AFGRI Equipment Australia has unveiled its latest franchise for the WA market – a South African-made Equalizer Min-Till tine seeder.
It is being demonstrated during the seeding season but a handful of farmers have already bought models and are using them this year.
Dalwallinu farmer Brad McIlroy has already used the Equalizer he bought from AFGRI Dalwallinu, to sow canola and he is happy with what he has achieved.
“I wanted a bar that could put the seed where you wanted it,” he said.
“In this country, with marginal moisture, accurate seed placement is vital and there’s the bonus with this machine that you can chase moisture.
“I did that sowing canola, digging into moisture at five inches (12.5cm) and sowing at a depth of 15mm (sub inch).
“The action saw seed beds wet up and plants were out in five days.”
Brad employed the 12.2 metre (40ft) 12000 VX Equalizer on 27.5cm (11in) row spacings, operating at 9km/h.
“It has achieved what I wanted in terms of that underseed cultivation, good seed placement and its ability to chase moisture,” he said.
According to Equalizer product specialist and engineer Bert Badenhorst, the Equalizer can be optioned to suit a variety of soil and stubble conditions.
It features three knife points (17.5cm, 7in) including an “Aerator” (20cm, 8in), which is equipped with a ‘shoe’ at its base to burst subsoil, two seeding boot options (single and split) and two pivoting press wheel options – narrow semi-pneumatic or wide V-shaped.
The pivot design ensures constant tracking of the knife blade with two separate adjustments for press wheel depth and pressure to match soil conditions.
Three types of leading discs are available for stubble control with a choice of coil spring or hydraulic.
“One of the stand-out features of this machine is the semi-independent parallelogram system,” Mr Badenhorst said.
“The tine assembly, which carries the fertiliser hose (a stainless steel tube is positioned in front making it liquid-ready) has a measure of distance to break out independently of the seeding assembly and for bigger obstructions, there’s automatic breakout of the whole assembly.”
The 12000VX features two in-frame floatation tyres and front, frame-protected outrigger wheels on the wings.
A 18000VF five section 18.2m (60ft) model also is available, which has a unique fold to legal transport width.
The Equalizer models come standard with liquid-ready stainless steel tubes and there is a five-year warranty on the frame and a 12-month warranty on the assembly.
More information: See your local AFGRI Equipment dealer.
Ken Wilson
Farm Weekly's machinery writer.
Farm Weekly's machinery writer.
