Minimum tillage is becoming a thing as more farmers look to save soil moisture between harvest and seeding. Fliegl join the Australian manufacturer Kelly in presenting chain discs as an alternative to cultivating or ploughing.
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Europe versus Australia: Fliegl counter the Australian manufacturer Kelly by presenting their own disc chain. If you are looking for very shallow tillage in order to save water, it might be time to retire your cultivator. At a working width of only 22 feet, or 6.8 metres, Fliegl‘s first endeavor into this new segment is mainly aimed at European farmers.
The KSE 680 comes with 40 discs at both of the front chains, and 31 in the back. It cuts about 5 cm or two inches into the soil. The discs are made from reinforced steel, span 14 inches in diameter and weigh just under 6 pounds each. But you can easily install additional weights to make them dig deeper.
Chain discs are notoriously good at adapting to the ground, working fast and saving Diesel. Fliegl say theirs will do 12 hectares per hour. The front chains move the material to the centre, the back ones back out. That way, the machine works the ground twice in one passing.
And it is ready for just about any job. It will work the stubble of grains and corn, work in slurry and voder crops and prepare a good seedbed. You can also use it for weed control, say Fliegl.
For all of that, it requires three double-acting control valves. One for folding, one for tensioning the chain and one for the height of the main frame. Loose chains will mean more aggressiveness, but also more fuel consumption.
If you have only one control valve to spare, you can opt for a hydraulics control unit. When folded, a spring reset will ensure save road transport. You adjust your working depth hydraulically by lowering or lifting your main frame. Feeler wheels on each side help keeping the correct height.
On our test day, the soil was still damp and we could only work at 7 and a half mph, or 12 kph, in order to avoid clogging. Normally, it is four more. We never brought the 190 hp tractor to its limits with that. The machine even coped well with some piles of moist cover crop material. The work result was not affected. But cleaning the machine from sticky soil afterwards wasn’t our favourite thing to do.
Our verdict:
The chains adapt to every little unevenness in the ground. Minimum tillage will become a major trend as conserving soil moisture is getting more important. And with this 22 foot machine, disc chains could finally become a thing in European structures.
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