THE long journey from Armidale, in NSW, to the Elmore field days was well worth it for first-time exhibitors Steve Grills and Anthony Williams.
Displaying the Williams trailing direct drill, Anthony said there was plenty of interest in the machine.
"It was a real unknown coming to Elmore," Anthony said.
"But once we were set up, there was a lot of inquiry on the drill and its features."
The Williams drill is a trailed machine that can be used for sowing and fertilising a variety of crops and pastures.
About seven years in its development, the finished design was completed earlier this year.
"With the trend towards minimum and no tillage cropping systems, I thought the drill would prove to be an ideal machine for smaller acreage farmers," Anthony said.
"It's built to last, being mostly made of heavy-duty box steel."
The Williams drill is available in two working widths - 3.5m and 3.66m - and can sow seed at rates from 5kg a hectare to 250kg/ha.
The 3.5m unit has a 450-litre capacity fertiliser bin and 350-litre seed bin, while the 3.66m unit offers a 550-litre fertiliser bin and a 450-litre seed bin.
Anthony said the 3.5m drill had 20 rows of sowing tines and the 3.66m drill 24.
"You will need a minimum of a 59kW tractor to tow this drill," Anthony said.
"It's a ground-drive unit and you can easily change the application rates without changing cogs and chains.
"There's a wide loading platform and you can option the drill up with features such as press wheels, a small seeds box and an end-tow kit which reduces the machine's transport width to 2.44m."
