WHY BUY A DALE DRILL
By James Dale
Despite the challenges faced in 2020, drill sales have been very good this year, with drills being sold throughout the UK and Norway. Making our drills as versatile as we can is a key aim for us. With all the various features available on a drill, it is always interesting for us to hear which particular element ‘clinched the deal’ for new customers and the answers are often varied…
Low Draught, High Output, Less Wheelings
The Eco range of drills are fitted with our low disturbance, 12mm wide tungsten carbide tipped tines. The tines open the soil down to drilling depth, making the drills relatively easy to pull (at between 20-30hp/m).
Many users view this feature as a key benefit to the drill as they can pull a wider working width machine (often significantly wider when considering HP requirements for drills with cultivation elements) with the same size tractor, boosting their output without having to invest in more horsepower. What is more the wider working width reduces the amount of trafficked soil in a field (for example a 3m drill on a tractor fitted with 650 tyres will traffic over 43% of the field, the same tractor on a 6m drill will reduce that number to 21.6%, whilst a 9m drill brings it down to 14.4%). One new customer has switched from a 3m Strip Till drill to a 9m Eco XL, and is able to use the same drilling tractor. Tripling output whilst reducing trafficked soil by around 30% is a real no brainer.
As farm margins are squeezed, reducing costs and diversifying into new revenue streams is more important than ever. Our Eco range of drills not only allow users to reduce cultivations by moving towards a No-Till establishment system, but also allow you to increase drilling output by going wider, meaning the retiring farm hand may not need to be replaced, and there will be more time to devote to the other businesses on the farm.
One Pass, More Applied
As farm margins are squeezed, reducing costs and diversifying into new revenue streams is more important than ever. Our Eco range of drills not only allow users to reduce cultivations by moving towards a No-Till establishment system, but also allow you to increase drilling output by going wider, meaning the retiring farm hand may not need to be replaced, and there will be more time to devote to the other businesses on the farm.
We have seen a significant increase in the number of customers wanting drills fitted with additional applicators over the past few years. The ability to apply a dose of pellets, or control blackgrass with a dose of Avadex at the same time as drilling improves farm efficiency, saving time and money. Our drills utilise RDS Topcon’s Isocan Artemis system, which allows up to 4 channels to be controlled through the drills control box, meaning up to 4 different products can be applied at the same time, their application all automated by the drill. Furthermore, the Isocan system is Isobus compatible so can be run through the tractors screen, decluttering the cab and saving setup time.
Accurate Depth Control
Many new customers opt for an Eco drill due to its ability to establish and maintain an accurate drilling depth. Drills with coulters mounted rigidly to the frame suffer from not being able to follow contours across their width meaning seed can end up too deep or too shallow. The Eco drilling assemblies parallel linkage and depth setting press wheel ensure that contours are followed accurately, allowing operators to determine the depth they want to drill to and ensuring seed is positioned correctly. An adjustable hydraulic pressure is applied to each drilling assembly, meaning the drill can be set to work into loose, cultivated soils as well as hard, dry, uncultivated conditions. This versatility, in terms of being able to work in cultivated, min till or no till seedbeds, is an added draw to many customers who are working towards a no-till system but want to phase out cultivations more gradually, helping soils through the transition to notill, and potentially avoiding yield penalties on the way.
Simple, Low Cost Drilling
Despite offering a huge amount of versatility, our drills are really quite simple. We’ve made significant efforts to reduce the maintenance required on our drills to a minimum, from using oil filled bearings on our press wheels to self-lubricating nylon bushes in our pivot points. Less maintenance means less downtime during the drilling period, helping to boost output and increase farm efficiency.
Some maintenance is unavoidable, however access in and around Eco drills is very good, whilst the use of captive bolts and a minimal amount of different sized bolts means you don’t need masses of tools with you. The tungsten carbide tipped, boron steel tines and openers are designed to last, typically achieving over 500ac/m of drill (a 6m drill will average 3000ac on a set of points). This puts wearing metal at under £1/ac, and the long life means less time and money spent on changing tines.
Short Term Hire
In place of traditional demonstrations, we offer our drills on a short term hire basis. If you are interested in finding out more and trying a Dale Drill on your farm, please contact us on 01652 653326, or email james@daledrills.com