After ten years, arable farmer Jan-Albert Brands from Andel (GR) has exchanged his 4-row Grimme row cultivator. Due to good experiences, a Grimme (GF400) came back in return. With a dealer building fertilization system.
The machine is almost the same as the previous one, Brands says. “Only the gear ratios are different. The machine makes more revolutions, more strokes per minute. ” The old cutter also had a drive train with sprockets and a chain, the new one now has four sprockets in a gear box on the side of the machine. Brands expects this new powertrain construction to withstand more horsepower. “In my opinion, the whole machine is a bit heavier, which means that larger tractors can also be used.”
Liquid fertilizer
Dealer Van der Maar from Hornhuizen equipped the cultivator with a system for applying liquid fertilizer in row fertilization at Brands’ request. With the previous machine, this was still done by means of a spray boom at the front of the tractor that sprayed the fertilizer at the place of the ridges. “The tiller knives that formed the ridges suffered a lot from this,” says Brands. “They rusted badly because of the aggressive fertilizer.” With his new machine, he had a tine fitted for each ridge and the fertilizer is delivered straight into the ridge via a tube. “The cultivator no longer passes through the fertilizer. Another advantage is that the manure is now close to the tuber. ”
Variety
The fertilizer is in a tank that Brands transfers from the planting machine, where it is used to apply crop protection agents. For example, he is again pleased with the 35 hectare S seed potatoes he grows, in addition to the sugar beets and grains that he also has on his 165 hectare farm. The second branch is to keep 20,000 free-range chickens. He likes the variety and is always looking for something different, better or new. For example, this year he works according to NKG for the first time and mills his potato ridges in flail green manure on wheat flock. “It takes some getting used to the way of working, but it goes beautifully.”
