Our business is not very large by Russian standards – about 650 ha.
Using our compact disc harrow “Discator” we acquire about 50-60 ha each year in operation. There are old fallow lands with thick layer of grass-soil, which have not been cultivated for 20 years. So you have to go through the same place at least four times to achieve maximum processing depth of 10-12 cm. In order to get good quality work from the Discator, we had to accelerate the tractor to 12-14 km/h, otherwise it was fuel thrown out to the wind! But on fallow fields with an uneven surface, that work is a torture!
This year we planned again to take in use an additional 50 hectares. This time we decided to buy a heavy disc harrow APFL FF-28 with a working width of 4 m from QUIVOGNE. The result was amazing: with a tractor of 300 hp I have received 100% stubble cut to 20-22 cm depth after a single pass.
Due to unevenness of the fields the soil could not be processed faster than 8.3 – 9.1 km/h. The front disc battery we had set at a flatter and the back at a steeper angle of attack. After the first treatment, we normally leave the field for one week to air off the green mass.
At the second pass – diagonally or along the lines – we already did 11.8 to 12.5 km/h. After that the field was ready for cereal crops. We saved a lot of costs solely with reduction of fuel!
With the help of the heavy disc harrow APFL FF-28 of QUIVOGNE we plan to manage our six-year plan by the upheaval of fallow land during this year.