Upgraded electronics on Vaderstad’s Tempo F, V and L high-speed precision drills are promised to deliver more accurate seeding.

The Swedish firm has developed its own WSX electronics system for the market-leading drills, with brushless motors and improved cabling performance some of the fundamental improvements to its design.

See also: Contractor modifies Vaderstad Tempo to sow maize and grass

New features also include automatic seed singulation, with sensors in each row unit continuously monitoring and adjusting the workings of the components to ensure seed rates are on point.

This eliminates the need for manual setting, thereby saving time, and the firm claims it’s an attractive feature for contractors that are often switching between crops.

Vaderstad Tempo Auto-singulation © Vaderstad

A new active hydraulic row unit downforce feature also enables the operator to set an optimum row unit downforce and the WSX system will automatically maintain row unit pressure across varying ground conditions.

This ensures exact planting depth is maintained, no matter whether there’s a variation in soil type or areas of compaction.

It can be specced to work across the full width of the machine, or used to control individual rows. With the latter, individual seeding units can be lifted out of work for improved tramlining for sprayers.

Finally, gyro sensors know when the machine is turning, and the system adjusts seed metering output to ensure a consistent rate across the width of the machine.

Liquid fertiliser

Buyers of the Tempo L 8-24 can now spec their drill with a liquid fertiliser system capable of applying product either in the seed row or alongside it.

Fed by a 2,000-litre plastic hopper, the system’s flow sensors monitor output and automatically maintain the target rate entered by the operator in the E-Control terminal, eliminating the need for calibration.

© Vaderstad

Automatic row shut-off is included and the machine can handle a wide range of rates, from 30 litres/ha up to 200 litres/ha at a row spacing of 750mm and a speed of 15kph.

Filling is via an external pump, gravity or an on-board pump, and there’s also a clean water tank, handwashing station and PPE storage.

A limited number of machines with WSX electronics will be demoed across Europe next spring, with UK customers able to see an F and V model on request.

Full serial production starts in 2024, so prices for the WSX update are as yet unknown.

The fertiliser system option for the Tempo L 8-24 is available from October 2023.

A Tempo L 12-row drill on 750mm spacings with liquid fertiliser retails at £179,237 – about £4,200 more than the solid fertiliser setup.

Proceed V precision drill ready for production

After extensive testing and further refinement since its first public showing in 2021, Vaderstad’s Proceed V precision drill will be available to order from late 2024, with production commencing early the following year.

The drill can sow a wide range of crops – from oilseed rape to wheat and row crops such as maize and sugar beet – and is said to place even the smallest seeds at the right depth with millimetre precision.

© Vaderstad

Vaderstad-branded inter-row weeders

The first hoes in Vaderstad livery will be available for next summer, following the firm’s acquisition of Danish kit maker Thyregod’s inter-row weeder range.

Named Extract, the introduction of the weeders will start with the mounted Extract V 8-36, followed soon after by the trailed Extract L 16-48.

Both L and V variants will be available with row spacing of 225mm, 250mm, 450mm, 500mm and 750mm.

These have a high frame height and patented row unit lifting mechanism that promise to extend the working window of the weeders as crops get taller, reducing crop damage as a result.