Quality seedbed preparation
Disc-Roller Contour for the job
Welbeck Farming Company in England operated in many different soil types and conditions and so, they need a versatile range of machines. However, they struggled for several years with soil flow in damp conditions with their previous disc cultivator.
Farm Manager. Ray Beck, and tractor driver, Mark Newton from Welbeck Farming Company in England.
"The slightest hint of moisture meant we'd have to make a compromise in seedbed quality to get crops into the ground," explains Farm Manager Ray Beck.
The previous cultivator wasn't versatile enough and in damp conditions it struggled with soil flow, often bunging up to the point where the job had to be abandoned until things dried up.
"Our old machine simply wasn't versatile enough and it was starting to cost us serious money in replairs."
And so, they started looking for a new solution.
Value for money in Disc-Roller Contour
In their search for a new disc cultivator, they tried a series of demos and with a HE-VA King-Roller already in their range of machinery, they tried out the HE-VA Disc-Roller Contour.
"The HE-VA Disc-Roller offered the best value for money and was really well built. We had previously run 12 m. HE-VA rollers and swapped them for a 15,3 m. set, when we moved to 30 m. tramlines, so we knew the kit was built to last. We couldn't afford to have another machine that would only do five years of work."
Their Disc-Roller COntour was delivered in 2017.
"I've been places with the HE-VA that you wouldn't believe"
The varying and often damp conditions was an important factor for Welbeck, when looking for a new disc cultivator and with the HE-VA Disc-Roller Contour, they are now able to put the machine to work anywhere.
Tractor driver, Mark Newton, in the field with Disc-Roller Contour.
"I've been places with the HE-VA that you wouldn't believe. With our old machine, it would have just bunged up solid, but because there is good clearance all the way through the Disc-Roller, the soil and trash can flows freely through and you don't get anything sticking - even in the wet," says Mr. Newton and continues,
"It's all down to the spacing between the paddles, the two rows od discs and the press. Because of the clearance between the interlocking rings, they are self-cleaning and never bung up."
Welbeck primarily uses the Disc-Roller Contour for seedbed preparation, where it follows a tine cultivator. They also use it on shallow soils with a high risk of hitting limestone. Here, the Disc-Roller Contour shows its value as the rubber suspensions for the discs enable the discs to work independently, so when one disc hits a stone, it doesn't effect the others, which means that they maintain an even depth across the entire working width of the machine.
Maintaining an even depth has proven critical for Welbeck, when working in stubbles at 2-3 cm's deep to produce stale seedbeds.
"Working at an even depth is obviously important when working down ground ahead of the drill, but it's really critical, when I'm flying over stubbles at 2-3 cm deep to produce a stale seedbed. If the discs are skipping over the top, then there is no point of doing the job," says Mr. Newton and continues,
"Being able to tweak the working depth without compromising the quality of the job is brilliant. If I'm running up a tramline for example, and I can see that I am not quite catching everything in the wheelings, I can just lower the fame in a bit. Then I just hit the memory switch and it returns itself to its original position, eliminating any guess work."
Versatile and reliable in all conditions
"The HE-VA build quality has played out into reliability as we had hoped for, and we couldn't be happier. We can switch from working at 2 cm at 18 km/hour to 20 cm at 6 km/hour simply by making adjustments from the cab. Despite having several other options, it is now our go-to machine - it'll do any job we throw at it," says Mr. Beck.