New drills, and all-new drill ranges, are among the headlines for this year’s Ultimate Guide to direct drills sporting tine coulters.

Bramleys Seed Establishment and Grange Machinery feature as seeder manufacturers for the first time, as does New Zealand drill builder Taege.

There are also new models from Claydon, Fentech (which builds the Simtech drills these days), Horsch and KRM Sola.

There is also a slot for the Faunamaster mini drill for ATVs and compact tractors.

In addition to 8m and 9m versions making a return to Sumo’s Deep Tillage Seeder (DTS) line-up, the Seed Hawk direct drill from Vaderstad has returned to the UK market.

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

The only ranges dispatched from the guide are the Brock Campaign and the Farmet Falcon, also from J Brock & Sons in partnership with Oaklands, because of slow demand.

Included in this category are no-till drills – machines that literally score a channel and drop the seed in – and those such as the Claydon, Mzuri, Seed Hawk and Sumo DTS that feature a tilth-creating tine ahead of the coulter.

Bramleys

This all-new on-farm development from Bramleys Seed Establishment, based in Yorkshire, has gone commercial with 3m and 6m drills for use with a 1,000- or 2,000-litre on-board hopper.

They also offer  a tractor front-mounted tank of the buyer’s choice, including Bramleys’ own 2,000-litre unit.

The Zone drill’s key concept is to be able to mix and match tools to suit different soils and conditions.

So a row of straight-cutting serrated discs can come first, in combination with two rows of seed coulters or three rows of tine coulters without the discs.

JJ Metcalfe seeding points are used on the tines – 12mm knife-type or a 125mm band-sowing alternative.

On the 6m centre-split folding version, the wing sections are suspended from the central pivot to help in following contours.

The next “zone” can take the form of depth wheels or pigtail harrow tines, with a choice of rubber tyre press wheels or pigtail tines and a covering harrow bringing up the rear.

Either way, all elements bar the harrow tines are mounted to the connected frames and toolbars by rubber-filled clamps to allow some flexing.

Claydon

The first Claydon Evolution seed drill in rear toolbar/front tank format is available in 3m to 6m sizes.

It emulates in all respects the fully rear-mounted machines in deploying optional straight-running discs ahead of two in-line tines.

The foremost, a blunt design, creates some tilth together with a rooting and drainage channel and an opportunity to place fertiliser if required.

This is followed by a slimmer one with a twin-outlet duck’s foot share for band sowing.

Paddle or “ski board” tines to level the soil and a Z-tine harrow complete the soil-working kit.

So far, so familiar, but Claydon has also developed its own front tank – a 2,750-litre design with a 45:55 asymmetric internal divider forming pressurised compartments of 1,512 and 1,237 litres.

Their contents are metered individually and 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 to help when easing out of a field gateway into a lane or road.

The new “plus” version of the Dale MTD (mounted tine drill) seeder provides an alternative to the standard model for use in situations where high levels of crop residue and other such material are expected.

With 50% greater spacing between the four bars of the rectangular frame, there is more space either side of the leaf-spring mounted knife tines for trash to pass through.

The concept is otherwise unchanged: a simple mounted tine drill with Accord metering from a 1,600-litre hopper in seed-only or seed and fertiliser configurations.

But Dale will build a rear toolbar/front hopper version, or with the toolbar mounted on the front of the tractor and the seed hopper to the rear.

Faunamaster

The Faunamaster mini seed drill is built for operation mounted or towed behind a compact tractor, or pulled by a quad bike or farm buggy.

Equipped with double-disc openers followed by individual press wheels with pressure adjustment via individual coil springs, the seeder can manage shallow direct drilling to 11mm.

Or it can sow into a seedbed to a depth of 80mm, according to its Danish manufacturer.

The smaller of the two models covers 1.05m with each pass and can be set up for seven rows at 150mm spacing or fewer rows at wider spacings – three rows at 350mm, for example.

With the “180” version working 1.8m wide, the maximum 12 rows at 150mm can be reduced to six rows at 300mm or just three rows at 600mm spacing.

Both versions have a divided box hopper so that fertiliser can be applied at the same time to give seedlings an early nutrient boost.

Fentech Agri

New variants for the Simtech T-Sem line-up include “E” versions of the box hopper models with electric rather than land-wheel seed metering.

Also, the “FH” versions of the 4.8m and 6m air seed and fertiliser distribution models that comprise a rear-mounted toolbar and front-mounted hopper.

A trailed version also returns to the fold in the shape of the T-Sem 300AP-XLT, a 3m drill sowing 16 rows at 187mm row spacing, and with a 200-litre hopper capacity advantage over its tractor-mounted sibling at 1,300 litres.

Common to all are a row of straight trash-cutting discs or a semi-pnuematic tyre roller across the front.

There are inverted “T” slot-forming coulters carried on double coil flexible tines, and either flotation tyres or a Springflex roller.

Grange

Described as a heavy-duty but relatively light implement, the first example of Grange Machinery’s new Tine-Drill Toolbar was commissioned for sowing beans in heavy and often rain-challenged conditions.

Now available as a series production machine, the TDT is a rear-mounted toolbar for use with any number of front hoppers or tanks.

It is available in six sizes from 3m to 6m, all with tines at 250mm spacing capable of placing seed only or in combination with fertiliser.

A Stocks Turbo Jet 8 iCon seed or micro-granule unit, together with delivery pipes and splash plate broadcasting bar, can be added, along with access steps and a platform.

The in-house fabricated 20mm rigid tines carrying Bourgault tips are arranged in four rows.

The frame on which they are mounted can pivot independently to follow ground contours for consistent working depth.

Double rear harrow frames with “Z” tines complete the soil-engaging elements of the machine.

Horsch

With the aim of catering for direct drilling into high-trash conditions, Horsch’s new Sprinter SL rear seeder/front hopper drill and the trailed Sprinter 12.25 SC, can be equipped with a choice of three points.

The Ultra ThinEdge is the narrowest at just 12mm and therefore the least soil-disturbing, and is reckoned to be best for oilseed rape and catch crops.

The 21mm wide ThinEdge is more capable of moving straw residues from the seed zone while creating a narrow furrow.

The WideEdge, meanwhile, is the band sowing option; it is 110mm wide and creates a crop band of about 70mm across.

There is 180kg of hydraulic pressure to keep the tines consistently in work while protecting them from severe impacts, and a chamfered wheel mounted with the tine regulates sowing depth.

An additional outlet on each tine can be added to place fertiliser, in which case the twin-compartment Partner 2000 FT front hopper is needed.

This is available with ballast weights, a steel ring packer or press wheels.

The 12m wide trailed Sprinter SC can have a three-compartment hopper for seed, fertiliser, a second seed for companion cropping, or micro-granule products.

KRM Sola

The SD-3115 SM box hopper drill from Spanish manufacturer Sola provides a simple and relatively low-cost route into direct drilling.

It sports the coulters already deployed on the firm’s Soladrill 1909 SM and SM-P Elektra air seeders.

The newcomer is 3m only, with a choice of 16 rows at 188mm or 21 rows at 143mm row spacing, with the tungsten tip-protected points guarded from impacts by an auto reset spring arrangement.

End wheels provide depth adjustment and there is a single-row flexible tine harrow to leave a level finish.

Fertiliser can be applied with seed by the Twin Hopper version, which has the same 866- or 1,000-litre overall capacity as its seed-only sibling.

Seed and fertiliser application is also a new option for KRM’s Soladrill SM-P Elektra, which features isobus controlled metering together with a pressurised hopper.

This mounted seed drill range is available in six widths from 4m to 8m.

Aura versions consist of a 2,000-litre front hopper and 6m, 7m or 8m rear-mounted coulter toolbar, which are the ones that can dispense fertiliser as well as seed.

Sumo

In addition to increasing the hopper capacity on its Deep Tillage Seeder (DTS) drills, Sumo has the 8m and 9m versions back in production.

The DTS comprises a row of straight-cutting serrated discs to cut through trash, ahead of a staggered row of rigid strip cultivating tines that can also place fertiliser.

These sport 15mm wide tungsten-protected points and hydraulic stone protection to create strips of tilth for the cast openers that sow two rows of seed in a 120mm band.

Sumo’s 3m tractor-mounted version has gained a 300-litre increase in hopper capacity to 1,900 litres, while the 4m and 5m widths now have the 3,600-litre container – up from 3,000 litres.

These are already installed on the 6m and also the new 8m and 9m versions for seed-only or seed and fertiliser.

Taege

An unfamiliar name to many growers, Taege is a manufacturer of cultivators, tyre rollers and post drivers in New Zealand that also builds direct drills.

They are reckoned to be simple and easy to operate with fewer moving parts than some, and achieving consistent penetration into hard soils to create localised tilth giving crops a good start.

UK Farm Agri, a sister business of Aitchison drill importer Aitchison Agri UK, has brought in the first examples of a new range.

This comprises the 1.2m and 1.8m Unidrill UD box hopper seeders with electronic metering drive, and the 3m to 6m DB AS air seeders in mounted and trailed forms.

While the former come with two or three rows of sprung tines, the latter arrange them in three or four rows for greater trash clearance while achieving 121mm crop row spacing.

The trailed air drills, in four sizes from 3.1m to 6m, have a hopper each for seed and fertiliser, mounted above the coulter frame on the three smaller sizes, and mounted on the chassis on the 6m.

The split fold coulter frame positioned behind in work.

Vaderstad

The Seed Hawk tine drill has returned to the UK market, largely thanks to the addition of an optional cutting disc positioned directly ahead of each tine.

Each disc is pivot-mounted to minimise stress when the drill is working in a curve and is designed to cut through surface vegetation, whether that is prior-crop residue or cover crop foliage.

This helps clear a path for the tines that follow.

First is a cultivating tine from which fertiliser can be dispensed beneath seed depth.

It forms a narrow band of tilth for the seeding tine, which operates under hydraulic pressure with impact protection provided by the same mechanism.

The seeding tine is offset slightly and shaped to carve a shelf from the side of the slot; this action covers and creates a barrier to the fertiliser while seed drops on to the shelf.

There are 6m, 8m and 9m sizes, all with soil-engaging hardware positioned across five separate rows for larger clearances, and equipped with a 7,000-litre partitioned hopper.