Claydon’s first toolbar drill – comprising a rear-mounted coulter frame and a front-mounted hopper – is now in production in the manufacturer’s new £1m assembly building in Suffolk.

Separating the frame and hopper distributes their combined weight so that smaller tractors with less lift capacity can handle wider widths, from 3m to 6m, and allow tractor rear tyres to run at lower inflation pressures.

Sales manager David Furber explains that, like the other mounted Evolution and trailed Hybrid drills in Claydon’s range, the Evolution Toolbar and Front Hopper combination aims to establish crops with minimal soil disturbance to preserve nurtured subterranean structures and the beneficial organisms that live in them.

See also: Driver’s view: Claydon Evolution big improvement over Hybrid

A blunt leading tine protected by a tungsten tile forms a vertical drainage and rooting channel, and provides an opportunity to drop fertiliser below seeding depth or seed from the back of the tine for a companion crop.

The following duck foot share has twin outlets to place seed on either side of the channel, forming a band that results in individual plants having more space than when concentrated in a row.

Front discs can be added to cut through trash, create fissures in the top couple of centimetres of soil and ease the passage of the leading tine to minimise upheaval at the surface.

Paddle or “ski board” tines to level the soil and a Z-tine harrow complete the soil-working kit on a toolbar priced from £30,140 for the 3m size, to £63,931 for the 6m version.

With the hopper’s optional second metering system installed for fertiliser placement and companion crops, the outfit can also be set up to sow beans from the back of the leading tine, which is depth-adjustable by pin and hole, and cover crop seed from the coulters.

Claydon’s 2,750-litre front hopper, priced at £32,971, has a 45/55% asymmetric internal divider to form pressurised compartments of 1,512 and 1,237 litres – contents can be sent to the drilling toolbar separately or mixed.

The hopper is equipped with a 7in RDS Isocan touchscreen cab terminal, isobus-compatible electronics, “low” and “empty” alarm sensors, and left/right front vision cameras.

New mole plough

Having used other mole drainers across the 400ha of heavy clay farmed by the Claydon family, farmer-engineer Jeff Claydon came up with his own design for growers who need to connect outlying soils to underground drainage systems.

The single-leg 3m beam plough has a swivelling headstock to allow curved starts and finishes at headlands so that as much of the field as possible is within the mole channel catchment.

To compensate for bullet wear, a turnbuckle and cantilever linkage are used instead of wedges for fine vertical adjustment of the double-ended leg, which is mounted away from the beam for trash clearance.

Upturned leading edges on the two underside wear pads ensure any trash is squashed beneath the beam without hanging up.

A ceramic expander forms the finished tube that needs to be drawn in “plasticine” soils to ensure the channel remains stable while the walls dry out to resist breaking down as water infiltrates from the soil.

© Peter Hill