Get Set To Try New Tramlining Techique

Get Set To Try New Tramlining Techique AIR SEEDERS Air Seeders (42B) 2-4-6 Automatic steering devices for tractors, sprayers, fertilizer spreaders, planters and drills are busting out all over. Claus, the German farm equipment manufacturer that makes combines for Ford, is one of the first manufacturers to introduce automatic steering for combines. The device was demonstrated on a Ford 642 combine in Iowa last year. The driver heads the combine (or forage harvester) into the row, then depresses a foot switch which switches operation of the machine to automatic sensing. With no driving to worry about as the machine moves down the row, the operator is free to do other things, such as watching monitors to make sure all threshing mechanisms are operating properly. Latest new development in semiautomatic steering comes from England, where the technique is called tramlining. It's catching on fast with small grain growers who picked up the idea from farmers in Germany. Basically, tramlining is a technique of leaving gaps or marks in small grain fields. Once the crop is up, these tracks guide the tractor driver as he goes over the crop 4 to 6 times during the growing season to spray and fertilize. A major requirement of tramlining is to figure out the right arithmetic so the sprayer (or fertilizer spreader) width is an exact multiple of the drill width. In a few cases, farmers leave "tracks" in small grain by spray killing narrow strips with a herbicide, such as Paraquat. The most popular method of making tramlining tracks in small grain, however, is to shut off one or two coulters to leave unplanted gaps for the tractor wheels to follow as the crop is sprayed or fertilized. In the last year, at least a dozen British manufacturers have introduced mechanical and automatic tramlining attachments which fit most makes of grain drills. Many English farmers have also devised home-built tramlining rigs. One farmer, for example, simply tapped his drill's hydraulic supply to power two hydraulic switches which cut off the seed supply to selected coulters. Seed to these coulters is cut on every third pass. A hand held counter reminds the driver on which rounds he needs to operate the shutoff device. "Until recently, drill manufacturers have been rather slow in providing modifications of their drills. Consequently, we have developed a pneumatic system which allows the conversion of several makes of drills available in the United Kingdom," A. G. Griffith, marketing manager for Shafers, of South Yorkshire, England, told FARM SHOW. "Our conversion kit is called the Tramlines. The mechanism is powered by compressed air in rechargeable cylinders mounted on the grain drill." The Chafes Tramlines sells for right at $900 in England. We do not make sales directly to farmers or dealers. However, we would be interested in hearing from any distributors interested in licensing our Tramlines systems for sale in the U.S.," Griffith told FARM SHOW. For more details, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Chafers Ltd., Chafes House, 19 Thorne Road, Duncaster, South Yorkshire, England. "Tramlining saves a lot of work and money," says Allen Jackson, English farmer who devised a tramlining rig for his Massey Ferguson 30 drill. It's so much easier to spray and spread fertilizer with tramlining tracks in the field. You don't realize the benefit until you've used it." Jackson notes that it isn't uncommon in his area to make 5 or 6 trips over small grain to apply weed sprays and fertilizers. The tramlining device he designed can be fitted to any drill which uses hydraulics to raise and lower the drill coulters. Its key features are that: 1. It operates automatically and requires no separate controls, and 2. It operates after any desired number of passes without the driver having to listen or count to keep track of when to activate the shutoff device on the designated coulters, and when to leave it deactivated. Says another English farmer: "When you're spraying 1000 acres of small grain up to five times during the season, tramlining is a big help. Nobody can afford under or o

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