Czech outfit Bednar is branching into the strip-till seeding sector with a new drill.

The Matador MO 6000 is a 6m-wide trailed implement with individual pressurised hoppers for seed and fertiliser.

These provide a combined capacity of 5,000 litres, which can be supplemented by the firm’s Alfa Drill 400 unit for applying small-seeded companion crops or microgranules.

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The key soil-working elements are two rows of 40mm or 80mm rigid chisel tines. These are protected by hydraulic cylinders, to the tune of up to 870kg resistance and 300mm maximum lift when triggered.

Spaced 375mm apart, the chisel tines are designed to create strips of tilth, rather than cultivating the entire field surface.

Working depth is adjustable to break through any compacted soil layers, and fertiliser can be fed through outlets on the tines to lie beyond sowing depth, ready to give seedlings a nutrition boost.

Alternatively, fertiliser can be applied down the spout with the seed.

Consolidation

A row of discs, hydraulically adjustable for working depth, follows the tines and can be positioned to level or form a shallow groove in the cultivated strips.

Two rows of 280/95 R20 traction-tread packer tyres complete the soil-working process, the two-row arrangement resulting in generous spacing between each tyre to the side and to the rear, minimising the likelihood of sticky soils clogging the assembly.

Bednar points out this setup also allows good access for easier tyre or wheel replacement, when necessary.

A three-point linkage at the back of the chassis provides the option to operate a precision planter for maize and other row crops at 750mm spacing, with every other leading tine lifted out of work.

Alternatively, the company suggests, this setup could be used for sowing winter oilseed rape, in double rows, along the cultivated strips.

Bednar’s Corsa CN double-disc opener seeding system can also be mounted for cereal and oilseed crops, with row spacings of 125mm or 167mm.