Competition of Farmet Machines in Former Cidlina River Bed

Three Farmet machines competed in a difficult cultivation match in the former Cidlina River bed: Triton 450 PS, a specialist in crop residue incorporation; Fantom 650 PRO, a light ploughshare cultivator and stubble plough; and Digger 3, a deep cultivator (chisel plough). The field where corn for grain grew was harvested with a combined harvester. Moreover, wild boars ate in the field and crushed it, which made the cultivation conditions harder. The extremely heavy soil did not allow for cultivation deeper than 17 cm. In spite of these conditions, we compared the work of 3 different machines.

Venue: river flood plain, former bed of the Cidlina River, Mlékosrby
Participants: Triton, Fantom PRO, Digger
Soil type: heavy, difficult to process
Historical land processing: max up to 16 cm

Participant No. 1: Triton 450 PS takes the floor The machine was pulled with 450 HP Claas, which worked at a speed of 11 km/h. The discs were cutting through the soil without any larger difficulties, while the chisels mixed soil in a depth of 16 cm. Triton incorporated crop residue quite well, in spite of the low working depth.

Participant No. 2: Fantom 650 PRO sets off The machine was pulled with a 300 HP tractor. The depth set for cultivation was 15 cm. Fantom 650 PRO is not designed for conditions with a large quantity of crop residue and so the machine had problems in the areas where the boars lay down, but the crop residue still went through. The machine excels in fast stubble cultivation, repeated stubble cultivation and soil loosening. The working depth of 15 cm is maximum.

Participant No. 3: Digger 3: challenge accepted The pilot wanted to remain anonymous. The depth was set at 17 cm due to the heavy soil and less powerful pulling vehicle. The soil was flying around, Digger was pushing through with lifted deflectors for better crop residue passage.

Conclusion:

1. Triton 450 PS – the winner of the competition in the most precise incorporation of an enormous quantity of crop residue – the best cultivated soil                                
2. Digger 3 – the winner of the competition in high variability of working depth from 17 cm to 50 cm and with the option to work in one or two rows
3. Fantom 650 PRO – the winner of the competition in the highest efficiency. The results of Fantom were not as precise as of Triton, therefore we recommend mulching the field in advance in such conditions. However, as far as hectare efficiency is concerned, the machine is unmatched.

Triton 450 PS cultivated the entire field. Fantom 650 PRO was honoured to provide seedbed preparation with 10 cm recess.

Vladimír Mertlík, Product Manager
Veronika Paslerová, Marketing Specialist