Written by Horizon
Horizon’s vision begins with the soil. Our commitment is to the design and manufacture of innovative products that promote soil regeneration whilst also helping our customers to improve productivity, yield and profitability.
As part of our journey, we have taken our increasingly popular DSX no-till direct seed drill and produced a mounted version, the MDSX. Light, compact and versatile, the MDSX mounted no-till disc drill aims to provide lower investment farmers the same performance and quality offered with our trailed DSX thanks to our market leading row units.
With the announcement of the FETF 2024 grants, the MDSX purchased with one of our FT2200 front tanks will yield a grant of just over £40,000, cutting the cost of the MDSX and FT2200 by over half. The MDSX can also easily be combined with a customer’s existing third party tank, creating a competitive seeding platform.
Because the MDSX is much lighter than a trailed equivalent, its horsepower requirement is only 145hp for the 6m version. In comparison, an equivalent 6m trailed drill would likely require 200hp or more on sloping ground. This lightweight form factor is ideal for delayed drilling, as it provides a seeding platform that leads to minimal soil compaction and smearing in wet conditions.
Thanks to the versatility of the MDSX, the machine’s modular frame and easy to move row units, the MDSX is ideal for a variety of applications. Its single toolbar design is perfect for inter-row hoeing, and its low investment cost means it’s a perfect no-till disc drill to combine with a tine drill.
We offer the MDSX with row spacings of 22cm and 25cm, providing farmers with the narrowest row spacings available on a mounted no till disc drill.
Some farmers may have reservations with mounted no-till disc drills, as some competitor machines may struggle to penetrate the soil without the weight of a trailed chassis. Our testing in the spring, summer and autumn of 2023 showed that our prototype MDSX was always able to penetrate the soil thanks to its innovative undercut disc. The disc pulls itself into the soil, acting in a similar manner to a plough furrow or cultivation disc, meaning less downforce is required.
However, we also offer optional wing weights to increase the downforce if necessary, as well as a hydraulic weight transfer system which is fitted to the three point linkage. This allows farmers to increase the downforce applied without carrying any extra weight.
With the MDSX suiting farmers looking for a lightweight agile machine, we are also keen to provide higher output for large farms by expanding our DSX range to include 8m and 9m working widths. Since 7.5m working widths are the largest we can provide on our current chassis, the new 8m and 9m versions feature a new chassis that keeps the machine compact and EU road legal. These new machines will feature the same row spacings as the DSX, the same row units, row cleaners and multiple hoppers.
