SIMTECH T-SEM FOR TRUE VERSATILITY
Simtech T-Sem tine drills are probably the most versatile of all the direct drills on offer today. Their heritage is from the inverted T-slot coulter, initially developed in New Zealand for establishing new seed into living grass, which is probably one of the most difficult of direct drilling challenges. From Simtech importing these drills, the European T-Sem was born and has progressed from a simple 3m machine to the range of drills we see today.
The unique T-Slot coulter creates the perfect environment for seed to germinate and develop. At only 10mm wide at its leading edge it is designed to cause as little surface disturbance as possible. Preceded by a vertical cutting disc, that creates a path through surface trash, the inverted T-slot coulter ensures that the seed is always placed on a firm base, with the vibrating tine creating the tilth to cover it. In soil held together with a large amount of root material the T-slot coulter creates a void in the soil, which is like a mini greenhouse, generating humidity to enhance the speed of germination, but at the same time allowing sunlight to penetrate through the partially open slot. This scientifically proven feature allows small seeds to be placed deeper than would normally be viable into an environment which is much less likely to result in poor germination or seedlings drying out.
The T-Sem is the ideal drill for a farmer in the early stages of converting to direct drilling.
Versatile enough to cope with all the other drilling tasks such as min-till or ploughed surfaces, but none the less a dedicated and powerful direct drill, able to handle large amounts of surface trash and hard or wet ground conditions. The heavy duty 30mm square double coil tines are strong enough to direct drill crops such as beans to a depth of up to 10cm (4”) in most soils, once again ensuring that the seed is always placed in the correct environment for its development, not at a depth limited by the drills capability.
The T-Sem is also uniquely placed for the establishment of cover crops, which is enabled by its ability to work in high levels of crop residue, without “hairpinning” and at a time of year when the soil can be quite hard to penetrate. The subsequent drilling of the cash crop into the cover crop is also a job that requires the T-Sem’s ability to work in large amounts living vegetation, once again placing the seed in the best environment for its rapid development.
The base arable model T-Sem 3 metre is available with pneumatic or gravity metering. Further models from 3.5 metres up to a new, shortly to be released 8 metre trailed model, are all pneumatic seed delivery, with electronically driven seed metering and computer control. Speed sensing is via a GPS unit and variable rate seeding is possible when connected to a suitable controller.
An additional micro hopper, with independent control is available for all models, which in the case of the pneumatic machines, injects the product into the air flow with the seed. This can be used for starter fertiliser, seed or slug pellets. A further option allows the second product to be metered separately to the individual rows. Liquid fertiliser is also available for all models, with front mounted tanks up to 1800 litres.
All T-Sem drills are capable of drilling into pasture, but where this type of work adds up to a reasonable proportion of your overall workload we recommend choosing our closer spacing models, which can either be the T-Sem 300 with either gravity or pneumatic metering. Or there is a 2 model T-Sem Grass range, which are designed primarily for livestock farmers and contractors. These drills also have the capability to work in quite extreme ground conditions, where large rocks and stones may be present.
In the United Kingdom all sales are direct to the customer and Simtech’s sales and technical team have a wealth of experience, not only in their products, but also of the techniques employed with conversion into no-till.