Tine weeders for arable and vegetable crops have become more sophisticated with the introduction of Smart-Control for Einbock’s flagship harrow, the Aerostar-Fusion.

Available in six sizes from 3m to 15m, and with a close effective tine spacing of 28mm, the implement already had manually operated hydraulic adjustment of tine angle and pressure – but the new model is now automated with Smart-Control.

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This system tweaks the tine pressure on each section across the frame as the implement moves between different soil types and ground conditions, the aim being to maintain a uniform working depth.

It firms up the pressure spring setting when moving on to harder ground, and slackens it across lighter soil for a consistent pressure of up to 6kg per tine.

Einbock engineers say this saves the operator having to stop as frequently to make checks and adjustments, ensuring greater precision in scratching out weeds in a growing crop.

The Smart-Control in-cab controller and display © Einbock

The Aerostar-Fusion is equipped with 7mm flexible tines with a curved end section; the tines can be set at different angles to suit weed size and soil conditions.

They are arranged in six rows to maintain trash flow, and there is up to 530mm of clearance beneath the frame to avoid damaging crops.

Tine adjustment on individual sections enables the implement to be set up for weeding crops grown in beds and ridges, as well as on flat ground.

Equally, the tines can be withdrawn at headlands, and when the implement is folding for transport.

An isobus terminal is used to fold/unfold the wings and handle tine adjustments, and Einbock says the Smart-Control feature will enable section control weeding in future, to minimise the amount of ground covered twice in fields of irregular shape.

9m weeder-seeder

For grassland maintenance, Einbock has filled the gap between the 6m and 12m sizes in the Pneumaticstar-PRO-STI weeder-seeder range with a 9m version.

Featuring a newly designed mainframe, this tractor-mounted model clearly offers increased output over the 6m, but with much the same characteristics in terms of manoeuvrability, and the ability to follow ground contours.

The 9m addition to Einbock’s 9m Pneumaticstar-Pro weeder-seeder range © Einbock

It comes with heavy-duty 10mm hooked tines arranged in six rows at 250mm spacing, preceded by a triangular levelling bar to lift and spread mole hills, dung pats and the like, with spring break-back mechanisms protecting the structure.

The P-Box STI seeding system provides electric drive to the metering unit and air distribution, that feed spread plates across the centreline of the frame.