New lines stand the practical test

In the single grain sector HORSCH with its Maestro line has been very successful on the market for many years. In the meantime, a total number of 50,000 machines over all lines are working in the field. But HORSCH still wants to remain innovative to meet the different requirements all over the world.

This is why at the beginning of this year the existing machines have been completed by the new product lines Maestro CV, DV and RV as well CX and RX. For the spring sowing season 2021 all Maestro lines will be equipped with the new metering device generation AirVac and AirSpeed.

In the previous issue of terraHORSCH (19/2019) we already talked about the innovations of the new Maestro lines and the metering devices. In the meantime, the maize sowing season 2020 is finished, the crops have emerged, and we have already received the first feedback from the farmers about how the machines performed in practice. Of course, we were particularly interested to know if the new metering systems AirVac and AirSpeed proved their worth in the field. The focus was on the AirSpeed metering device as this system was up for serial introduction. Looking back on the sowing season, both metering systems did a great job and the customer are satisfied.

The product lines CX and RX are equipped with an AirSpeed metering device. Singulation is based on an overpressure system. In the field, it works reliably and smoothly and lives up to its name. The required adjustments can be carried out easily. Different grain and seed sizes can be sown with only one metering disc without having to make any major adaptions. The crops of beets as well as of maize have emerged very well and regularly. The longitudinal distribution of the plants which is determined by the variation coefficient in average ranges between 7 to 15 % for the crops we visited. The operational speeds amounted to 12 to 15 km/h. Under optimum seedbed conditions a very high placement accuracy was achieved with speeds around 18 km/h when sowing maize. As it is quite common with shoot systems, the practical use revealed that the precision of the grain placement declined at lower speeds. This is a clear sign that the AirSpeed metering device has been designed for speed and efficiency.

During the first season of the new vacuum metering device AirVac the system was installed on several hundred machines and tested in the field. This system, too, meets the high requirements farmers have for a modern metering systems. Only few adjustments are necessary to achieve exact singulation results. First analyses for sugar beet and maize showed an excellent longitudinal distribution with variation coefficients of 10 to 20 % - for tight row spacings of 45 and 50 cm as well as for wide rows of 70 to 80 cm. Despite the wide-spread drought the crops emerged evenly. This is due to the optimum embedding of the single grain seed coulter and the AirVac metering device.
A lot of the 3-point machines Maestro RV worked in France this year. Some of them were used in combination with a HORSCH Focus for sowing maize with the StripTill method. This machine combination is ideal for sowing maize directly for example in a harvested whole-plant silage population. Due to the tine section of the Focus the soil is loosened intensively in strips with the HORSCH ULD coulter without cultivating or tearing open the soil at the right and at the left side. The tine transports the earth upwards so that the seed can be placed in a moist seed horizon. The soil between the rows remains untouched and closed. Hardly any humidity can evaporate from this area and you can save water that the plants can take up later. Due to the high coulter pressure of the Maestro RV in combination with a Focus the seed can be placed and embedded precisely even in very difficult conditions.

In addition to the Maestro models CV/CX and RV/RX there is the Maestro DV for the Russian and the Ukrainian market. The Maestro DV is an 8-row seed drill with a seed wagon, i.e. one central seed hopper with a fertiliser capacity of 2,800 litres. The Maestro DV is always equipped with the AirVac metering device. Compared to the CV it is custom-tailored to the requirements of the Russian and Ukrainian market: The design is simpler and the requirements on the tractor are lower. However, due to the various equipment versions the DV can be adapted perfectly to the farm-specific conditions. For example, it is possible to equip the machine with the automatic coulter pressure regulation system AutoForce, with a fertiliser flow control or with the lighting system WorkLight Pro. The Maestro DV is also available with a double hopper system. The integrated 4-point separation system allows for removing the 8-row Maestro seed bar and replacing it by a cereal seed bar. The NT coulter bar is based on the concept of the Pronto NT with wavy discs and TurboDisc seed coulters. Moreover, a RollFlex TurboDisc coulter attachment is available to be mounted at the separation spot. The range of use of the seed wagon, thus, increases considerably. In summer and in autumn the Maestro and the respective coulter bar can be used to sow rape and cereals. Thus, the seed wagon is ideal for all kinds of sowing tasks that have to be carried out on a farm during the season.
In season 2021, the Maestro SW line, too, will be replaced by the lines SV and SX which will be equipped with the new metering devices. HORSCH offers two different seed wagons: For the large working widths of 18 m the well-proven seed wagon with a fertiliser capacity of 7,000 litres and a 2,000 litres central seed hopper are available. A seed wagon was developed for 9 m and 12 m working width. With regard to the range of fertiliser and seed it has been adapted to the smaller working widths.

Due to the development steps that HORSCH carried out on the Maestro lines, the year 2020 has been very successful in this respect. R & D are still working at full speed to prepare everything for the sowing season 2021 and to further improve existing components. With the new machines types HORSCH continues to extend its range in the single grain sector year by year.