Article 3 // JULY 2007
Auto Reset Subsoiler Legs Save Replacement Costs And Downtime
Breaking up a plough pan and reducing compaction using a deep leg subsoiler has helped maximise crop output on a Shropshire arable farm, but not without considerable financial cost in broken parts and downtime.
Thankfully, new technology developed by Spaldings who manufacturer the Flatlift with Auto-Trip Leg hydraulic rams on each subsoiler leg has helped minimise future anticipated cost and downtime.
Shropshire arable farmer Sandy Walker of Ercall Park, High Ercall has struggled with the legacy of plough pans and compaction inherited as a result of over intensification of farmland.
Mr Walker has farmed in his own right for 25 years and over that time has switched the main cultivation system from plough-based to minimum tillage. This highlighted a compaction and plough pan problem across most of the 700 acre combinable and root crop operation.
“We started using a Flatlift subsoiler when my family first came to the farm to break up the plough pan,” he says. “Although now much improved, we still have issues with compaction because our medium loam and often stony soils are not the best for growing roots as we are usually on the land at the worst time of year.”
The farm has a high stone content on fields running along the ridge of an old river flood plain. Mr Walker still practices rotational ploughing, especially for the roots such as potatoes and up until last year sugar beet.
Replacing shear bolts on the Flatlift every year was an accepted part of the management planning process in terms of downtime and cost, he says. Each broken shear bolt took on average 10 minutes to replace.
“It is something we had always been doing and just accepted it as part of the job. Sometimes we could easily be changing upto 50 shear bolts a day,” says Mr Walker.
But it is not just about the time and cost, he explains. It is also the impact on the tractor when the subsoiler leg hits a solid rock.
“We have broken several top link pins and balls, which can cost up to £200 a time to replace,” says Mr Walker.
The farm used to run a 200hp New Holland tractor for all the land cultivations and when subsoiling output was about 25 acres a day. Clearly with less downtime output would have increased.
Last year the farm replaced the big tractor for a 300hp New Holland and also fitted Spaldings Auto-Trip Legs to the Flatlift.
“Auto reset means we can increase our forward speed, but the real beauty of the system is that the operator no longer has to get out of the tractor to replace shear bolts. The fact that the legs also swivel means that they are not rigid if they hit something solid rather than lifting out of the ground along with whatever has been hit.”
Mr Walker says output has jumped to 50 acres a day. The drill follows right up behind the Flatlift. The reduction in downtime means drilling time has been reduced to about six weeks from the middle of August to the end of October.
According to farm operator Martin Williams, bent and worn shear bolts were much harder to remove than if it was a clean break, which avoided the need for gas to burn them off. The advantage of the Trip Leg Flatlift is that it has no shear bolts so the problem of making repairs is not there in the first place.
“From an operator’s health and safety and working conditions perspective, not having to get in and out of the cab to fix a broken shear bolt – sometimes upto 50 times a day – is a great improvement. Basically I am achieving an extra hour of effective work each day,” he says.
“Also this Flatlift 2,3 leg configuration is a departure from the standard 1, 2, 2 leg set up suggested by Spaldings because we can now put a set of discs at the back if we need to without making the working length too long for our system. The larger tractor with a modern fuel-efficient engine is also proving much more cost effective.
“There are other subsoilers on the market and some claim to have hydraulic trip legs, but in my opinion the Flatlift has got the edge over alternative systems,” says Mr Williams.
For full details of Spaldings Flatlift® Subsoil Cultivators please visit our Online Catalogue, contact any member of our sales team, telephone: 01522 507 600 or e-mail: agsales@spaldings.co.uk
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