High-Speed German-Built Disc Harrow

High-Speed German-Built Disc Harrow TILLAGE EUIPMENT Disks 18 “It has big 29-in coulters that mix soil and residue better in high yielding corn than any other disk harrow on the market and leaves the ground nice and smooth ” says Jim Balstad sales and marketing manager for the new Lemken Rubin 12 high-speed disc harrow It was on display at the recent Big Iron Show in West Fargo N Dak     The German-built tillage tool is available in widths up to 23 ft and is designed to operate at speeds up to 10 mph     The Rubin 12 features 2 rows of individually attached 29-in dia concave discs with one row of rebound harrows following behind the front row of coulters and another row of angled leveling harrows behind the back row The discs have a dual angle built into them as they’re angled 16 degrees from parallel to the direction of travel and 20 degrees from vertical to the ground This combination guarantees intensive mixing across the full working width at depths as shallow as 3 in says the company “They’re the biggest disc blades on the market in the high speed disk category They penetrate the soil deeper and bring up more soil that mixes with residue to get more of it buried ” says Balstad “Compared to conventional disk harrows this machine does a better job of sizing and incorporating residue into the soil and also leaves a far smoother finish breaking up clods into finer pieces ”     The rebound harrow helps break up clods and deflects residue back onto the ground so it can be worked over by the second row of discs The leveling harrow’s angled metal tines are designed with 2 long “fingers” “The fingers skim along the top of the ground catching some of the loose dirt coming off the second row of discs and feathering it out to make sure the soil is left perfectly level ” says Balstad An innovative self-locking handle makes it easy to adjust the working depth of both harrows The operator attaches the removable handle to each harrow section to raise or lower the sections individually Ring rollers at the back of the machine firm up the soil and push any residue down into it     Balstad says customers have used the Rubin 12 on everything from corn stalks to soybean residue to sugar beets and potato vines “Some farmers make one pass into corn stalks in the fall and one more in the spring for seedbed preparation before planting soybeans ” he says     The concave discs are attached individually using pre-tensioned spring elements “When hitting obstacles such as rocks the unit’s individually attached concave discs can move upward independently of each other whereas on ordinary disc harrows half the machine will lift up ”         Retail prices for the Rubin 12 range from $23 000 for a 3-pt mounted 10-ft unit to $88 000 for a 23-ft pull-type unit Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Lemken USA Inc 1920 Queensbury St West Fargo N Dak 58078 ph 701 630-9154; balstad@lemken com; www lemken com

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