller model, the T3, with a three-metre working width is also available.
