Farmer designs novel double press
Unable to find the ideal cultivator press for his 175HP NH 7030 which worked his heavy Essex clay, our contributing farmer designed what he wanted on the office computer using CAD, and built it in the workshop.
The press was built to work min-tilled land, but performs well on ploughed ground. Their min-till is done using a mounted Keeble 3.6m cultivator, which has two rows of shallow tines followed by subsoil legs. Our contributor designed and built a spiked packer roller for this machine to replace the original cage roller.
The unique features are the adjust-on-the-move front tines, which are hydraulically raised and lowered, and the clod plate angle which also adjusts on the go using a ram to make it work more or less aggressively.
The 3.6m machine is designed around a double set of Vaderstad press rings, and has two rows of spring tines in front of the press, followed by clod breakers.
A heavy ex-MOD axle is at the back, and this sets down on the ground when the adjuster ram on the drawbar is extended.
Our contributor designed and made this machine because he knew it would be better for his land, farming system, and tractor power. He has 202ha (500 acres) of arable cropping on some heavy clay adjacent to marshland in coastal Essex.
The press is ideal for his 175HP NH 7030 and weighs over 6 tons. It works at 7 kph, covering 20ha (50 - 60 acres) in a days work.
