SIMPLICITY Australia's WA 'road show' progressed to Cunderdin recently with a demonstration of its new Territory seeding bar and 30 Series air seeder.
The demonstration program, which started in western Victoria last month, has progressed across South Australia through Esperance into the Wheatbelt with Geraldton the final destination.
Held by Baxters Rural Centre Cunderdin, Simplicity Australia product development manager Walter Law and the company's engineering manager Josh Walton, provided specific details on the features of both products.
The sectional control on the 30 Series air seeder provided plenty of interest and it was surprising for farmers to hear that Simplicity has been involved in the technology since the mid-1990s when it designed and supplied a 'Wing Shut Off' system for the rice industry, to close off sections on a planter.
Following that, the company developed a range of prototype sectional systems for testing, and then refined this system to complete its latest 'Sectional Control' offering.
This system features an internal electric actuator to engage and disengage each spool module, without the need for continuous power supply.
They have also incorporated a manual over-ride as a standard feature in case of a malfunction, which is all monitored as each spool assembly has its own sensor system.
This system is all operated by the X35/Apollo package, which provides the capacity to easily set seed and fertiliser overlap functions independently.
Seed can be set to ensure the paddock is fully covered with a 100 per cent overlap, and fertiliser/s can be set to a 0pc overlap (or to any percentage required).
Simplicity has maintained its ground-drive system using the Linear Actuator VR systems with the ability to divert and blend product into different air streams.
The JCB tractor used in the demonstration was installed with Topcon GPS and auto-steer systems to fully display the VRC and Sectional Control functions and features.
Hydraulic drive calibration is standard on the 30 Series, and the sectional metering body includes a large non-scratch inspection window.
The sectional spool system is easily accessed for visual inspection and is removable for servicing.
A neat feature is 'actuated bin lids', which from a ground level switch (also positioned on the top platform) opens and closes bin lids.
They have also incorporated a 'bin-full' sensor which activates light bars positioned on the top of the bin to indicate filling progress.
The quad-wheel 14,000 litre capacity air seeder used in the demonstration also featured a 700 litre small seeds box that had a specifically designed metering spool for accurate continuous delivery of small seeds like canola.
Simplicity also is very keen to push its new Territory bar with the parallelogram-designed planting units, which was demonstrated with a nine metre bar set on 250mm spacings.
Six external wheels are purposefully-designed to enhance trash clearance with a 530mm underframe height between the ground and bottom parallel arm.
The planting unit is designed with 450mm of vertical travel (200mm down and 250mm upward) without altering the angle of soil engagement.
It uses two parallel arms that are clamped to pivot from the main headstock, which is made by Simplicity to replace U-bolts and prevent sideways movement.
The connection system uses low friction polyethylene pads to hold these arms in position to travel vertically and the arms are sized with the ability to flex when side loads are applied, reducing pin and bush wear.
Depth control is via a clearly marked setting system mounted above the press wheel, which allows for quick changes in 6mm increments.
According to Simplicity, the hydraulic cylinder on each opener is connected to a controlled pressure supply via accumulators.
This hydraulic system is independent of the tractor during normal operation so oil supply is on an 'as-needed' basis.
It also means it has the ability to rapidly decrease the breakout when encountering excessive rocky conditions, for example.
Simplicity also focused on designing the planting unit with the ability to adjust press wheel pressure.
The down force setting on the press wheel is easily adjusted via a three position mechanical setting that results in a low, medium or high setting.